Piranha Families ---

The following is a summary of the meeting that was held last Thursday evening for those that could not attend:

1. Registration: Registration begins Monday, May 1st (See Kevin Lynch's email).  The registration fees have not increased this season from last season.  Note that Swimptopia/Stipe add $3 per swimmer when you register.  If for any reason the registration fees are a financial burden for your family please contact Katie, Cindy A., or myself and we will work something out.

2. Coaches:

a. Nic Santorelli - Head Coach: Nic has coached with us for 2 seasons and is a former Piranha. 

b. Lucas Farina - Asst. Head Coach: Lucas is currently in their first year at Vermont and will be coaching for the first time with the Piranhas. Lucas was also a lifelong Piranha!

c. Madeleine Khouri - Jr. Asst. Coach: Madeleine is completing her senior year at Damascus High School and is very excited to join the coaching staff in her last season as a member of the Piranhas.

d. Keegan Gregory - Jr. Asst. Coach: Keegan is completing his junior year at Poolesville High School.  Keegan has been coaching for 3 years at JFD and will be coaching with the Piranhas for the first time.

We have a young and inexperienced coaching staff, so be patient as we learn our roles.  We are fortunate to have a homegrown coaching staff.  As of last week there were 10 teams in the league without  a head coach.  I am confident this crew is going to do a fantastic job.  Julia has indicated she will be available to help with lineups and sub as a coach on occasion.  I have also asked Matt Giroux, former head coach, to coach a couple Wednesdays to give the kids some variety to look forward to as well.

3. Practice Schedule:

We met with the pool board and had a very good meeting for arranging practices.  The following is the current planned schedule:

a. May 30th - July 18th:

M-F: Afternoon practice while school is in session.  We received 3 one-hour time slots and will need to stay in our 3 designated lanes.  A fourth lap lane will exist for pool members to swim in while we are practicing.  We will determine the age groups for the time slots once we complete registration.

4-5pm

5-6pm

6-7pm

b. Saturday, June 3rd: 

We will have AM practice as follows:

8-9:30am: 11-18 year olds

9:30-10:30am: 10 and under (10u)

c. June 19th - July 19th: 

M-F: After school is out our primary practice will be in the morning and we will be starting 1/2-hour earlier at 7:30am as follows:

7:30-9am: 11-18 year olds

9-10am: 10u

10-10:30am: Pre-team (Note: No Pre-Team practice on FRIDAYS!!)

d. June 19th - July 19th:

M,T, and Th: We will have a 1-hour afternoon practice on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday for those who have morning camp, school, or appointments as follow:

5:45-6:45pm

4. Season Schedule:

The following are notes on the preliminary schedule.

a. Piranha Pass Down will occur again this year at the June 3rd Saturday AM practice.  If you have any suits, shirts, that you want to pass on to a younger team member please bring those to practice the first week and we will prepare them for the pass down on the 3rd.

b. Korinne Panchura has done a ton of work getting prepared for this season.  She has reserved June 23rd at 6pm for the Parents Night Out at 61 Vineyard.  We will continue many of the activities from last year, but if you have any ideas Korinne would love to hear them.

c. We have 8 meets at home this season, Time Trials, 3 A-meets, 3 B-meets, and the Piranha Relays.

d. B Relay Carnival is at Quail Valley but we are responsible for running a majority of this meet, since it is our year to run the B-league and host this meeting.  Please be prepared to help out at this meet.  I will coordinate with Quail Valley to see where they can use our help.

e. We have one very busy week that I want to prepare you for now.  It will be 6 meets in 8 days, so very very, very busy,  We will need your help!  July 7th through July 16th is as follows:

July 7th - Damascus Parade

July 8th - Last A Home Meet (Senior Day - Khouri, Lynch, Truong)

July 9th - A- Relay Carnival @ Whetstone

July 12th - Home B-Meet (Quail Valley)

July 13th - B-Relay Carnival @ Quail Valley

July 15th - Last A Meet @ Long Branch (Long Drive!!)

July 16th - Piranha Relays!

We may also have Bowling stuck in there.  Bottom line is that it is a busy week and we will need everyone's support to get through all of these events!

f. Banquet will be July 23rd from 5-9pm.  The pool will close at 7pm for us to go ahead and swim for 2 hours.

5. Volunteers:  As I said last time...we  need everyone to make this work.  We are a small team and it takes all of us to run these meets and activities.  We need parents to train for the following key positions:

a. Team Rep: Mike is retiring after this season.

b. Concessions: Allison is retiring after this season.

c. Officials: We need people to get trained.  The training schedule was sent out previously.  If you have any questions see one of the Reps.

d. Automation: Mary is going to help, but her daughter is getting married so she won't be available all of the time.  Any computer/data entry experts, this is a job for you.

e. Sponsorship / Ice Cream: Both positions are vacant and are a key source of funds for the team.  Please see a Team Rep if you can help!

Let me know if there is any other position where you would like to use your skills.  Many hands makes lite work.

That is all for now, if you have any questions please let me know.  I will be hosting a new parents night the first day of practice to discuss how the team operates everyday for anyone interested.

1 month until we are in the pool.  Looking forward to a great season! 

Go Piranhas!

Mike, Katie, Cindy