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It IS true that in most other sports ~ you cannot participate in the Club version at the same time as you are a part of the High School team.
Most other parents (with kids in other sports) are quite suprised that my son is able to practice and compete (depending on your state) with his Club team AT THE SAME TIME as his high school team. This makes for quite the busy high school season! But the kids who swim high school only ~ usually can't complete with the Club kids. Why? Because the Club kids practice so much more.
So I agree with some of the points that sanemom is making. They spend an insane amount of time in the pool is what she's saying. And that's the truth!
Yep, yep, yep!
All of the high school club swimmers attend club swim for the 5 AM sessions unless their high school schedules practice at that hour (ours doesn't). They work out with their high school team afterschool, however on any day practice isn't held in the water, they are excused from the high school workout and head to club swimming for practice. And the Saturday club swimming remains as usual. All the club swimmers continue to swim in club meets, registering at the meet as unaffiliated from their club since they are also doing high school swimming.
And my son's PE class just rotated into....swimming for the next 6 weeks! Just what he needs!
Our son was on the swimming path. When he was about 14 we saw it slowly beginning to try to take over his life. He was always at the pool. Always playing catch-up with homework. Always stressing over grades. Always hungry. Looked unhealthy/too skinny. We were SOOO happy when he decided to switch to Ultimate! Ultimate is year-round (at our high school) and it keeps him active and busy with a team sport without cutting into his schoolwork (grades have shot up and stayed there, with a lot less stress and late nights involved...) and also that thing called LIFE that we want our kids to really enjoy while they are still young! We love Ultimate!
He loves it! They have tournaments just about every weekend. It's co-ed. I didn't know what it was, either, when our son asked if we were OK with him switching sports. So I spoke with some other parents of Ultimate players as well as the coach and assistant coach. One parent said her kids loved it because they "were not jocks, but they loved playing sports". That was my son, too. He's very active and outdoorsy, but not a "jock" type. He's a certified lifeguard and loves swimming, biking, hiking, mountain biking, water polo... the list goes on. But he's not your typical jock type.
Anyway - We have tried lots of different sports over the years with our boys, and we've seen the good and the bad with each one. We've seen some really ugly behaviors among parents and players with some sports (I think basketball was probably the worst experience). Swimming was awesome for quite awhile but was just becoming unhealthy (at least it seemed to us) and majorly stressful. So Ultimate has been a lifesaver, really. And everyone has been so supportive, the more experienced players are quick to mentor the newbie players and make them feel like family. It's been really great to watch.
Am struck by your knowledge of the inner workings of the club system and so wonder if perhaps you have some sort of vested interest in having USA Swimming NOT set any guidelines on this issue.
Not at all. I am just the swim parent of a 12 year old girl.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaneMom
These kids are like little pieces of raw material that go into this system and then are molded into all different manner and level of swimmers. We have the sprinter assembly lines, the breast stroke assembly lines, the backstroke assembly lines, etc., etc. As the process goes on year after year, some of the "product" becomes more conditioned and of higher value. This at the same time that some of the very good "product", kind of falls off the belts, because they either cannot keep up with the rigorous pace or choose to do otherwise.
This has not been my experience at all. Quite the contrary. The sport of swimming has effected my daughter is a myriad of positive ways. She has learned the importance of exercise and proper nutrition, and the art of good sportsmanship. She has learned how to manage her time and how putting in extra effort reaps personal rewards. She has learned how to work together as a team and how to set personal goals for herself. She has learned how personally satisfying achieving personal goals can be. Despite the amount of time swimming consumes, my daughter's academic grades have actually improved. She has made a ton of swim friends and has learned to share in their successes. The sport of swimming does not come 'naturally' to her as it does with some kids, so when she meets her personal goals or wins her heat or wins a ribbon or medal it really means something to her.
More than all this, the sport of swimming has given her tremendous confidence in herself that she lacked prior to starting this sport.
I am sorry your experience has been different. Again, I believe the schedule of your son's old team to be pretty excessive as well, and unless my daughter wanted to pursue the sport to that level, I certainly wouldn't push her in that direction.
I just don't believe that the way a private swim club runs their business needs to be dictated by USA Swimming to such a level. From my perspective, it seems like you are on a personal crusade to force change and have every swim club be the same.
Personally, I think that would be a shame. My daughter's current swim club is definitely not as rigorous as your son's. In fact, there are parent's who STRONGLY feel it is not rigorous enough. (I am not one of those parents). However, if ever I or my daughter felt her club was not meeting her needs, we would seek another club because there ARE other options. I would much prefer to have options over what you are suggesting.
JMO
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