first of all, congrats to the meet directors and all the volunteers on a job well done. so organized and efficient!! very impressive. the only thing i wish someone could explain to me is why the usms champ. committee changed the team scoring from large, medium and small team to clumping everyone in the same category. seems extremely unfair to have what i call "real teams" competing against state mega teams. there is no possibility for "real teams" to ever come close to competing against them. if you are going to give team awards at the end of the meet, is there any way you can do it fairly? our team is extremely proud to have gotten as many team members as we did to go to natls. (most of them for the first time), but unfortunately they were very disillusioned (as was i) with the idea that we would be competing against state teams. as one of the coaches i didn't have an explanation. even though we were very proud of our 7th place finish in men's division, and our 12th place in combined, we were only one of a few "real teams" in the top ten. would appreciate responses. maybe even someone from the champ.committee could explain how they felt this scoring system would be more fair to the majority of swimmers. then i can pass it along to my teammates.. i don't want them to be so disillusioned that they lose interest in attending any future natls. thanks
How about..
Within LMSC compete as Club Team
Outside LMSC or Nationals compete as State Team
Outside Country or International meets compete as National Team
Please no. I like my club. I am proud of the work that goes into it and its competitive tradition, and I would rather not be part of some "team" that is a group in name only. Honestly, I think LMSC and state teams are bad for competition: If you want to swim relays get four people from your team to go! That way you encourage your teammates to push themselves, both in competition and training.
(It is hilarious how many people on my team come in swearing they won't compete, get nagged into going to a team focus meet, and wind up sucked in and ready to go to nationals.)
So I would rather superteams didn't exist at all. However, at least with two divisions, you wouldn't be actively promoting a worse option.
How about..
Within LMSC compete as Club Team
Outside LMSC or Nationals compete as State Team
Outside Country or International meets compete as National Team
Please no. I like my club. I am proud of the work that goes into it and its competitive tradition, and I would rather not be part of some "team" that is a group in name only. Honestly, I think LMSC and state teams are bad for competition: If you want to swim relays get four people from your team to go! That way you encourage your teammates to push themselves, both in competition and training.
(It is hilarious how many people on my team come in swearing they won't compete, get nagged into going to a team focus meet, and wind up sucked in and ready to go to nationals.)
So I would rather superteams didn't exist at all. However, at least with two divisions, you wouldn't be actively promoting a worse option.
