Mustang Monthly- Internet Edition

September 2005

 A big Mustang welcome goes out to all of our new swimmers, and welcome back to all our returning Mustangs! I know that many swimmers were excited to get the season started. Our tryouts at the end of July and the first weeks in September were successful and as a result, we have many new Dallas Mustangs swimmers and families.   

 

The Mustangs are coming off another exciting season (new families, please see the August newsletter) and we have high goals for the upcoming short course season.  We will continue to offer a top-notch program for the entire family.  Again this year we will have swimmers competing at every level, from beginner to national swimmers.

 
Team Email Communication - Important!

 

As you are all aware, we have had somewhat of an interesting start to our season this year with the pool challenges we have faced.  Our primary means of communication to notify you of changes is via e-mail.  We have already had a multitude of e-mails sent out because of unavoidable changes to the schedule and in the next few months, there is probably going to be a lot more information coming your way—scheduling changes, information on the annual intrasquad meet, various social events, meet information, parent meetings, etc. It is extremely important that you let me know if you have not been receiving e-mails or if you have a change of e-mail address at any time during the year.  I have inputted all the e-mail addresses that I have received from the registration chairman, but many of them are being returned to me.  My contact information is Donna Watters, 214-890-0227 (home), 214-535-3205 (cell), vp@dmswim.com.    

 

FALL SCHEDULE

 

The following schedule will remain in effect until further notice:

Loos:
N - 5:00 - 7:30 pm (M - F)

       5:45 – 7:00 am (M,W,F)    
G -  5:30 - 7:30 pm (M - F)
S -  6:00 - 7:30 pm (M - F)
BI - 5:30 - 6:30 pm (M - F)
BII - 6:30 -7:30 pm (M - F)

HP:
G -  4:30 - 6:30 pm (M - TH), 4:30 - 6:00 (F)
SII - 4:30 - 6:00 pm (M - F)       
SI - 6:45 - 8:15 pm (M – F)
B - 6:00 - 7:00 pm (M - F)
Pre-competition - individually scheduled WITH coach

CFB:
Red and Blue - 4:30 -5:30 pm (M - TH) 

             

We Need Your Help!

The Dallas Mustangs will host the 18th Annual Haunted Hat "B/C" meet at Loos pool on Saturday and Sunday, October 22 and 23. There will be three sessions over two days, so there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer and earn Mustang Bucks. Volunteers are needed for awards, hospitality, clerk of course, runners, timing systems operators, set up, and tear down. Please help us out by volunteering for the meet.  Volunteers will be awarded Mustang Bucks to be applied towards your swimmer's dues.  Please consult your policy manual for our Mustang Bucks policy.

Jim Cuaderes is our meet director and he will be posting information at the pools regarding his volunteer needs.  He will also have sign-up sheets at the picnic (Sunday, October 2nd). You can contact Jim at jcuaderes@littler.com (work e-mail); quadlawyer@sbcglobal.net (home e-mail); 214- 880-8113 (work phone) or 214-340-1938 (home phone). Many of the swimmers in this meet will come from the Bronze group, so if you are a parent of one of these swimmers we are encouraging you to please sign up and help us make this meet a success.

You can also assist by donating food, drinks, or other items for hospitality. Donations of items are greatly appreciated.

INTRASQUAD MEET

  

We will have our annual intrasquad meet on Wednesday, October 6th.  All swimmers and parents should plan to be there by 5:30 pm – there will not be any workouts at any of the other pools.  There will be a mandatory parent meeting for all families new to our team at 5:30.  (Returning parents are highly encouraged to attend also because we will explain the new meet entry policy).  The meet will begin at 6:30 and will last approximately one hour.  Swimmers from all groups are divided by our head coach, Mook Rhodenbaugh, into 8 different teams.  Each swimmer has an opportunity to swim a couple of sprint swims and the team displaying the best team spirit, wins the meet.  It is a great opportunity for team building and those new to the team to get to know swimmers from the other groups and pools.  Please make every effort to participate—it’s guaranteed to be a ton of fun for the kids! WE WILL BE HAVING A CAN DRIVE THAT EVENING FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE HURRICANE – PLEASE HELP BY BRINGING ANY CANNED GOODS.  THANK YOU!!!

 

Buddy Family Program

 

We are still looking for volunteers for the buddy family program. The purpose of this program is to help our new families with their transition to the Mustangs. These families may be first time year-round swimmers or transfers from other teams, and our goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible. If you are interested in volunteering or if you have any questions about the program, please contact Amy Weeks at 972-491-3571 or  lsa.weeks@verizon.net .

                                

 

ATTENTION MUSTANG PARENTS

 

Parents of all groups, please help the coaches by staying in the stands during practices. Loos and CFB parents can sit anywhere upstairs and HP parents need to stay on the diving board end of the pool in the stands.  Please do not talk to the coaches during practice—the coaches are responsible for the swimmers in the pool. If you have any concerns or questions, you may talk to them after practice. Also, when a coach is giving a private lesson, please do not interrupt them with questions. Thank you for your understanding.

 

OFFICIALS NEEDED!

 

Dallas Mustangs is the 2nd largest team in North Texas, yet we only have 2 certified Stroke & Turn judges.  We need your help!!! 

 

In order for the Dallas Mustangs to host future meets, we need to have more officials. In addition, we are required to provide officials at meets hosted by other teams in which the Mustangs are swimming at.  We especially need parents whose children are in the ‘B/C’ or ‘BB’ level, but we welcome you if your children are in the ‘A’ or ‘National’ level.  No experience required—we provide all the training.  If you are interested in participating, please contact Victor Kimm via email at Vkimm@hdrinc.com. If we can get 4 or 5 parents interested in the training, we can hold our own clinic at Loos.

 

Benefits of being a judge:

  1. You show your children how interested in swimming you really are.
  2. You get to be down at pool level to see your child compete.
  3. You get to learn more about swimming than you ever thought possible.
  4. At the B/C level meets you get to see some real creative strokes and “Kodak Moments” that you can’t see from the stands.
  5. You get a chance to get wet and get some exercise to boot.
  6. Finally, you get Mustang Bucks in the form of $100.00 for working a minimum of 2 sessions at each of 4 swim meets during the year at meets hosted by other teams.  You get the standard Mustang Bucks ($10 for 5-10 hours/$25 for more than 10 hours) at our DM hosted meets and double for the DASA meet.  So potentially -- if you worked 4 meets for other teams plus all our hosted meets and the DASA meet -- you could earn $250.00 in Mustang Bucks over the course of the year. 

 

So, please support your Dallas Mustangs and start now!

 

Add these links to your favorite’s lists

 

Dallas Mustangs website:     http://www.dmswim.com

North Texas LSC website:    http://www.ntswim.org

USA Swimming website:      http://www.usa-swimming.org

 

All three of these websites have lots of helpful information.  Our website is updated frequently with issues that concern our team primarily and has an archive of newsletters we’ve sent out over the years.  North Texas’ website has the calendar for swim meets, results of meets, meet information and many other important swimming links.  USA

Swimming has an even broader scope and also includes educational material for both swimmers and parents.  

 

Poinsettia Sale

 

We will be having our annual poinsettia fundraising sale again this year.  If you or your friends are decorating your homes for the holidays, please buy your poinsettias from the Dallas Mustangs.  In addition to being beautiful, seasonal and long lasting, they make perfect gifts!  The plants are all about 17 inches tall, very full, and will have foil already wrapped around the pot.  More information will follow in the next month but please keep this in mind.

 

Swimmer Recognition

 

Spindrift Beck and Matt Thompson will represent the Dallas Mustangs when they travel to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in November to attend the USA Swimming National Select Camp.  Athletes for this camp are selected after Junior Nationals based on the STAR database of top national times.  The fastest two athletes in each event who have never been on a USA National or Junior National team are invited to attend this camp.  Selected females must be 13 or 14 years old at the time of performance, selected males must be between 13 and 16.  Spin was selected in the 200 IM, Matt in the 100 back.  The purpose of the National Select Camp is to identify, motivate and encourage the selected athletes, and to further the educational development of these athletes and their coaches utilizing the latest in technical resources available exclusively at the center.   Congratulations, Spin and Matt!!!

 

 

 DM Tuition Policy Reminder

The Dallas Mustangs is a competitive year round age-group swimming program.  As such we strive to provide consistent quality coaching and workout facilities.  To achieve this goal we establish pool rental contracts and salary commitments with our coaching staff for a full 12-month period. Tuition amounts are established based on the 12-month budget and divided into monthly or quarterly amounts to provide reasonable payment options for our Dallas Mustang families.  The Dallas Mustangs Swim Team is not, and was not designed to be a swim program where swimmers drop in one month and out the next.  Flexibility has always been important to us.  We try to work with each family on the team and we will continue to do so. 

 

Tuition may be paid quarterly: September, December, March, and June, or monthly.  Tuition paid monthly includes a $5.00 per month processing fee.  (If tuition for the quarter is not paid by the due date, monthly payment has automatically been selected.)

 

·         Tuition is due from September through August.  (If you swim in July, you are responsible for August tuition.)

·         Tuition is due on the 1st of each month/quarter.

·         Leave of Absence (LOA) is available only for injury and medical reasons.

·         There will be a $10.00 per month tuition discount for the second and subsequent swimmers in the same family.  The fourth swimmer is free, but all swimmers must pay the annual registration fee.

·         A swimmer transferring from another team must be in good standing with their old team.

·         Statements are only mailed quarterly. If you have chosen to pay monthly, it is your responsibility to remember to mail or drop off tuition by the first of each month that we do not send statements.

·         There will be a $5.00 per family late fee after the 10th of the month for non-zero balance accounts.

·         The swimmer(s) may be barred from swimming if there is an aged account balance is excess of 60 days.

·         Please indicate in the memo portion of all checks what the payment is for (i.e. Dues – swimmer’s name, meet account, supplies, etc.).

·         If there is a problem with your billing, please contact the treasurer.

·         Should circumstances prevent full payment of your tuition, please contact the president.  Scholarships and alternate payment plans will be addressed on a case by case basis.  (Please Note: Lack of communication is not an option!)

·         Should you choose to leave the team – it is your responsibility to contact the treasurer or registration chairman.  (Informing the coach does not fulfill this responsibility!)

·         If you choose to leave the team for the summer, you must go through the tryout process in the fall. You may not return to workouts until you have attended the tryout, completed paperwork and paid your fees.  You are not automatically guaranteed a spot on the team. If your group is full, your name will be placed on the waiting list.  Any tuition/fee balances that were not paid when you left the team must be paid prior to re-joining the team. 

·         If you choose to leave the team at any point during the year, you MAY NOT represent the Dallas Mustangs at any swim meet or event that occurs after the date you have left the team. Should you choose to participate in a swim meet after you have left the team, you must register for the meet and swim as unattached (Team = UN).  

·         Tuition may be sent with the swimmer to the pool, or mailed to the Treasurer:

DM Treasurer – Shannon Rusch

603 Hood Dr.

Coppell, Texas 75019

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