A special Thank you to all the parents who took valueble time
out of their day and helped out at the last meet with tasks such as
timing, officiating, starting, meet management, etc...I know that
running meets is very taxing and hectic but it's an absolute
neccessity to the operation of any succesful team. Going
forward, we as a coaching staff, will try to be more assertive with
the assignments before the meets and will be better
organized. Again, thanks to all the parents for their hard
work and sincere interest in our program!!
Below is an article for any new or unfimiliar parent from the
American Swim Coaches Assoiciation;
Stunned, Shammed, Thankful, and Finally… Helpful
[Editors
note: a letter from a club’s newsletter]
My Fellow
Parents:
The word
“ignoramus “ comes to mind, but then I realized I
wasn't sure what an ignoramus was. After consulting
Webster’s, I confirmed that I was one. You see an
ignoramus is a person who simply doesn't know.
My wife
and girls have been involved with the team for almost two
years. With all their coming and going, I occasionally found
myself tagging along, usually reluctantly, timing a race, helping
out at the snack bar for a few hours, but not much else. It
wasn't until our last home meet when I offered to help cook at the
concession stand and do some prep work Friday night before the
meet, that I realized how much of an ignoramus I really was.
I was
amazed at how much work went into simply setting up the concession
stand, and the shade areas for timers and judges. That night
I got home at 10:30 p.m. After the meet on Sunday, all the
stuff that got set up had to come down. I spent at least 3
more hours helping there as well as all day cooking and selling at
the concessions.
That
weekend left me stunned, shamed, and thankful all at once.
Stunned because of the tremendous amount of man hours required to
put on an event like that. Shamed, because where was I in the
past when a dedicated few could have used some help to shoulder the
load? I was also thankful for these people who were fun to
work with and who had quietly and diligently served my children
those past two years.
Well those of you who were like me, you can't be an ignoramus
anymore because I just blew your cover. Maybe you'd like to
come along at our next home meet and pitch in? There'll be
plenty to do and there's a chance we could have some fun doing
it
