Belated Welcome Letter

May 7, 2009

The Board and the Coaching Staff would like to welcome you to the Pearland Swim Team for our 2009 season.  Because the season is short, we do a lot of stuff in very little time.  Please make sure you check the website daily for new information such as pool closures and meet announcements.  All our communication will be via e-mail and website.  If you or someone you know on the team is not receiving my e-mails, please add rhonda.paz @ sbcglobal.net to your Safe Sender’s List.  I may be going in the trash.  You will also need to add pcaddell @ mac.com to your Safe Sender’s List in order to get our Clerk’s e-mail.  Her messages are even more important than mine.

Our Team Pictures will be taken tomorrow, Friday, May 8, at Silverlake Pool.  We will start the individual pictures at 4:30 p.m. (new time).  We will take our team picture at 6 p.m.  If we need to, we will finish up our individuals after that, but will end at 7 p.m.  Please wear your team suit.  Everyone will need to purchase a suit.  If you did not buy your suit, you will need to purchase it at Swim Suits of the Southwest (see website for contact information).  Be warned:  This place is in Spring.  We are using the same ones as last year.

We will begin swimming at our assigned pools on Tuesday, May 12 (either Morgan or Silverlake).  You must go to your assigned practice time.  Some of the rules to remember while at practice are:

• Please remember that we are guests of the pools where we practice.  We must clean up after ourselves and our children to be invited back next year.  Without a pool, we do not have a swim team.
• Please keep an eye on your younger children.  They are not to roam freely inside the pool area.  They are not allowed in the pools.
• Please do not approach the coaching staff.  This is the time they devote to your children.  If you must speak to the coach, please send him an email at coach@pearlandswimteam.com.  He will then answer any concerns you may have.
• Please refrain from parental coaching.  We have a fantastic coaching staff that will do that for us.  When you coach from the sidelines, you become a distraction to the kids and the coaches.
• Please be on time.  When your child walks in late for a practice, it creates a disruption to the kids who got there on time.  Our practices are only 45 minutes long.
• Once your child is released from practice by the coaching staff, you will need to be there to get them.  There will not be any adult supervision for your child.
• If your child is 8 and under, you must have a responsible adult in the pool area at all times.  If it is not you, then it must be someone in your stead (and this does not include the coaches or the board).

Our Pep Rally and Fundraiser will be on Thursday, May 21, at Coldstone Creamery in Pearland at 6 p.m.  Come out and support your swim team.  It will also be your first opportunity to update your wardrobe with PST apparel, so come with your checkbook.  All proceeds collected from Coldstone go towards the swim team.  We will not have any other fundraising events or drives.  Yay!!  There will be no practice on this day.

Our first meet is Saturday, May 23^rd at Baytown.  I will send a note out the week prior answering the many questions I am sure you have.  I will say that it is an indoor home meet, so you can leave your tents and chairs at home.  You will receive an e-mail from our Clerk of Course, Patti Caddell, two weeks prior to our first meet.  She will be asking whether or not your child will be participating in that meet.  You will need to make sure you respond soon.  If you do not, your child will not be put in any events.  A non-answer will be considered a NO.

Please check out the website for any questions you may have.  If you have any questions after viewing the website, please feel free to e-mail me or a member of the volunteer Board.  And again, we welcome you to the team.

GO PIRATES!!