A Note from the President

Happy New Year!

One of the great things about Vashon is the strong sense of community.  It’s this sense of community and willingness to help out that the Seals are trying to tap into as we face some significant challenges.

Many of you may have read last week’s Beachcomber article on the 2010 Vashon Parks District budget.  This budget includes new limits in the VPD’s Reduced Fee Program. These limits will effectively reduce the amount VPD pays to qualifying families and increases the amount individual programs must provide in the form of scholarships or fee waivers. In our case, this will become a $5000 requirement if we want to support all the swimmers who qualify for the VPD Reduced Fee Program. We have also absorbed a dramatic increase in pool rental fees this year.

The Seal’s Executive Board is committed to holding the line on swim fees. One of the ways we can do this is to look for opportunities to raise funds for the club. Co-hosting the January Challenge swim meet on January 16-17 is one way to raise money. By generously giving your time to make the January Challenge a success, you are also working to keep a lid on swimmer fees and helping support families who might otherwise not be able to keep their children in the program.

Thank you for your commitment in making 2010 another special and successful year for the entire Vashon Seals Swim Team!

Travis Shaw
President, Vashon Seals Swim Team

What Can You Do For Your Club?

As you know, volunteers are the life-blood on any club, and the Seals are luck to have such proactive parents. In 2010, we ask that more families commit to the club and take on a new task. The following jobs are open:

Ongoing Volunteer Needs
We have 2 immediate volunteer job openings. If you're interested in either of these positions, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Laurie Mitchel.

Merchandise Coordinator
We need someone to oversee the team merchandise (sweatshirts, hats, bags, etc.). This person would store all the merchandise in one place, sell merchandise at team events such as the XSound Challenge, and work with the Board to order new merchandise as the need arises.

Qualifying Meet Fees Coordinator
Fees for regular monthly challenge meets are included in the registration fee paid at the start of the season or the quarter. Additional fees for qualifying meets must be paid when your child is registered for the meet. This person would contact all parents of swimmers entered in qualifying meets to ensure that the fees are paid in a timely manner.

Upcoming Volunteer Needs
The Cross Sound Challenge, one of the club's major fundraising activities, will be Saturday, March 20, at the South Kitsap Pool. This event requires numerous volunteers to run smoothly so please mark your calendars now to keep that date open for the team. Look for more information about volunteer positions at the XSound Challenge in the coming month.

Safety First

The safety of our young athletes is very important to us and for 2010 the Coaches and Board have planned a Safety Bulletin, focusing on a different issue each month. This month the theme is safety at meets - home and away.

As we grow as a club, we will attend more travel meets, so we need to be aware of the kinds of issues that can come up and how to prevent them.

Basic tips for swimmer safety at away meets:

• Coaches manage everything that happens at the pool
• Parents are responsible for everything away from the deck.
• Swimmers are required to advise the coaches that they are leaving the pool area and to use the buddy system when off deck.
• Be aware of the surroundings - dark stairwells, large parking lots, strangers who look out of place in the environment.
• Wear appropriate footwear - the locker rooms, deck and bleachers are always wet and notoriously slippy. We don't need any more broken limbs.
• As more of our swimmers get their permits, our insurance requires that young athletes do NOT drive other swimmers to away meets unless they are part of the same family.