Team Handbook 2024
NOTE: The dates and names below have not been updated for the upcoming 2025 season.
Welcome all Stingray swimmers! We are looking forward to another great summer season. We hope this manual helps answer questions you may have about swim team. If you have additional questions, please email us at [email protected].
Coaches and Coordinators
Coaches
Head Coach:
Assistant coaches:
Click here for more information on our coaching staff.
Swim Team Coordinators
Lisa Strain & Ken Myers
Contact us at [email protected]
General Information
Our League: The Stingrays are part of the Atlanta Swim Association (ASA).
ASA is an established swim league with great leadership, management and swim league expertise. They also provide additional resources for our team. We are excited about this summer league experience. Visit asa.swimtopia.com for more on ASA.
Mission: Our goal is for our swimmers to learn and grow to be the best person and swimmer they can be through a positive team experience. It also is a top priority that they learn the strokes, turns, starts and finishes correctly at the earliest possible age.
During swim meets, the "6-and-Under" age group only swims two strokes -- freestyle and backstroke -- and competes in the free relay. All other age groups swim freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, individual medley, and they also compete in the free and medley relays.
Eligibility: Swim team participation is open to all members ages 3-18. Young children who cannot yet swim the entire length of the pool are invited to join our Rising Rays program (provided they are fully potty trained and ready to learn.)
Rising Rays do not swim in the regular swim meets, but will have two junior meets at home that are better suited for them. If you are not sure about your child's swimming ability, the coaches will help you determine the best fit. Your child can graduate from the Rising Rays into the regular swim team any time he or she is ready.
Dues:
Registration forms are available on our website nusc.swimtopia.com.
Practice: The swim season begins May 2nd with after-school practices held Monday thru Thursdays. Morning practices begin May 31 and will be held Monday thru Fridays. Three evening practices will be held each week for swimmers not able to attend the morning practices. Click here to see the complete practice schedule.
Tuesday(Monday) Night Meets: Regular "dual meets" begin May 28th and take place for four consecutive Tuesdays and Monday, June 24th. The meets begin at 6:00 p.m. and usually finish around 9:00 p.m. We will host either two or three home meets at our pool each season, depending on the swim league's schedule. Rising Rays do not participate in the Dual Night Meets until they are ready.
Inclement Weather: Swim meets are not cancelled for rain. If it is raining, swimmers should report at their normal time. In the event of lightening, swimmers should report to the pool and remain at the pool until either 1.) the meet resumes, or 2.) the coach informs them that the meet has been called off. When thunder is heard, the league requires a specified "wait time" before the meet can be resumed. Meets that are not completed because of lightening are typically rescheduled.
Championship Meet: Following the five regular season dual meets, all regular-team swimmers are invited to swim at the Championship meet. This year's Championships will be held at Georgia Tech. Prelims for all age groups will be June 27th, and finals for all age groups will be June 30th. The Championship meet is for swimmers of all abilities and all Stingrays are encouraged to participate. Swimmers who qualify during the preliminaries will advance to the finals. The league requires that swimmers must have participated in at least two regular season swim meets to swim at the Championship Meet.
State Meet: Swimmers who earn qualifying times at the Championship Meet are eligible to compete in the Georgia State Swim Meet. More details on the state meet will become available during the start of the season.
Awards and Recognition: All swimmers in the regular meets will receive place ribbons for their events. Ribbons will be placed in swimmers' individual files the morning following a meet. Two swimmers (a boy and a girl) also will be recognized as "Swimmers of the Week," at the next swim meet. A Swimmer of the Week towel will be personally monogrammed for each recipient.
An end-of-season banquet will wrap up the Stingrays season. Each swimmer, including the Rising Rays, will receive an award of participation at the banquet. Several special recognition awards also will be presented.
Drink Donations: At the start of the season, parents are asked to contribute a 12-pack of Gatorade, Sprite, Coke, Diet Coke or Coke Zero for each swimmer. These will be sold at the home meet concession stand. Parents also will be asked to donate baked goods. Instructions on baked goods will be given in advance of the meets.
Tuesday(Monday) Night Swim Meets (Dual Meets)
Who can participate: Swimmers who can swim one lap of the pool unassisted may swim at the Tuesday night swim meets. Each swimmer is allowed to swim two individual events and up to two relays (determined by our coaches.) If your child is not ready to swim in the ‘big’ meets, they are still eligible to swim in our junior, Rising Rays meets.
At all meets, the coaches will be emphasizing good sportsmanship, cheering for teammates, and personal improvement. Ribbons are awarded to all swimmers in individual events and to the top relay finishers at a full-team practice, held Wednesday mornings following the Tuesday Night meet.
RSVP: Swimming in all of the meets is not mandatory. However, swimmers are required to RSVP prior to each swim meet to let the coaches know if they will or will not attend the meet. This is very important so the coaches can put together the meet line-ups. If there is a last minute emergency or your child is sick, please let the coaches know ASAP so they can make adjustments to the lineup.
Swimmers RSVP for meets on our swim team website: nusc.swimtopia.com. Pull down the "Calendar tab and go to the "Swim Meet" page, or click here. RSVPs should be made for each meet. You also can sign up for meet volunteer jobs on this page.
Meet check-in: Swimmers will be told a time to arrive at the pool for each meet. As they enter, there will be a parent volunteer or coach to check them in. Swimmers who do not already have their numbers (events that they are swimming) written on their arms, should do this upon arrival.
Bullpen: During the meet, we generally prefer for swimmers to stay in the bullpen, a designated area for swimmers. The swimmers should bring at least two towels, goggles, cards, games, snacks, dry clothes and of course, money for the concession stand.
Parking: We encourage carpooling or walking to the pool, if feasible. Take into consideration how big every team is and multiply it by two cars. Please be a good neighbor and obey all placed cones which reserve spots for visiting coaches and meet officials, and park on one side of residential streets only.
Concessions: On the nights of the home meets, concessions are available. Profits from the concession stand benefit the swim team and account for a large portion of our budget. Parent volunteers coordinate the concession stand and assist in selling items during the meet.
Championship Meet
Mark your calendars now for the Championship Meet June 29 (preliminaries for all age groups) & July 2nd (finals for all age groups). All regular-team Stingrays are encouraged to swim at the Championships. This meet is for swimmers of all abilities and gives swimmers the opportunity to swim in a “big” meet at Georgia Tech.
Swimmers are able to pick two individual events and may be able to swim in up to two relay events (as determined by our coaches.) Swimmers with qualifying finishes in their individual events and/or relays are invited back to swim in the finals on July 2nd.
This meet is a lot of fun! Swimmers will see friends from other neighborhood pools, and hang out with their Stingray buddies at a large-scale athletic event. Being a strong swimmer is not required to participate at this meet. We encourage all Stingrays who want to attend to sign up. More information will become available later in the season.
Parent Volunteer Job Descriptions
There are many ways to volunteer to help with swim team. Please use this guide to help you find something you’d enjoy doing. There are many opportunities that will work with busy schedules. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like to volunteer for any of these positions.
Swimmer of the Week coordinator (1 parent): Responsible for getting names of Swimmers of the Week from head coach and having pre-ordered towels embroidered at neighborhood embroiderer.
Spirit-Wear Coordinator (1-2 parents): During the off season, work with vendors to select/design spirit-wear items. Take orders, then distribute items to swim families at the start of the season.
Picture Person (1 parent): Arrange/hire photographer for team/individual pictures. Coordinate picture day before one home meet.
Sponsorship Coordinator (1-2 parents): Approach local businesses to acquire NUSC swim team sponsorships.
Volunteer Coordinator (1 parent): Line up parent volunteers for all 5 swim meets. Serve as volunteer check-in person at meets.
Meet Photographers: Take action and casual pictures of swimmers and coaches during the meets. Provide photography to DVD/Slideshow Producer.
DVD/Slideshow Producer (1 or 2 parents): Work with meet photographers to compile action and casual shots of swimmers and coaches into a slideshow format. Produce copies of slideshow on DVDs for parents.
Wednesday Morning Treat Coordinator: Shop for the treats for full-team practice following Tuesday night meets.
Rising Rays Swim Meet Coordinator: Arrange for volunteers to run NUSC's Jr. Swim meets.
Music Maestro (1 parent): Find swimmers/NUSC members to perform National Anthem before home meets. Work with performers to prepare rendition, as well as making sure performers' needs are met at the performance.
Check-in Parent (1 parent per meet: Needs to be at meet location by 4:30 pm. Uses NUSC meet roster (with phone numbers for swimmers) to check in every NUSC swimmer as they enter the swim club and calls swimmers who seem to be running late/not arriving.
Bullpen Coordinator (1 parent per half): Checks the NUSC swimmers who have already reported to the lineup area against the official heat sheet, lines up the swimmers by heat & lane
Age Group Parent/Bullpen (2 parents for each age group per meet: 6U, 8U, 10U & 12U): Responsible for getting swimmers to the lineup area before their event. One Age Group Parent acts as final check of shallow-end relay swimmers.
Clerk of Course (1 parent per half): Home Meets Only – Final checks of ALL the swimmers behind the blocks using heat sheets.
Finish Judge (1 parent per half): Responsible for determining the finishing order of each heat. (Will work with other team’s finish judge.)
Finish Judge Recorder/Runner (1 parent per half): Home Meets Only - Records reported finish order agreed upon by finish judges and gives to computer team.
Computer Operator (1-2 parents per meet): This position requires training on the Hy-Tek system.) Home Meets Only – Must be at pool no later than 5 pm. Assists with any lineup changes requested by our Head Coach and with printing heat sheets, finish judge forms, etc. Responsible for entering times and judges finish order for each heat using the Hy-Tek system
Data Caller (1 parent per meet): Away Meets Only – Calls out the data to the Computer Operator to be entered into the Hy-Tek system.
Timers (3 parents per half): Confirms that swimmer is in correct lane. Times each heat, and records time of swimmer in lane they are assigned.
Back-up Timer (1 parent per half): Starts two manual stopwatches for each race to act as a back-up in case an official Timer’s stopwatch fails.
Timer Runner (1 parent per half): Writes down times from timers' sheets and gives times to computer team.
Ribbon Clerk (4 parents per meet): Responsible for pulling ribbons for each event then placing printed label on ribbon and placing ribbons in individual swimmer files.
Announcer (1 parent per meet): Home Meets Only – Calls events, scores, concession information, and news. Serves as "pole turner" (flips the event number cards and event heat cards on the event pole.)
Set-Up (3 parents per home meet): Home Meets Only – Must be at the pool by 4:30 pm. Will help prepare the pool area for home meet, including closing pool to non-swim team members.
Clean-Up (4 parents per meet): Home Meets Only - Performs specific duties that need to be performed at the close of each home meet in order to have the pool ready for the next day.
Concession Workers (4 parents per half): Home Meets Only – Helps serve food in the concession area.
Concession Food Prep: Home Meets Only – Helps prepare food in the concession area.
Salad/Food Prep: Home Meets Only – Prepares (in advance) a salad or other foods to be served in the concession area. Items will need to be at the pool by 5:45.
End of Season Banquet Coordinator: Plan end-of-season banquet, including ordering swimmer awards.
Hospitality: Keep water iced down; deliver water to meet workers/volunteers during the meet.
Chick-fil-A delivery volunteer: Pick up Chick-fil-A sandwiches prior to the start of the home swim meets.
Ice delivery volunteer: Pick up 6 large bags of ice and deliver to clubhouse between 4:00 and 4:30 on home swim meets.
Popsicle and Ribbon Distribution: Purchase and hand out popsicles and ribbons to swimmers at the end Wednesday morning practices.
Championship Meet Coordinators (2 parents): Sign up parent volunteers for championship meet. Help with bullpen area set-up and tear down at meet.
Starter Reset: Press the stop button and reset button on the Dolphin timing system prior to the start of each race.
Go Stingrays!
