In This Issue: A meet director ruminates about this past weekend
Way to Go, Team!
Dear ANA Hurricanes Families,
Thank you to EVERYONE for all of your help and effort with the ANA Hurricane Sprints at UConn this past weekend. The success that we have running our UConn meet would not be possible without the combined efforts of so many wonderful people. It would be impossible to list everyone who helped—or even those who went way over and above what was asked.
However, I absolutely need to identify and thank those from the Andover YMCA and from the Meet Planning Committee because these groups spent countless hours on the meet even before the first swimmer got wet. Please thank these people when you get a chance because every one of the 525 swimmers, 12 teams and 400 families in attendance benefited from their effort.
The Andover YMCA Staff that makes our swim team, and everything else, happen: Branch Executive Director Carrie Anderson, Senior Physical Director Bobbi Berkenbush and Membership Secretary Maddie Bamford.
The Concessions Committee who did an amazing job, considering the additional constraints put upon them by the University Health and Safety Department one week before the meet began: Beth D’Entremont, Diane Moore, Bill Nutter, Kristi Dunbar, Lisa Gray and Moira Ragonese.
Everyone else who organized/managed the other little pieces of the puzzle that is UConn: David Sweetser, Ed Hunter, Emma Frey, Marianne Sweetser, Paula Quinlan, Stacy Glancy, Pattie Cullum, Abbas Torabi and Christina Curtin-Orsmond.
We also need to thank our coaching staff. They are the ones who are ultimately responsible for getting our swimmers in the water so when they come out they are proud of what they have accomplished.
Here are some of the thoughts that I had about the weekend:
1. WOOOOOoooooo! has now become the “official” ANA battle cry for those swimming for something better than just a heat-winner prize. (It was also a good way for me to tell an entire pool where I was).
2. Swimmers might actually do housework if it is for a 3-foot-long inflatable chili pepper.
3. People will buy previous meet T-shirts if you sell them for $2.
4. With the right prize, a silent auction can be a very effective way to raise money.
5. New parents to the team can get very caught up in the work to be done at 3 p.m. on Friday and then begin to realize what actually just happened four hours later. They can also spend the rest of the weekend still trying to figure out the rest.
6. Salad, Pasta, Chicken Fingers, Chicken Breast, Cookies and Brownies can disappear very, very quickly when swimmers and volunteers get back from a long day at the pool.
7. Bagel Pizzas are an incredible way to recycle the morning’s bagels.
8. People will buy popcorn as fast as it’s made at 7:45 in the morning.
9. A 20% entry scratch rate in the PM sessions is very good for business—and morale.
10. 300-plus girls can go through an insane amount of toilet paper in a weekend.
11. Participating teams are willing to write us checks on the way out of the pool on Sunday afternoon to guarantee their entry into next year’s meet, not even knowing, or caring, when it is going to be.
Please forward any observations you may have had from this weekend to me at sedoyle@hanover.com, so I can add them to a future Hurricane Watch.
It will take a couple of weeks to compile the points and the point values from the weekend. I am sure Stacy Glancy is seeing numbers in her sleep, and I have a lot of post-meet reporting that needs to be done before I can begin.
Thank you so much again for all of your help, and I hope you all had as much fun this weekend as I did.
Sean Doyle
2008 ANA Hurricane Sprints Meet Director
Lost and Found
If you want to post something in this section of the Hurricane Watch, please include in your e-mail to Karen Bailey (karen.bailey@tufts.edu) a description of the lost item(s), the owner’s name and contact e-mail and phone number and the date and place it was lost.
When your item has been found, please e-mail Karen so she can remove it from the “Lost and Found” list.
Keep in Touch through the Team Website
We encourage you to use the team web site as a resource for our YMCA and US swimming programs. You’ll find the ANA Hurricanes at http://www.anahurricanes.com. The ANA site lists practice schedules, meets and directions, meet results and also includes links to the National YMCA Swimming and Diving,
With a couple of clicks of the mouse, families have a resource available to them 24/7.
The site’s webmaster is John Silva. If you have questions, comments or input on the site, you can e-mail John at jasilva397@aim.com.
Changed Your E-mail Address?
If you’ve changed your e-mail address or want to add another e-mail address to the distribution list for the team newsletter, please e-mail that info to karen.bailey@tufts.edu
Need to Contact a Coach?
Your first point of contact about your swimmer SHOULD ALWAYS BE his or her practice group coach.
You’ll find the coaching staff and the groups they coach at http://www.anahurricanes.com/coaches.asp.
Parent Advisory Board
Families with general questions about the program, events, swim meets, their obligations to the program and other non-coaching issues are encouraged to contact a member of the Parent Board:
You can find them and their e-mail addresses at http://www.anahurricanes.com/advisory_board.asp.
Mark Your Calendars!
June 21-22:
June 27-29:
* July 10-13:
* July 17-20:
* July 25-28:
* July 29-August 1: YMCA Meet. YMCA Summer Long Course Nationals,
* August 4-8:
* Swimmers must make qualifying times to compete in these meets.
