The Week Ahead: 12.4 to 12.9

BUILDING A T-E-A-M
What a great week of practice. This team is slowly coming together.

Though swimming seems to be an "individual sport," the success is dependent on the sum of all the "individual" parts. No swim meet is won by one swimmer or performance and no individual performance is the result of the work of the individual through the course of a season. The encouragement of teammates, and the input from peers and coaches helps an individual athlete Press On to become the best they can be.

Saturday's practice was an example of that. During our lactic set I heard TEAMMATES encourage one another. Sometimes encouragement it comes through little jabs and challenges to get someone to race, and sometimes it comes through the loud cheering heard and seen on deck as someone is swimming their hardest. No one does it alone.

Also on Saturday, as athletes were working on starts, I saw older, more experienced athletes coaching younger, less experienced athletes (as well as each other). It came in the form of specific instruction, demonstration and videoing each other and pointing out areas to improve. I Loved It. No one does it alone.

Lot's of life lessons here too. No One Succeeds Alone!!

This week gives us two opportunities two opportunities to continue to work on building a TEAM. Our first one comes on Tuesday as we swim against West Ottawa (See info below). It's a great opportunity for athletes to encourage each other and to demonstrate how important team is in an "individual sport."

Our second opportunity is to support three of our athletes that will be in Knoxville Tennessee for a Junior Nationals competition. Skyler, Riley and Ian head out on Tuesday for their meet which runs Wednesday through Saturday. You can follow their progress on the live results page and send them your encouragement through tweets and texts.

COMMUNICATION
Just a reminder to think about adding your phone number to the group text list. You can join our team text app which is great for those last minute schedule changes due to weather, etc.. Simply dial 81010 and text the code "@hchsswim" and register as either a parent or student. Please use your full and correct name.

You can also get automatic emails after this blog is completed. Just click the "Follow Us" link in the right hand banner.

PRACTICE THIS WEEK
Practice Location & Times For This Week
We again have a normal week. with our first Dual meet stuck in there. Routine is good.

• Monday, Wednesday, Thursday - Normal Practices
• Dryland at the front end
• In the water at 4:00
• Finished at 6:00
• Friday - Normal Practices
• No Dryland
• In the water at 3:30
• Finished at 5:30
• Saturday - Practice 
• 7:00am - 9:00am 

MEETS THIS WEEK
Our first Dual meet AT West Ottawa - December 5th 
Meet Starts at 6:00pm
Athletes should be on deck at 4:45 at West Ottawa High School South Campus

West Ottawa has a very large team, but the meet should wrap up by about 8:30.

A LOOK AHEAD
Our first HOME Meet vs Grand Haven - December 14th 
Meet Starts at 6:30pm
Athletes should be on deck at 5:15

We will have a little time for parents and team members to hang out with pizza following the meet. Normally our post meet meals are for the team, but it's important for our parents to put names, faces, and parents all together. Look for a sign up coming via email.