Top 10 Reasons to Renew Your USMS Membership Now

I'm concerned about the "workout groups" who have no coach or club organization. Are these swimmers receiving the information they can use from our USMS for their swimmers in a timely fashion or ever? The Coaches Streamlines newsletter should go out to anyone who checks off "Coach" on their USMS Registration if the LMSC offers that option. As well, the LMSC Coaches Chair should have a current and working list of the head coaches in their LMSC for communications. A BOD run club should be connected to at least one of these two options or they might find themselves in the dark at least for now. So - are all of your BOD members currently USMS registered? Be sure they are checked off as a "COACH" if your club does not have a masters coach. And - if you have a masters coach, is the coach USMS registered? You might be surprised at how many coaches are not USMS registered. Totally agree that communications to the "grass roots" people is essential. But I don't think that should be entirely on the shoulders of the national office; in fact, I think the LMSC should be at the forefront of that effort. They should know their own "backyard" better than people in Sarasota, after all. When a club registers they have to give contact information. I assume this is true of workout groups? (We have none in Virginia so I am not sure.) I am sure that club renewal notices go out to that contact, but sometimes it isn't the proper person. For example, if a swim club uses some health facility or a Y, the person listed as the contact might be the aquatics director, or even the club manager. That person might not know much (or care) about masters swimming. Coaches are thus a good backup contact, if that person isn't listed as the primary contact. As far as subscribing to Coaching Streamlines: you don't have to check that box on your registration form. I get the email and I never did indicate I was a coach. At the bottom of any Streamlines email newsletter there is a link to update your profile. You can subscribe to all the Streamlines (there are 3 of them I think) if you wish.

Is it possible to register unattached and still swim in a meet? There suddenly is a fee for me to register with a team. Since I seldom swim in a meet (but would like the option), I'm wondering if this is possible. Also, do you have to register in the LMSC where you live? I'm noticing some wide variances in LMSC fees. I've swam meets UNAT, but you will not be permitted to swim any relays without a club affiliation.

Is it possible to register unattached and still swim in a meet? There suddenly is a fee for me to register with a team. Since I seldom swim in a meet (but would like the option), I'm wondering if this is possible. Also, do you have to register in the LMSC where you live? I'm noticing some wide variances in LMSC fees. Tim, with all due respect we have been telling people for the last 6 months that we would be requiring USMS membership to be a part of MAC. As we have explained in detail, this is not to in any way to force or even suggest that our members swim in meets. Rather we believe that there is value in the membership for both the swimmer and the club....one of which for us means we will be dropping the 3rd party insurance we pay close to $3000 a year for and will be able to keep your dues at $60 a month.

Mark - Excellent, multi-pronged approach to improving club registration! I, for one, was grateful my club (and workout group) was in place early, as it allowed me to register as an individual, early! Thanks!

The Coaches Streamlines newsletter should go out to anyone who checks off "Coach" on their USMS Registration if the LMSC offers that option. Yes, the "Streamlines for Coaches" publication does go to anyone who checks the "Masters coach" box when they register. (And that box is required to be on every LMSC's paper form.) As far as subscribing to Coaching Streamlines: you don't have to check that box on your registration form. I get the email and I never did indicate I was a coach. At the bottom of any Streamlines email newsletter there is a link to update your profile. You can subscribe to all the Streamlines (there are 3 of them I think) if you wish. Chris's statement is correct. There are three distinct publications: Streamlines: Monthly e-newsletter, distributed to all USMS members Streamlines for Coaches: Monthly e-newsletter for coaches, distributed as described above Streamlines for Volunteers: Bi-monthly e-newsletter for USMS volunteers (such as LMSC officers, convention delegates, committee members)

Is it possible to register unattached and still swim in a meet? There suddenly is a fee for me to register with a team. Since I seldom swim in a meet (but would like the option), I'm wondering if this is possible. Also, do you have to register in the LMSC where you live? I'm noticing some wide variances in LMSC fees. Yes, you may swim in a meet as UNAT. As noted by a previous poster, you can swim in individual events but you can't participate on any "legal" relays. A legal relay must consist of four swimmers who all belong to the same club. ("Unattached" isn't a club.) Our insurance covers you in a meet or a workout no matter whether you are registered with a club or as UNAT, as long as you are registered for the current year (and meet the other insurance requirements; for workouts, for example, everyone in the workout must be a current USMS member.) And you can register with any LMSC that you like. Some are a little cheaper than others. The drawback is that you will only receive the local communications from that LMSC and not from where you live. So if you register with Alaska, for example, you'll probably receive lots of notices about the upcoming meets in Anchorage!

Perhaps I can shed a little light on the effort to get our clubs registered. While not a "top dog", I work for USMS. The on-time club registration period runs from October 1 - October 31. For 2010 there were 342 or 49% registered on-time For 2011 there were 506 or 73% registered on-time Since October 1st, we have registered another 123 clubs or 90% This didn't happen by accident. Working with the registration committee, we put together a multi-pronged plan to improve our membership retention (on an individual level it is only 61%). It started with having clubs registered on-time so members could register. While we didn't achieve our goal of 100% by Oct. 31st, we did improve over last year. The clubs that have renewed represent 54,376 of our 54,949 members. We started in September with communication with the local registrars regarding registering their clubs. Then the club development staff contacted the LMSC registrars to ask how they could help. Club communication was directed to the club contact. In some cases this is a coach, it could be a board chair, it could be the club owner. We used Streamlines for Coaches to also communicate this message to club coaches on Oct 14. On Oct 16, the USMS president wrote to all LMSC leadership about club renewal. Starting on Oct 20, the club development staff called the contact for every club that had not yet renewed. On Oct 28, we sent an email to the clubs that had not renewed. Starting on November 1st, we began contacting all clubs that were now late renewing. As you can see, we didn't just focus on the club coach. The club contact is our primary point of contact for most club information. We use Streamlines to reach out to coaches as well. LMSC leadership, specifically the registrars have been extremely involved in helping us work towards our goals this year.

... Our insurance covers you in a meet or a workout no matter whether you are registered with a club or as UNAT, as long as you are registered for the current year (and meet the other insurance requirements; for workouts, for example, everyone in the workout must be a current USMS member.) ... Anna Lea - For tho solo swimmer, practicing on his own in a local pool, does the insurance coiver this, or isn't there a stipulation that there has to be a "coach"?

And you can register with any LMSC that you like. Some are a little cheaper than others. The drawback is that you will only receive the local communications from that LMSC and not from where you live. So if you register with Alaska, for example, you'll probably receive lots of notices about the upcoming meets in Anchorage! Also, your money would go to fund any projects in the LMSC you join. Besides paying for the communications that Anna Lea notes, that might include things like subsidizing clinics or coaching development. LMSCs might have different fees based on the services they provide their members, and the size of their membership base. And let's be clear that the range isn't huge (at least IMO), the middle 50% spanning a range of $5.50, and the maximum fee being $4 more than the average fee in 2010. The main reason I hear about people registering for an LMSC other than the one they reside in is because they moved from another area recently and still want to swim with their old buddies.

No, it wouldn't cover the situation you describe. For workouts, it covers: "Swimming practice where all participants are members of USMS or USA Swimming, and under the direct supervision of a USMS member or USA Swimming certified coach." "Direct supervision" means that the person must be on the deck or in the line of sight of the swimmers in the water; that person can't be working out with the group. You can read more in the Insurance section of the USMS Guide to Operations: www.usms.org/.../gto_ins_general.pdf