Team Business
We rely on several avenues of communication with our swimmers and their families.
This handbook is one of the earliest communications you receive as a member of the Delaware Swim Team. The most regularly used avenues of communication are our email system and our website at www.delawareswimteam.com.
When you register for the Delaware Swim Team, you are asked
to supply an email address. Bulk emails
from team administrators are sent regularly, with weekly updates regarding team
business, special events and meet information.
Bulk email is also used to communicate urgent messages such as emergency
facility closures, practice adjustments or meet entry deadlines. Such urgent messages will also be
communicated using our website. The
website is very frequently updated, usually every day, sometimes more than once
per day. Each website update is
indicated by date and hour on the index page. A small “new” icon
appears beside the specific information added with each update. Please
be advised, it is the responsibility of swimming families to regularly check
their email and the website for the latest information!
The DST website contains links to a great deal of information including, but not limited to, team history, program philosophy, program structure, practice schedules, meet schedules, meet announcements and results, time standards, parent education, forms, college information, directions to pools, etc. The website is continually under construction. New sections are added as needed to meet the needs of our team families.
In addition to the above-mentioned electronic forms of communication, DST maintains a bulletin board at our home pool in the Delaware Swim and Fitness Center. Posted on the bulletin board you will find: meet announcements and results, recently sent email, special announcements, the calendar of the month, practice adjustments and swimmer achievements.
Every registered swimming family will be assigned a folder in which they will receive items specific to them. These items may include, but are not limited to, ribbons and other swim meet awards, special notices, payment receipts and personal correspondence. New for the 2005-2006 season, paper copies of meet announcements, calendars, practice schedules and other general correspondence will not be distributed to individual folders. We strongly encourage families to use the team website to retrieve these types of information. There will be a limited number of paper copies available in a community folder at each practice location.
Emergency Information
Regular visits to the team website and your email inbox are strongly encouraged in order to retrieve urgent messages, or become advised of emergency pool closures due to weather or unexpected facility problems. Emails and website updates are used to convey all emergency closings and other critical information.
DST administration will make every attempt to inform DSFC personnel of emergency practice adjustments or cancellations. It is our hope that parents calling the DSFC desk during business hours will be able to obtain information about short-notice practice changes.
Communicating with
Coaches
We believe communication between our coaching staff, swimmers and parents is extremely important. However, please do not attempt to interact with a coach while he or she is conducting a practice. Please make arrangements to meet with coaches before or after practice, or at another designated time.
Coaches will communicate with practice group members via group email. It is expected that group email originating from the practice coach will be infrequent, used primarily for the extraordinary. For example, practice ending unusually early, a reminder to attend a particular evening for a special test set, etc. Practice group email might also contain expectations for meet participation and desired focus. Practice group email content will be limited to subjects pertaining specifically to the group, rather than to the team as a whole. Such email is not intended for communication regarding individual swimmers.
Communication regarding individual swimmers or concerns should be communicated to the coach using personal email or a phone call, provided it is at a time the coach is not schedule to be conducting a practice. Refer to the contact information section of this handbook or the team website for administrative and coaches’ email addresses.
Questions and
Concerns
The Delaware Swim Team is a single integrated team operating at several different facilities. The Chief Operating Officer (COO) and head coach of DST are responsible for the design and conduct of the swim program in its entirety. Individual coaches are responsible for the training groups they have been assigned, and for the conduct and discipline of swimmers in those groups. Each coach answers to the head coach, who in turn answers to the COO. Any questions or concerns regarding a swimmer’s program or the conduct of that program should first be directed to the coach responsible for that program. Most concerns can be resolved at that level.
If a question or concern remains after discussion with the group coach, parents should contact the head coach. If the concern is still not resolved, parents may contact the COO. Please follow the chain of command. The COO will not address issues that have not first passed through the practice group coach and the head coach. It should be remembered that the Governance Team of the DST Booster Organization is composed largely of parents, most of whom have no coaching or swim experience. Therefore, in all matters relating to coaching methods, program conduct, swimmer performance, or any other issue that relates directly to coaching or the program, the COO of DST is the final authority.
Parent Assistance
The DST Booster organization is a resource available to you for support. Parents working together and sharing information is vital to the success of the DST communication system. The Communication Team of the Boosters welcomes contributions from parents who have knowledge or understanding of subjects such as nutrition, injury management, the training process, levels of competition, preparing for travel meets, applying to colleges, etc. Members of the Communication Team serve as website, handbook and bulletin contributors, keepers of the bulletin board and general facilitators of knowledge transfer between families.
The Communication Team is interested in your questions, concerns and suggestions regarding communication. Members of the team can be contacted by email at this address: Boosters@freestyles.org