Parent Roles

Be enthusiastic and supportive! Remember that your child is the swimmer. Children need to establish their own goals and make their own progress towards them. Be careful not to impose your standards and goals on your swimmer(s). Encourage your swimmer to do the best they can, win or lose. The important part of you child’s swimming experience is enjoying themselves, being a part of a team, and learning about themselves. Swim team provides a healthy environment in order for the swimmer to learn, have fun, and be with their peers in order to help them develop a positive self-image. Attend swim meets and volunteer – swim team has a lot to offer parents who are actively involved.

Set up and take down is a shared responsibility. Before a practice can begin, lane lines, blocks, and backstroke flags need to be put in place. Parent are asked to help with those jobs, and then also to remove those items from the pool when practice is over. It also takes approximately 34 parents to run a home swim meet.

Let the coaches coach. The coaches are there to determine how the swimmer’s performance and technique are progressing and to give feedback on how to improve as a swimmer. As a parent you can be supportive to your swimmer by being supportive of the coach. Ask questions when you have them. Provide positive reinforcement to your swimmer pointing out what they did well, and then offer suggestions on how to improve. The coaches expect 100% effort while the swimmers are in the water and will do whatever is necessary to try and help swimmers deliver just that.

Concerns should be brought to the coach’s attention before or after practice, via phone, or by e-mail. Also feel free to talk to a Commission member if your concerns are not being addressed. Please be considerate by not interrupting the coaches during practice. Good communication and prompt clarification can only add to the success of the team.