The Coach Is The Coach!: When it comes to swimming, NSAC wants your swimmer to relate to his or her coach as soon as possible. The coach’s job is to motivate the swimmer and constructively criticize his/her performance. A strong relationship between coach and swimmer produces best results. When parents provide opinions on how the swimmer should swim or train, it can cause unnecessary confusion for the swimmer.

Parents need to be parents: It is the parent’s job to supply the love, recognition and encouragement necessary to encourage the child to work hard in practice and competition.

Let your child own their sport: Having your child take responsibility for their participation and level of involvement, in a supportive, loving setting will do the most to ensure success, enjoyment and longevity.

Ten and unders: Ten and unders are the most inconsistent swimmers. This can be frustrating for parents, coaches and the swimmer. Parents and coaches need to be patient and permit these youngsters to learn to love the sport. When a young swimmer first joins NSAC, there may be a brief period in which he/she appears to slow down. This is a result of the added concentration on stroke technique. This will soon lead to faster swims. 

Not every time: Even the very best swimmers will have meets where they do not achieve their best times. These plateaus are a normal part of swimming.  Be supportive of your swimmer at all practices and meets. More experienced swimmers may have only two to three meets a year for which they will be rested and tapered for personal best performance.

Parents at practice: Parents are not allowed on the pool deck during practice or meets unless it is an emergency or they are working on behalf of the meet. Parents are allowed to observe practice from the balcony or spectator areas. In the summer months, parents may observe outdoor practice from the lounge chair area of the outdoor pool. Parents should not try to communicate with any swimmer from the observation area. This is not only distracting to the swimmer, but can also be distracting to the entire team and the coach.

Timely pick up of swimmers: Parents need to pick up swimmers no later than 15 minutes after the published ending time of practice! If swimmers are regularly picked up late, a fee of $5.00 for each 5 minutes late will be applied directly to the swimmer’s monthly statement to offset additional coaching fees and facility costs.