Hi all,
I am the president of my team, and we recently instituted a policy after having an increasing number of parents bringing children along to workout. (Usually in the case of both parents being swimmers, and one swims while the other watches the child, and then they switch off for the next workout.) We found a need to institute a policy after seeing a wide range of what parents considered to be acceptable behavior, and to be an acceptable level of supervision.
I am wondering if any of you would be willing to share any info about this subject at your team. I am wondering:
- Are members at your team allowed to bring children with them to workouts?
- Does your team have a written policy about this subject (for example, child must have an adult supervising them, child cannot be within a certain distance of the pool, etc.)? If so, can you share the wording of that policy?
Thanks for any info!
Tom,
A great story and a wonderful example of the fellowship and camaraderie of Masters Swimmers.
It puts me in mind of another story of a couple of very active Masters Swimmers. Their son was born on a Wednesday, 3 days before a meet they were helping to run. On Saturday, mom and baby showed up at the meet and dad helped out. The next year the wife started coaching a masters club. She would bring the son along to practice, and similar to Tom’s experience the team sort of adopted him. A couple of years later they had a daughter who also became a regular at practice. A side note; the wife ran practice on Wednesday, gave birth Thursday, missed Friday practice and was back at the pool for Sunday practice; with baby. The club and kids all turned out fine. If we had banned the kids, we never would have had the coach and the club would most likely have floundered.
Tom,
A great story and a wonderful example of the fellowship and camaraderie of Masters Swimmers.
It puts me in mind of another story of a couple of very active Masters Swimmers. Their son was born on a Wednesday, 3 days before a meet they were helping to run. On Saturday, mom and baby showed up at the meet and dad helped out. The next year the wife started coaching a masters club. She would bring the son along to practice, and similar to Tom’s experience the team sort of adopted him. A couple of years later they had a daughter who also became a regular at practice. A side note; the wife ran practice on Wednesday, gave birth Thursday, missed Friday practice and was back at the pool for Sunday practice; with baby. The club and kids all turned out fine. If we had banned the kids, we never would have had the coach and the club would most likely have floundered.
