Thank you all for coming out to our Hurricanes Parent Meeting Tuesday; below is a recap of what was covered. We are looking forward to a great season with our Mighty Hurricane Family!

Coaching Staff:

Kirk VanDeusen, Marissa Rell, and Kylie White

Practice Schedule:

Evening practices will occur while school is in session, and will be held Mondays through Thursdays from April 28 to May 29

• 10 & Under: M-Th 5:45 pm - 7:00 pm
• 11 & Up: M-Th 6:45 pm - 8:00 pm

Morning practices will occur once school is out and summer officially begins, and will be held Tuesdays through Fridays from June 2 to July 10.

• 10 & Under: Tu-F 6:45 am - 8:00 am
• 11 & Up: Tu-F 7:45 am - 9:00 am

Coach Kirk’s Rules:

1. Be early
2. Don’t be late
3. Bring a good attitude

If your swimmer breaks the first two rules, bring your singing voice, because you will be singing karaoke before your swimmer can enter the pool.

Safety Notes:

• No running on the pool deck
• No photography behind the blocks
• Worry about yourself
• Keep your hands to yourself
• Take care of each other
• No yelling or screaming
• The playground and splash pad are closed to all Hurricane families and visitors during Hurricane events, i.e. practices, meets (home & away), team cookouts, etc., regardless of if you live in the neighborhood. Thank you for helping keep swimmers inbounds.

Equipment: (Swimoutlet.com is a great resource to find everything from swimsuits to goggles.)

• Required:
  • Swim suit (Team color purple needed for swim meets)
  • Team swimsuits can be purchased at Williams Athletics (1515 County Rd 210 Ste 201, St Johns, FL 32259) or from an online store like swimoutlet.com. If your swimmer is going to wear a suit from online, it must be predominantly purple. Suits can have other accent colors like black, white, gray.
  • Tech suits are not allowed in the Saint Johns Summer Swim League
  • Good goggles
  • Swim cap
  • Water bottle
• Highly Suggested:
  • Training swim fins (not required but great to aid in training)

Coach Kirk’s secret solution to heading off swimmer’s ear:

• Solution of 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 rubbing alcohol
• Put a couple of drops in each ear after practice to help dry out ears

Misc. Notes:

• We need more swimmers in
  • the 6 and under boys
  • 13-14 boys and girls categories
• Do you have a friend who would like to come swim with us? Do you have another child you want to sign up? Let’s get them registered!
  • If you have a 2nd or 3rd swimmer you would like to add, please reach out to Shaun Robbins for assistance so you don’t get over charged.
• Swimmers 8 and under swim 25 meters, swimmers 9 and older swim 50 meters.
  • No need to worry if your swimmer cannot do a flipturn, or that you don’t know what a flipturn is. That is what our awesome coaches are for and they will teach you swimmer what a flipturn is and how to do one.
• Swimmers must swim in three regular season meets and families must volunteer three ½ meets per swimmer in order for a swimmer to participate in Champs.

Swim Meet Notes:

• Meet parking is tight. If you live close to the pool, please consider walking, riding bikes, golfcarts, etc. If you are driving, parking is available in the Baptist lot and daycare lot across the street from the pool, as well as along the main road. Do not park with your tires on the curb or in someone's yard. Do not block driveways. Do not park beyond the No Parking signs.
• Swimmers must wear their purple swimsuit and team provided swim cap in all races. This builds team unity and image.
• Arm Marking – find a friend, coaches, and/or our experienced Hurricane family; we are happy to help! Sending your swimmer with a grandparent/stand in adult? We will help them too!

Links and Communication:

• All updates, schedules, and FAQs are posted to our website: https://shhurricanes.swimtopia.com/
• Team Calendar: https://shhurricanes.swimtopia.com/swim_meets
  • Events of note:
  • Mock Meet is on May 14
  • 1st dual meet of the season is on May 17
  • Champs will be July 11 & 12
  • Season Ending Banquet July 13
• Hurricane FAQ: https://shhurricanes.swimtopia.com/faq
• We post to the team Facebook page, South Hampton Swim Team, regularly. Please make sure that you are in this private group. When asking to join the group, make sure that you answer the questions. If you do not answer them, we will NOT add you to the group. This helps cut down on spam.
• We will send emails regularly with practice, meet, volunteer and event updates.
• We will post on Facebook and to our SwimTopia website when there are weather concerns. Unless it is lightening or raining horribly, we’re swimming. We follow Florida Department of Health guidelines.

Volunteer Quick Hits:

• Mock Meet & Champs Meet are all hands on deck events. If your swimmer is going to participate, your family must volunteer one 1/2 meets per swimmer.
• We are a volunteer-based activity, here to support our swimmers. All families must volunteer for three regular season ½ meets per swimmer. If you do not fulfill this responsibility, your $100 Volunteer Hold from registration will be processed. You must also fulfill this requirement in order for your swimmer to participate in Champs.
• Swag bags will be handed out to families who have signed up for their 3 1/2 meets per swimmer in the coming weeks, more info to come. Reach out with questions.
• You can always volunteer for more than 3 1/2 meets per swimmer.
• If we do not have enough volunteers in a particular area, we don’t swim. If you see/hear that we are looking for volunteers so that a meet can start/continue, please jump in and help us. We pride ourselves on being a fun, efficient meet. This is, in large part, due to our volunteers. Thank you for making our season a success for our swimmers!
• We are working on being a host site for Stroke and Turn training. Let me know if you are interested in being trained. This is a great spot to watch the meet from!
• Check out the FAQ page for info about volunteer positions.

Areas of Need: (all these roles count towards your volunteer responsibilities)

• Stroke & Turn Officials - This role teaches you the rules of the strokes and helps ensure fairness in the competitions. We need 4 stroke & turn officials per swim meet.
• Social Media – This role helps the board and coaches with postings and scheduling, i.e. swim meets as events, etc. Check out the Facebook page for more examples. Reach out to Shaun or Jen for more info or if interested.
• Spirit Wear - This role helps manage the spirit wear that we offer during our home meets, as well as helps design the t-shirts for the swimmers.
• Banquet - This role helps coordinate the end of the year banquet from venue and food provider to trophies for the swimmers. They work with the board and others to accomplish this.
• There are more roles out there, and you are interested in helping out, please contact Shaun or Jen. 

Shaun Robbins, South Hampton Swim Team President 

(904) 613-3015

Jennifer Matthew

(423) 580-2336

We are excited about a great season! See you on the pool deck!

Jen Matthew