HEY THERE HAMMERHEADS!!!!!!!!!

The countdown clock officially says THREE DAYS UNTIL OUR FIRST PRACTICE!!!! We are SO EXCITED to see everyone again and have the family back together. There is so much to look forward to this season and we truly hope to make it one of the best yet. Below, we listed some information that will be very useful to you in the upcoming week. An item list is also located below to help you efficiently navigate through all of the important content.

1. Practice Times and What to Bring
2. No Practice Days / End of Season Party
3. Meets
4. Time Trials
5. Volunteers for Meets
6. Junior Sharks
7. Team Merchandise (Team T-shirts, Bathing Suits, Caps, and more)
8. OUR AMAZING WONDERFUL AWESOME SPONSORS!!!!
    

1. Practice Times and What to Bring

Practice Times can always be found on our website (hhsta.swim-team.us). The afternoon practices will always stay the same (even after Memorial Day). We will NEVER have Friday afternoon practices or afternoon practices on Meet Days. Morning practice will begin AFTER Memorial Weekend and will run Monday – Friday in the mornings.

What to bring to practice:

• Bathing suit: We prefer girls to wear a one piece swim suit to practice. If boys wear swim trunks (not racing suits), we prefer for the trunks the have a drawstring that can be tied tightly around the waist. The tighter the suit is, the easier it will be for each swimmer to swim laps.
•  Goggles: Costco sells a Speedo 3-Pack. If your child does not lose a pair of goggles over the course of the season, that is highly unusual and you are a champion for making that happen.
• Hair Ties and/or Swim Caps: For parents with children who have medium to long hair, hair ties are a true necessity while at practice or meets. Hair is heavy, especially when it’s wet. If hair is not tied up, it is like swimming with a five pound brick behind your body. We recommend designating a swim bag and buying a Costco pack of hair ties to leave in your swim bag at all times. Swim Caps also make it easier for your swimmer to keep their hair out of their face and keep resistance in the water down.
• Water Bottle: Hydration is Happiness.
• Towel: Being dry after swimming in chilly water is also happiness.

2. No Practice Days / Party Date

• No Friday AFTERNOON Practices
• No Afternoon Practices on Meet Days
• No Practice Memorial Day
• Last Practice (Morning Only): May 27th
• End of Season Party: June 30th
  **If you can come to the party, you absolutely should!! It’s filled with trophies, traditions, awards, food, and awesome community. Not to mention it is our time to publicly dote on how incredibly awesome and wonderful your children are. We look forward to it every year and really really hope you and your family can come.

3. Meets

• Meet Details can be found on the website (hhsta.swim-team.us). Swimmers are expected to be at the location of the swim meet between 4-4:15PM and the meet formally begins at 5:30PM. Do not worry if you feel like you do not completely have your hands around the logistics of swim meets – plenty of emails about them will come to you later down the road.

4. TIME TRIALS

• PLEASE DO NOT MISS TIME TRIALS IF AT ALL POSSIBLE!!!! Time Trials will happen every Thursday afternoon (with the exception of the first week). We are normally incredibly flexible in terms of missing practices as needed, but time trials are INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. Time Trials are how we plan our meets – without your children’s times and our notes about their strokes, we are not able to effectively plan our swim meets. In addition, Time Trials give us loads of information regarding strengths and weaknesses about individual swimmers and whole age groups. This information is used to plan effective, thoughtful practices throughout the season.
• EXCITING NEWS: Forget worrying about making dinner on Thursday nights! From Nacho Bars to Pizza Trucks, we hope to have food available to purchase for every Time Trial (Thursdays). Better news?! Each of our Thursday Night Time Trial Extravaganzas will double as fundraiser!! For every purchase made, our swim team program will get percentage back!! We will send the details out every week so you can make sure to plan accordingly. Is it mandatory? Of course not – but how great would it be to not worry about making dinner at least once a week?

5. Volunteers for Meets 

• It is required that 2 Volunteer duties are completed PER FAMILY (not per swimmer) during the season. Those who do not fulfill volunteer requirements are subject to a $250 fine. We don’t mean to seem harsh, but swim meets can simply not happen without your help! If you have not signed up for volunteer duties, please do so at this time. Directions for signing up can be found in the emails sent out on last Monday close to Noon.

6. Junior Sharks

•  The Junior Sharks program is for children with little to no swimming experience. 6&Unders Age Group and Junior Sharks ARE NOT the same thing. Junior Sharks practices take place mostly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 4:30-5:00PM. Specific practice exceptions can be found in the email sent out to Junior Shark parents last week. 

7. Team Merchandise

• Team T-shirts: On T-shirt Pick-up Day (TBA, but before Memorial Weekend), families registered before the middle of April will be given a bag with their last name on it. The bag will contain all of the family’s t-shirts (kids t-shirts and adult merchandise) as well as any swim caps ordered during registration.
• Bathing Suits and Other Merchandise: Team Suits and additional merchandise (team bags, towels, etc.) will be available for pick up on Wednesday, May 18th if needed.

8. OUR AWESOME SPONSORSHIPS!
**Drum Roll Please**

• PLATINUM SPONSOR: Keller Williams Realty, Rebekah Barr (678-488-6711)

Rebekah Barr is a longtime pool member and resident of Hammond Hills! Smart, kind, and supportive – Rebekah is a great choice as a realtor. We are so thankful for her support and look forward to this summer with her! Stay on the lookout for more updates and information regarding her realty business!

• GOLD SPONSOR: Special Events Network/High Octane Events, Bruce Piefke

Bruce Piefke is a longtime certificate holder and resident of Hammond Hills! Growing up in Sandy Springs, Bruce developed a love for events and bringing people together. He runs many fun, mostly free events all over Atlanta, Georgia, and the country! Below we have listed three of the company's important Facebook Pages to help keep you updated on some of these awesome events!

Movies Under The Stars Facebook Page
(FREE Outdoor Movies)
Caffeine and Octane Facebook Page
(FREE Car Show Perimeter Mall the first Sunday of every month)
Caffeine and Exotics Facebook Page
(Exotic Car Show at Lenox Mall the third Sunday of April, June, August, and October)

• SWIM MEET DINNER SPONSOR: Taco Mac at Prado! (10% back on all orders at After-Swim Meet Dinners)
• GAME DAY SPONSOR: Firehouse Subs Sandy Springs (10% back on all orders delivered to the pool during swim team season)
• TIME TRIALS SPONSOR: Barberitos (TBD percentage back on Nacho Bar orders)

We just want to wrap up this Pre-Season Blast by saying THANK YOU. None of this would be possible without your continued kindness, dedication, and support. As former children of this community, our coaches can say without a doubt that this team, this pool, and this Hammerhead family have helped teach us over and over again the power of compassion, commitment, and community. Therefore, we know this is nothing short of an honor to teach your fantastic kids. Every year, we are in awe of just how incredibly special, kind, and smart each Hammerhead is…. So thank you for being such great parents, great neighbors, and great Hammerheads. You make our job a dream job.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We are more than happy to help!

Your 2016 HH Coaching Staff,

Coach Remy, Coach Laney, Coach Maria, Coach Stephi, and Coach Gabby