|
TEAM
HANDBOOK
4. PARENT
RESPONSIBILITIES
Please make every effort to have your swimmers at practice on
time. Realize that
your child is working hard and give all the support you can. Encourage good diet and
sleeping habits. They
will serve your children well. Please download and read the
"Parents Code of Conduct" that can be found on the DOCUMENTS page.
1. The
greatest contribution you can make to your swimmer’s progress
is to be a loving, supportive parent. (Read the “Ten
Commandments” for swim parents)
2. Rapid
City Racers Team has a reputation in the state and throughout the
region of hosting swim meets of the highest caliber. About
twenty-five percent (25%) of our operating budget is generated from
the Club hosting 2-6 meets each year. One of the commitments made
when you joined the RCR was to help work our own swim meets. We
usually host a meet in July and December. Every family is expected to
provide one worker per session of the meet. The hours worked will be
tracked. It was
approved by the Parents Club, that families who do not work the
required number of hours (usually 20 per Session) will be charged
$10 per hour not worked. This requirement may change from
time to time and you should check with the Board for the current
requirements.
4. Parents
are responsible for arranging transportation to and lodging for out
of town meets. PLEASE
DO NOT ASK YOUR SWIMMER TO HANDLE THIS JOB. Parents are encouraged to attend
out of town meets with their swimmers and offer to chaperone other
swimmers. These trips
can be great fun for parents and swimmers alike.
A coach has too many responsibilities to the team as a whole to
accept responsibility for an individual swimmer. Therefore do not ask the coach to
provide transportation.
Any swimmer riding in
someone else’s car is responsible to the parent/driver for
his/her behavior, and is expected to behave decently.
A medical release and
emergency phone numbers should be given to the parent/driver with
whom your swimmer is riding, in case emergency medical treatment is
required.
To help defray gasoline
and other expenses, such as meals, an advance arrangement should be
made between each passenger in a car and the driver/ owner.
Make sure you note time
changes (when traveling to
East River
) and warmup times, and be on time.
COMMUNICATION
The Racers have
adopted the TEAM UNIFY platform as its official team management
software. As part of
this, all team members (swimmers and families) are registered into
this software. All
communication from the Board and Coach about events, activities,
meets, etc will be done via E-MAIL from Team Unify Platform. It is very important that you
check your e-mail regularly for announcements. You may also e-mail Board
members, the coach and other team members from this site.
Web Site- Team website is http://www.rapidcityracers.com
Team roster , Phone
Numbers, Parent Board:
Information may be found on the web site
Coaches -
When contacting the coaches, please be considerate. The best way to speak with the
coaches is to meet them after practice. They usually make themselves
available for 10 minutes to answer questions, provide information,
etc.. Sending a note
to the coach with your swimmer is a good way to get information to
them. Email or calling during office hours is also considerate.
(Office hours: Contact the Coach)
PROBLEMS
WITH THE COACH?
One of the traditional swim team communication gaps is that some
parents seem to feel more comfortable in discussing their
disagreements over coaching philosophy with other parents rather
than taking them directly to the coach. Not only is the problem
never resolved that way, but in fact this approach often results in
new problems being created. Listed below are some guidelines for a
parent raising some difficult issues with a coach:
1.
Try to keep foremost in your mind that you and the coach have the
best interests of your child at heart. If you trust that the
coach’s goals match yours, even though his/her approach may
be different, you are more likely to enjoy good rapport and a
constructive dialogue.
2.
Keep in mind that the coach must balance your perspective of what
is best for your child with the needs of the team or a training
group that can range in size from 5 to 30 members. On occasion, an
individual child’s interest may need to be subordinate to the
interests of the group, but in the long run the benefits of
membership in the group compensate for occasional short term
inconvenience.
3.
If your child swims for an assistant coach, always discuss the
matter first with that coach, following the same guidelines and
preconceptions noted above. If the assistant coach cannot
satisfactorily resolve your concern, then ask that the head age
group coach or head
coach join the dialogue as a third party.
4.
If another parent uses you as a sounding board for complaints about
the coach’s performance or policies, listen empathetically,
but encourage the other parent to speak directly to the coach.
He/she is the only one who can resolve the problem.
The Ten Commandments For
Parents of Athletic Children
Reprinted
from The Young Athlete by Bill Burgess included in “The Swim
Parents Newsletter”
Make sure
that you child knows that –win or lose, scared or heroic- you
love him/her, appreciate their efforts, and are not disappointed in
them. This will allow them to do their best without a fear of
failure. Be the person in their life they can look to for
constant positive reinforcement.
Try
your best to be completely honest about your child’’
athletic ability, his/hers competitive attitude, their
sportsmanship, and their actual skill level. efforts, and are not
disappointed in them. This will allow then to do their best
without a fear of failure. Be the person in their life they can
look to for constant positive reinforcement.
Be helpful, but don’t coach him/her on the way to the
pool or on the way back, or at breakfast, and so on. It’s tough not to, but
it’s a lot tougher for the child to be inundated with advice,
pep talks and often critical instruction.
Teach them to
enjoy the thrill of competition, to be “out there
trying,” to be working to improve his/her swimming skills and
attitudes. Help
him/her to develop the feel for competing, for trying hard, for
having fun.
Try not to re-live
your athletic life through your child in a way that creates
pressure; you lost as well as won. You were frightened, you backed
off at times, you were not always heroic. Don’t pressure your
child because of your pride. Athletic children need their parents
so you must not withdraw. Just remember there is a thinking,
feeling, sensitive free spirit out there in that uniform who needs
a lot of understanding, especially when his world turns bad. If
he/she is comfortable with you – win or lose – he/she
is on their way to maximum achievement and enjoyment.
Don’t
compete with the coach. If the coach becomes and authority figure,
it will run from enchantment to disenchantment, etc., with your
athlete.
Don’t
compare the skill, courage, or attitudes of your child with other
members of the team, at least within his/her hearing.
Get to know the
coach so that you can be assured that his/her philosophy,
attitudes, ethics, and knowledge are such that you are happy to
have your child under his/her leadership.
Always remember
that children tend to exaggerate, both when praised and when
criticized. Temper your reaction and investigate before
over-reacting.
Make a point of understanding courage, and the
fact that it is relative. Some of us can climb mountains, and are
afraid to fight. Some of us will fight, but turn to jelly if a bee
approaches. Everyone
is frightened in certain areas. Explain that courage is not the
absence of fear, but a means of doing something in spite of fear of
discomfort
|
