NOVA
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING CLUB NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER
2004
NEWS
FOR SWIMMERS
There
is a new competitive testing structure for the
province
of
Alberta
. In the past, athletes have been tested in a particular star level
that correlates to a 'tier' level. Generally a swimmer would advance
when they had passed the next two star levels. To minimize the
number of skills and routine tests that the athletes had to prepare
for, Synchro
Alberta
has modified the testing structure to become a 'tier test'. The
'tier test' consists of 4 figures and a routine set. Once the
athlete challenges and successfully passes the desired tier test,
they will advance to the corresponding tier level. Each tier test
has a designated 'pass mark', which generally is higher as the
swimmer advances through the tiers. On November 6th, Synchro
Alberta
will be hosting a 'tier testing day' at NAIT pool. All athletes who
require testing will be registered for this meet. It is mandatory
that the athletes who were not successful in the September team
testing or who require further testing to reach their desired tier
level be in attendance on November 6th. If you have any further
questions, please contact your team coach or Kari Donahue (488-8485).
SWIM-A-THON
NOVA
ALSO REQUIRES VOLUNTEERS TO COUNT LAPS BETWEEN 7-9PM, NOV 2 & 4.)
IF YOU ARE AVAILABLE, PLEASE CONTACT CAITLIN - CLUB MANAGER
AT novasynchroclub@yahoo.com
NOVEMBER 2nd -- TIER 1 & TIER 2 WILL SWIM
NOVEMBER
4th -- TIER 3, 4, 6 WILL SWIM
World
Master’s Games
The
World Master’s Games will be held next July in
Edmonton
. Some of our coaches will be competing in this event. If anyone is
interested in volunteering please contact Synchro
Alberta
(www.synchroalberta.com).
Extra
Routine Fees
If your daughter is participating in an
extra routine, please submit the
extra routine fee as soon as possible. Your coach would have
contacted you
personally, if your daughter is in an extra routine. (Make cheques
out to
Nova Synchro and send to Caitlin at the pool).
Tier 4 Combo - $150 per swimmer
Solos - $250
Duets - $200 per swimmer
FROM
THE EXECUTIVE
Welcome
to a wonderful new and exciting Synchro season. The club has a
sense of excitement about it. This might be due to the many
new swimmers or the enthusiasm of our returning ones!
I
would like to thank all of you that were able to join us at our Meet
& Greet that took place Sept. 25/04. We had a fantastic turn out
and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Many thanks for all the
food donations and a big thanks to those that helped with the set up
and the clean up. The Executive has decided that this is an event we
should hold each year.
Nova
Synchro Club is run by Volunteers, and there is always an ongoing
need for volunteers. At this time we are still looking for someone
to take care of travel for the Tiers 1-5, as well we will require
counters for the Swim a thon on Nov. 02 & 04. If you are able to
help out at all please contact our Volunteer Co- 0rdinator
Daphne
Willan at jdwillan@shaw.ca
If
you should have any questions or concerns, please feel free to
contact me Sharon Thurston by e-mail thurst@shaw.ca
or any of the other Executive members.
Thank
you,
Sharon
Thurston, President Nova Synchro Club
Executive
meetings are open to all and our next meeting will take place Nov.
18/04 at 6:45pm. at Sherry Connors home
Please
RSVP. to Sharon Thurston at thurst@shaw.ca
Treasurer’s
Report
Highlights
of the 2004-2005 budget for those that missed the September AGM.
Unspent
funding from last year: $14,000 (WRC + Casino)
|
Estimated
INCOME 2004-05
|
|
|
Swim
Fees
|
$
57,630.00
|
|
Casino
portion
|
$
37,000.00
|
|
Grants
|
$
2,000.00
|
|
Swimathon
|
$
3,000.00
|
|
Subtotal
|
$
99,630.00
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated
EXPENSES
|
|
|
Pool
Rentals
|
$
20,000.00
|
|
Coach
Salaries
|
$
49,000.00
|
|
Synchro
Alberta
Registration
|
$
3,000.00
|
|
Competition
Fees
|
$
18,000.00
|
|
Other
Misc. Expenses
|
$
8,300.00
|
|
Subtotal
|
$
98,300.00
|
|
|
|
|
Expected
year end =
|
$
1,330.00
|
Analysis of last year’s expenses shows that on average each
swimmer gets a subsidy of $450
just to cover the basic expenses.
If we did not have our fundraisers of casino ($35,000 per
year), grants ($1K - $4K) and swimathon ($3,000), we would all be
paying an additional $45 per month. So please generously support
your swimmer in our annual swimathon,
which is coming up this November 2 and 4th.
Several
years ago, an executive with great foresight, tucked away $10,000
into a rainy day GIC. Last year we were forced to cash that out to
solve our cash flow problem prior to the arrival of the casino
funding. This year, the
executive has voted to take the profit from the Wildrose Classic
Meet last year and put it into a GIC for future use. WRC made $9,200
and we will top it up to a $10,000 GIC for the future. The remainder
we intend to use for program enhancements and equipment purchases
for this season.
Thanks
to all parents that have submitted the cheques for their ANNUAL swim
fees already. For those parents who are still delinquent, I would
like to gently remind you that it takes a lot of effort to keep
chasing you for those post dated cheques. Please submit your swim
fees right away. The Executive chose to freeze swim fees at the same
level that we have had for the past 3 years for this season, but you
may expect changes next year depending on whether we get another
casino.
Sherry
Connors, Treasurer
Scon2516@telus.net
Head
Coach Report for October
It
has been a busy September for all coaches at NOVA. I am pleased to
announce that all team routines are now underway, with some exciting
and innovative ideas brewing.
For
the second year running, we are pleased to be offering a
pre-competitive program for new swimmers or those who are interested
in learning their initial synchro skills for stars 1-3. I would like
to welcome Allison Keating to our club. Allison has lots of
experience in coaching swimming and synchro in
Calgary
, and will be working with our pre-competitives this year. Welcome
Allison!
All
competitive teams were announced by the end of September. We are
excited to have Gail McKnight returning to our 2x/week program. She
will be working with a team of 6 enthusiastic swimmers at the Tier 1
level. For our 3x/week program, we have four teams comprised of two
teams of 4 and two teams of 5. We also have three returning coaches,
Caitlin McElhone, Heather Bourassa and Amanda Podjarkowski.
In addition, we are pleased to welcome Laura Mumme
to our coaching staff at the Tier 2 level. These 4 coaches are
ex-swimmers of the club and we are really pleased to have them coach
with us.
We
have one Tier 4 team (of 7 swimmers) that will be competing both in
team event and the Tier 4/5 combo event. Jessica van Dyke has taken
on a co-coaching position with the club this year to prepare this
team for the competitive season. In addition, Mallory van Dyke has
joined the coaching staff to work at the Tier 4 level with Jessica.
Mallory has extensive experience swimming at the national level with
the
Auroras
, and we are pleased to have her working with NOVA. Cheryl Malachowski
and Kari Donahue will once again be sharing the Tier 6 team coaching
duties and preparing this team for their ultimate goal of National
Championships next May.
The
annual Swim-a-thon will be taking place on November 2nd
& 4th. This event not only helps the club
financially, it also is a great training tool for all levels. We are
also planning a Halloween party on October 28th and an
in-club figure meet (if judges are available) in November. On
November 6th, a number of our competitive athletes will
be completing tier testing at NAIT pool, hosted by Synchro
Alberta
. This is a new initiative by Synchro
Alberta
to assist club with testing their athletes. More details about this
testing will be released shortly.
Please
take a moment to review the most recent copy of the year-at-a-glance
calendar listed on this website. There are a number of dates that
have been released since the start of the season. The coaches’
biographies are included on this website as well to introduce each
coach to NOVA parents and swimmers.
As always, we would encourage parents and swimmers to approach the
coaches with any questions or concerns they might have. If you have
questions about the club structure or programs, please contact me at
karidonahue@shaw.ca.
Here’s to a great season!
Kari Donahue
Head
Coach
COACHES
CORNER
Tier
6 team news
The
Tier 6 team has had a busy few weeks of fast paced choreography and
intense training. We are working on building endurance,
strengthening our muscle groups, learning and re-learning about the
importance of core body strength and working feverishly on our team
routine. This year is the first year that we will be training
figures at this tier level, so we are focused on developing good
basic sculling and figure positions. And amidst all this work, we
are preparing for the tier testing at NAIT pool on November 6th.
We have a team of 10 eager young ladies who are dedicated to
reaching the ultimate goal of Nationals in June in
Saskatoon
,
Saskatchewan
.
Because
we’ve had a higher than normal number of ear infections in the
team, we want to encourage parents and swimmers to take precautions:
using earplugs if necessary, drying ears well after practice and as
the cold weather approaches… please cover ears and head properly
after practice with a hood or toque.
We
encourage parents to call if there are any questions.
Until
next time, keep synching!
Kari
and Cheryl
Caitlin’s
Team Update:
Well, my Tier 3 team has been together now for almost a month
and things are going really well. First I would like to welcome
Lauren Kirillo and Sarah Karesa
to Nova as well as to the Team, as well as congratulate Rhea Oldach,
Leah Harvey and Julie Tye for moving up
to the Tier 3 level this year- Good Job Girls!
This year the team has chosen music from the production
‘Stomp’. Everyone is having a lot of fun choreographing this
music as we try to work our way towards an African drum theme.
Thanks for all of you hard work Girls!...
I promise the ‘unders’ will get
easierJ
Tier
2 “L” Team
The
Tier 2 "L" Team, composed of Christine Ray, Stephanie
King, Aly Sadowski,
and Julia Brierley, is in full
swing as we progress into our exciting season.
Currently, we are focusing on the development of basic positions,
transitions, and sculls so the girls can have a great platform to
build more difficult skills off of. The girls are working very
hard and I am pleased to see how focused and keen they are on imporoving
their skills. Great job girls, keep it up!!
Laura
Mumme (Coach)
Pre-competive
The
pre-competitive girls are doing a great job so far! We have
been working
on strengthening our strokes - learning breast stroke for some and
new sculls
for everyone. We've been learning and working on our Star One
and Star three
figures too. Hopefully we will be able to be tested for star
three before
Christmas and star one shortly afterwards!
Allison
Tier
4 Team
Welcome
back to a new synchro year! This
year the tier 4 team has chosen to make figures and technical
training a key focus and the girls are off to an excellent start
buckling down and adding extra attention to everything they do.
Remember now the importance of carryover between practices,
try not to forget what has been identified in the past rather use it
and build on it as the season continues.
November
1st we will be embarking on a strict 6-week choreography
schedule for our team routine.
Allowing us a full week of practice prior
to the Watershow and Christmas break.
Please note that if you are absent from the pool during this
time it is the swimmers responsibility to familiarize herself with
the missed choreography PRIOR to the next practice.
This will assist us in not having to back track excessively
during review times.
This
year we had some debate over swimming a Combination routine, after
some well thought out discussions the girls have decided in favour
of the routine. We will
be swimming combo to a piece titled
“Why are you so quiet?” and of course we will be expecting our
audience to be anything but quiet. J
It is a fast paced piece that you are sure to enjoy.
Finally
please feel free to contact either of us if you have any questions
or in the case of absences.
Cheers,
Jessica
van Dyke
jvandyke@shaw.ca
Mallory
van Dyke
senoritachichi@hotmail.com
G"
Team
Once
again I find myself in the fortunate position of returning to the
competitive twice a week program. I am looking forward to
coaching a former team member Kimberly, and welcome the addition of
Alison, Allison, Ariell, Heather, Olivia
and Sari. The girls are all working hard. Each practice
we strive to learn new skills and
improve our basic skills,
flexibility, strength and endurance. We are making
gains every week. Upon successful completion of the Level 1
exam in November we will be able to compete at the Tier 1 Level this
season.
The
girls are contributing some ideas to the selection of our team
music. In collaboration with my swimmers we will be
developing a
fun team routine to showcase the personalities of the girls and the
theme of the music.
I
am proud to be associated with Nova Synchro and bring to the club a
passion for synchronizes swimming as well as numerous years of
coaching experience. I am confident that we will have
a terrific
season filled with excitement and challenges. I would
appreciate if you would let me know when your daughter will be
missing a practice. This will help me to plan effectively.
Please contact me with
any
questions or
concerns.
Keep
synching,
Gail
McKnight
Tier
3
Hi Everyone
Well the season is
well underway now. My girls are working hard
with all the workouts and drills. We are still working on our
basics
including positions, sculls and figures, but soon the choreography
will be
underway. Our team is doing awesome and they are bonding quite
well. Our
first team bonding session is coming up and is promising to be lots
of fun.
Keep up the awesome efforts girls and don't worry, the team will get
started
soon. Keep on smiling :)
Amanda
Tier
2
So
far so good! I’m afraid this past month has been incredibly boring
for the girls since we have not begun our routine yet. We’ve
mainly been focusing on figures and basic skills to prepare for Tier
testing on November 6. Not
to worry, we will begin working on routine within the next few
practices as we have picked out our theme which is a compellation of
idols throughout the years such as Elvis Presley, the Beatles,
Michael Jackson and N’sync.
I’d like to point out how much the girls have improved just
within this past month, its really quite
amazing. Good work ladies!
Heather
Bourassa
