March 2017 President’s Message

Pebble Creek Swim Team Members,

I do not know about you, but the days seem to be swimming by these days (pun intended).    Here it is April and I have not sent out March’s message.   Since I am late, let me get right to the updates.

First, the date of our first meet has been set.    After getting some input from you, the members, and talking with Old Church’s board president, we set the date of the first meet as Friday, June 16.    We set the date as Friday as Old Church has swimmers that go to school in New Kent and New Kent schools last day is June 16.    We thought it best for the swimmers to not hold a meet on the school night and June 16 ended up being the only night where that was the case for all swimmers.   With the final meet date set, this season’s schedule is:

Jun 16 – Home vs Old Church

Jun 21 – @ Rockville

Jun 28 – Home vs Raintree

Jul 5 – @ Tuckahoe Village Dolphin Club

Jul 12 – Home vs Atlee

Jul 18 – @ Fox Hall

Our season of activities and events has started to take shape.    Since my last update, the annual corn hole tournament has been scheduled.    If you or any of your family or friends like playing corn hole and would like to participate in the tournament, information will be coming out soon.   The tournament will occur Sunday, May 21 at the clubhouse.

Our Swim Team Open House will occur on Wednesday, May 17 at the clubhouse.    This event will be similar to last year’s event, where swimmers can register, people can get information about the swim team, you can speak with our coaches, and you can enjoy vendors, including Kona Ice and Virginia Swim Shop.    We are still planning for the event, so there may be some other opportunities for the community (yes, this event is open to the community, not just the swim team members, so invite your neighbors to stop by to enjoy some time together).

Online registration for this season is underway (started Monday, April 3).    While our website has not be fully rebuilt, the site is ready of registration.      The registration fee this year was raised to $105 per swimmer ($315 maximum per family).    The fee increase was set after the board considered the swim team’s current cash balance and reviewed this year’s budget, which includes one time equipment expenses for lane lines and backstroke flags (which were damaged last year), along with considering typical expense increases.    Orders for the lane lines and backstroke flags have been placed with delivery scheduled prior to the swim season practices starting.

A couple swim team spirit nights have been scheduled at Riverbound on May 9 and June 6, so plan to have lunch / dinner at Riverbound on those days to help the swim team as a percentage of the sales that day will be donated to the team.     As other spirit nights are scheduled, we will let you know the dates / place.

As for other events this season, the current PCST calendar is below.

2017 Calendar

Apr 3 to May 31 – Swimmer Online Registration Period

May 9 – Spirit Day @ Riverbound

May 17 – Swim Team Open House  / On Site Registration

May 21 –  Corn Hole Tournament

May 24 – Practice Start

Jun 2 – Meet The Board / Coaches Meeting & PreSeason Party

Jun 6 – Spirit Day @ Riverbound

Jun 11 – Blue / Orange Meet

Jun 16 – Meet 1 (Home vs Old Church)

Jun 21 – Meet 2 (@ Rockville)

Jun 28 – Meet 3 (Home vs. Raintree)

Jul 5 – Meet 4 (@ Tuckahoe Village Dolphin Club)

Jul 7 – Midnight Madness

Jul 12 – Meet 5 (Home vs Atlee)

Jul 18 – Meet 6 (@ Fox Hall)

Jul 21 – End Season Party / Recognitions

Jul 28 – Champs Breakfast

Jul 29 to Jul 30 – Champs @ SwimRVA

Coaches for the upcoming season have been hired.   Given our team size, the board decided that 3 coaches (a head coach, an assistant head coach, and an assistant coach), along with the CIT (Coaches-In-Training) program would provide sufficient coach coverage for the upcoming season.    If our team grows to a level larger than expected, we will reconsider the number of coaches.     As for the coaches, Morgan Steiner was retained as the head coach, Van Pearce was retained as the assistant head coach, and Pamela Mulvaney was retained as the assistant coach.    We feel good about our hired / retained coaches, giving them the opportunity to build upon the work they did last season.    With the reduction in coaches this season, Kayleigh Gordon will not be returning as an assistant coach this season.   We appreciated her contributions to the team over the past 2 seasons and wish her the best in her future.

In closing with this update, I want to remind everyone about our mission statement, which is below, and ask you how we are doing adhering to it.    As the board serves you (the PCST members), your feedback and suggestions are welcomed anytime.   You can send messages to the board’s email at pcstboard@gmail.com.    Our goal is to ensure that we (the board) are creating the environment that makes being part of the swim team an enjoyable and pleasurable experience for our members.

Mission Statement

The Pebble Creek Swim Team’s mission is to bring the community together in a fun, friendly, athletic, and competitive atmosphere to promote youth swimming, provide opportunities for swimmers to improve their skills, and encourage neighbors to socialize.

Well, I think I covered enough for this update.    My goal is to get back on schedule with theses updates, sending out the next one in mid-April, which is not too far away.    So, I will hold off other updates until then.   I want to wish everyone a great spring!

Until next time,

David Trace

PCST Board President