Originally posted by Karen Duggan
1) We all work out at Heather Farm Pool in Walnut Creek at any one of five different practice times. (I, myself, make use of many different times with three kids at home, etc...)
What is the difference between working out at the same pool at different times and working out in different pools at different times? You're still not actually interacting together. Just because you swim at the same place doesn't mean you even know each other! I did an informal survey comparing how many people on my own subteam (Wildcat Masters) I knew and how many people I knew from SKY who swam in Indianapolis. I know 97 out of 167 on Wildcat, which is 58% (and that's probably a higher percentage than for most of my teammates because I'm the president and I go out of my way to meet people); of the 67 SKY swimmers who came to Indianapolis, I already knew 50 of them, which is 75%. By the time the meet was over I knew 100% of them!
2) We all share the same three coaches who are present at any of the said workouts.
OK, I'll grant you that all of us in Swim Kentucky don't have the same coach. Most of the various team coaches work together at Nationals though. I have received coaching from several of the other team coaches at various Nationals.
3) Most of us travel together to meets (car pool, book the same airline reservations, eat and room together...)
So do we.
4) We have many team functions (parties, swims, awards, clinics, dinners, etc.)
We don't really do this much in SKY, either in the clubs or the teams. Most of us barely have time to squeeze workouts in, much less parties. But I would like to do this. It would be fun!
5) We support each other during practices with good examples and encouraging words.
We do this too, though mainly via email and when we see each other at meets.
6) We actively recruit "old" swimming friends to join our team. Most of the people on our team have age-group experience.
So do we.
7) We have team apparel and caps.
So do we.
8) For the most part we all get along really well.
So do we!
9) Most of all we have fun. Because if it's not fun it's not Walnut Creek Masters swimming.
So do we! You don't have a monopoly on that!
10) When we signed up for Masters we joined Walnut Creek Masters, an individual club team.
Well, obviously I can't give a "so do we" response to that! But I fundamentally disagree with your thesis that we are not a club because we aren't set up the same way you are.
I think we have more in common than it might first appear on the surface.
One more misconception I'd like to correct: we don't compete as SKY only for Nationals. We also compete as SKY at "mini-meets" we hold throughout the year.
Meg
Originally posted by Karen Duggan
1) We all work out at Heather Farm Pool in Walnut Creek at any one of five different practice times. (I, myself, make use of many different times with three kids at home, etc...)
What is the difference between working out at the same pool at different times and working out in different pools at different times? You're still not actually interacting together. Just because you swim at the same place doesn't mean you even know each other! I did an informal survey comparing how many people on my own subteam (Wildcat Masters) I knew and how many people I knew from SKY who swam in Indianapolis. I know 97 out of 167 on Wildcat, which is 58% (and that's probably a higher percentage than for most of my teammates because I'm the president and I go out of my way to meet people); of the 67 SKY swimmers who came to Indianapolis, I already knew 50 of them, which is 75%. By the time the meet was over I knew 100% of them!
2) We all share the same three coaches who are present at any of the said workouts.
OK, I'll grant you that all of us in Swim Kentucky don't have the same coach. Most of the various team coaches work together at Nationals though. I have received coaching from several of the other team coaches at various Nationals.
3) Most of us travel together to meets (car pool, book the same airline reservations, eat and room together...)
So do we.
4) We have many team functions (parties, swims, awards, clinics, dinners, etc.)
We don't really do this much in SKY, either in the clubs or the teams. Most of us barely have time to squeeze workouts in, much less parties. But I would like to do this. It would be fun!
5) We support each other during practices with good examples and encouraging words.
We do this too, though mainly via email and when we see each other at meets.
6) We actively recruit "old" swimming friends to join our team. Most of the people on our team have age-group experience.
So do we.
7) We have team apparel and caps.
So do we.
8) For the most part we all get along really well.
So do we!
9) Most of all we have fun. Because if it's not fun it's not Walnut Creek Masters swimming.
So do we! You don't have a monopoly on that!
10) When we signed up for Masters we joined Walnut Creek Masters, an individual club team.
Well, obviously I can't give a "so do we" response to that! But I fundamentally disagree with your thesis that we are not a club because we aren't set up the same way you are.
I think we have more in common than it might first appear on the surface.
One more misconception I'd like to correct: we don't compete as SKY only for Nationals. We also compete as SKY at "mini-meets" we hold throughout the year.
Meg
