Marlins,

It’s time for everybody to begin swim meet signups.  As Glenda said yesterday, this season we’re going to try something new and open the entire season at the beginning of the season.  We’re hoping to avoid the confusion and last-minute rush every week to get the kids signed up for the following Monday.  This benefit is a double-edged sword though because this means that we’re counting on the parents to make sure their swimmers attend the meets they say they will be attending.  Since the kids can only swim four events per meet, our coaching staff works very hard to make sure that most get to swim in a relay.  It is a big problem and disappointment for the other kids and their parents if we have a ‘no show’ and disrupts them from being able to participate.  If, for example, you sign your kids for all six swim meets and something comes up, please go into the system and update their status to ‘not attending’ as quickly as possible.  Summer swim league rules REQUIRE that all events be final 72 hours before the meet, so I close the swim meets on THURSDAY evenings to give our coaches time to build relays.  Any late/emergency changes need to be coordinated through the coaches or me after Thursdays prior to swim meets.

• This season our coaches will be stationed poolside for every race.  Please remind your swimmers that they are supposed to go talk to the coach monitoring their event after every race to get real time coaching/feedback.  This goes for every swimmer, both returning and our new swimmers!
• If your child wins their heat, they are encouraged to take part in our team tradition of ringing the cowbell.  All parents are encouraged to clap/cheer for our swimmers if you hear the cowbell ringing to encourage our swimmers.  This year we’re going to try and keep the cowbell stationed with the coach’s poolside, so it will be easier to find.
• It is equally as critical that you declare either ATTENDING or NOT ATTENDING for each swim meet.  Setting up the meets is a lot harder for me if I must chase down folks to find out if they’re attending.PLEASE stay out in front of this!
• If you are unsure about which events your child should swim, please contact your lane coach and discuss it with them.  It is very important that parents both declare if their child is swimming AND which events they prefer to swim (see signup process below).  It is possible that coaches may make some adjustments to the list to benefit the team, so be aware that this is a preference list not a guarantee of their events.
• Consider setting a goal that your swimmer participates in different events from week to week so that by the end of the season they’ve at least attempted them all.  We’ve only got six swim meets this year and a bit of change is good!  Despite what most kids say, they really can participate in longer events!  Discuss this with your coach of course, but that should be every swimmers goal.
• The Marlins boast that we’ve got the best concessions stand in the league, so please come hungry!  Proceeds from the concessions stand helps support our team.
• We have swimmer/coaches this year, so please make sure your kids are on the deck encouraging them as they compete!
• You can follow the steps below for all six swim meets:

SWIM MEET SIGNUP PROCESS:

Here is the step by step process for signing up for this, and all swim meets:

1.  Go to the team website:https://muirfield.swimtopia.com/

2.  Locate the ‘Schedule’ tab, and select the ‘Swim Meets’ option

3.  Select:  “MEET ENTRY OPEN” to the right side of the screen

4.  Select:  “Edit”This will declare if you will attend

5.  Select dropdown:  “Attending this meet”A list of events will appear

6.  Select the events you prefer that your child to swim

7.  Select if your child is available for relays:

8.  Need to let the coach know something:  Free text field to give info to the coaches

9.  Select:  SAVE