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Greetings!

The happenings for this week are pretty straight forward.  Please make sure you know of any schedule changes due to meets or holidays

Practice Updates:

*No Friday, May 16th-Due to !0 7 Under Swim Meet

*Saturday, May 17th-YES, there is practice!!  11:30-12:30p.m.

*NO Monday, May 26th-Due to Memorial Day Holiday!

Swim Meets:

*Friday, May 16th=AZ Marlins 10 & under Meet  Warm Ups=3:30p.m./Meet starts=4:15p.m.  Both Coach Jennifer & Coach Mo will be attending this meet.

*Sat. & Sun., May 17-18th=Gauchos Meet  Warm Ups=7:30a.m./Meet=8:30a.m.  Coach Jennifer will be attending this meet.

Week of May 26-31st:

Due to the fact that most of the elementary schools are not out until at least May 29th, there will NOT be a Starfish/Rising Stars practice on Wednesday morning, May 28th.  We were supposed to start the summer schedule this week.  Following is the schedule for this week:

Monday, May 26th=No Practice due to the Memorial Day holiday

Tuesday, May 27th=4-5:15p.m.

Wednesay, May 28th=NO PRACTICE!

Thursday, May 29th=4-5:15p.m.

Friday, May 30th=NO Practice scheduled for Fridays.

Saturday, May 30th=11:00a.m.-12Noon

FINS...Remember, Starfish and Rising Stars will begin using fins the week of May 27th!!

I hope everyone is having a great week.  Good Luck to everyone who is swimming either at the AZ Marlins 10 & Under Meet or at the AZ Gauchos Meet on Saturday and Sunday!

-Coach Jennifer

Greetings!  I am finally on the new blog system.  Thank you for your patience.  It took several attempts before I was "accepted" into the new system!

The Starfish and Rising Stars have had a great first month of the long course swim season!  Having two long course practices; doing some running and having a "Fun Day" have helped mix up the practice routine a bit for them which helps keep it a little more exciting and new!

And then with the BEST Team Intrasquad Swim Meet last Saturday, May 3rd, we are full speed ahead into the racing mode once again!  Hopefully, everyone took notice of how well our Starfish and Rising Star Swimmers performed at the meet!  We had many first time long course swims; many first time swimming of new events and MANY new best times!  (The best times beads will be in the mailboxes on Saturday, May 10th.  Remember, if this was the first time to swim long course or to swim an event long course, you will not receive a bead for that swim)  We had many comments that everyone enjoyed the team breakfast also!

 BEST Team Banquet.  Wow!  Doesn't everyone look so nice when we are dressed up?!.  I was so glad to see many of our Starfish and Rising Star Swimmers at our team banquet.  It is our special time to be together as a team and celebrate our many good fortunes and successes!  A special congratulations goes out to the Swimmers who won Coaches Awards for their groups:

Starfish=Ava DiStefano & Houghton Mayfield

Rising Stars=Elise Roediger & Allison Winter

*A job well done for everyone and the food was pretty darn good too!!

Upcoming Meets.  Following is a recap of the May Swim Meets for the Starfish & Rising Star Swimmers:

*Friday, May 16th-10 & Under AZ Marlins Meet.  The entries are posted and were put in mailboxes.  We have 25 Swimmers attending this meet!  Warm-Ups=3:30p.m./Meet Start=4:15p.m.  The meet is located at the Phoenix Country Day Aquacenter.  This is located 2 blocks North of Camelback on 40th Street.  **NO Rising Star Practice on Friday, May 16th!!*Saturday-Sunday, May 17-18th-AZ Swimming Gauchos Meet.  The entries are also done and posted for this meet.  The group going to this meet is small.  We only have 14 Starfish/Rising Star Swimmers attending.  **There will still be practice on this Saturday, May 17th!  (@11:30a.m.)

 As far as the June Swim Meets go:

*The first one is the "Beat The Heat" Swim Meet in Flagstaff.  The dates are June 6-8th.  Please make sure to sign-up in the office if you plan on attending.  I will be working on the entries the week of May 19th.  At this meet, the 8 & Unders swim both Saturday & Sunday afternoon, while the 9 & overs swim in the mornings.  We do have a block of rooms at the Drury Inn.

*The AZ Marlins have another 10 & under Meet on the meet schedule.  This is set for Friday, June 13th.  However, they have indicated to us that they may need to cancel that one.  As soon as I hear, I will inform everyone.

*The 3rd June Meet has been altered for our age groupers.  The BEST Closed Invite has been approved for Senior Swimmers only!  Our age groupers will now attend the Sparky Invite.  June 20-22nd.  this meet is hosted at the ASU facility.  More info to follow as soon as we know the details!

 Parent Meeting.  Thanks again to all of those parents who attended the parent meeting last week!  I did put all of the meeting info in the mailboxes for those not in attendance.

 Meet Contracts.  Thank you to all of the families who have returned their meet contracts for the summer!  It really has helped in getting the May Swim Meet entries done quicker and I know who is going.  I am still missing 7-8 of those contracts.  Please make sure that I know what meets you DO want to attend and those you DON"T!  I want to be as accurate as possible, AND I don't want families paying for meet entries when they never intended on participating in the first place!!

 Summer Practice Schedule.  Reminder...we change to the summer schedule on Tuesday, May 27th.  please make sure you know the correct times.  The summer schedule is as follows:

*Starfish=

Mon  11:15a.m.-12:15p.m.

Tue/Thu 4-5:15p.m. (with dryland)

Saturday 11-12:00Noon  (Only 5/31; 6/14; 6/28; 7/5; 7/12; 7/19 & 7/26)

*Rising Stars=

Same schedule as Starfish with the addition of  Wed 11:15a.m.-12:15p.m.

FINS.   Everyone either needs to start bringing their fins or they need to purchase a pair for the start of the summer schedule.  We will begin using them the week of May 27th.  I would recommend Speedo's Orange and Blue short Fins.

 June Social Activity.  I would like to plan a social activity for the two groups in June.  If anyone has any ideas on an outing or would like to help with it, please let me know.  I think the children would really enjoy some social time together once everyone is out of school!

 As I close, I want to wish all of the Mothers a very "Happy Mother's Day" this Sunday.  I hope everyone's weekend is a special one!  Thank you once again for your support of BEST!

-Coach Jennifer

Congratulations to the Rising Star Girls who swam in the Regional Swim Meet this past weekend!! We had 90% new best times for this group and four new State Qualifying times made!!! We now have three Rising Star Girls who have qualified to swim in the AZ State Meet next weekend-Megan Donahey; Katie McCoy and Elise Roediger!!

I am expecting the same fast swimming from the entire Starfish and Rising Star Groups when we swim in the Season Finale the weekend of March 28-30th. (More meet information to follow)

As we are in our last month of the short-course season, just want to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
*Remember to follow the BEST Team monthly schedule-March's schedule was put out last week. Copies are always available in the office.

*March practice changes include:
Saturday, March 8th=11:12Noon
Thursday, March 20-Saturday, March 22nd=NO Practices due to the AZ State Meets being held @ BEST
Friday, March 21-Monday, march 24th=NO Practices due to the EASTER Weekend Break
Monday, March 31st-Sunday, April 6th=NO Practices due to the BEST AGE Group Spring Break
*We will resume our regular schedule on Monday, April 7th for the months of April and May.

End-of-Season Pizza and Bowling Celebration Party! This Saturday, March 8th, the Starfish and Rising Stars are going to have pizza and go bowling after practice!! Details are as follows:
Practice=11-11:45a.m.
Pizza Lunch=12Noon-12:30p.m.
Load cars and drive to Squaw Peaks Bowling Center=12:40p.m.
Bowling=1-2:30p.m.
The cost is $12.00 per child for the pizza; shoe rental and bowling.
This should be a afternoon of fun and celebration of a great season with our teammates!! (Please make sure you have RSVP'd to Coach Jennifer by Friday, March 7th)

As I am finishing up the Parent/Coach Conferences, I really want to thank everyone who has done one! I have gained so much insight and knowledge about your children...and it was VERY nice to meet, talk and visit with all of you! It took a lot of time, but it was time that was VERY well spent! We will definitely do this again and again!! Thank you for your support of the BEST program and of your children! -Coach Jennifer

Good Evening!
Hope everyone is having a good week. Following are several FYI's for everyone.

Schedule Reminder=
Coach Mo will not be at practice for the remainder of this week.
Remember Saturday's practice (February 23rd) is 11:30-12:30p.m.

Regional Meet Entries.We have 13 Rising Star Swimmers who have qualified to swim in the Regional Swim Meet next weekend. Please look for the meet information and entries in your mailboxes. The entries will also be posted on the bulletin board tomorrow.

Parent/Coach Conferences.We started the Starfish and Rising Star Parent/Coach conferences yesterday-Tuesday. We have completed 14 of them already! They are going great! One last reminder, if you have not signed up for one and want to, please check the sign up sheets in the team office. They are located on my desk. They have been great!!

BEST Parents Meeting.Tonight we had fa presentation by a ASU Graduate Student. I heard the presentation was very good! Unfortunately, by the time I was getting ready to present on Nutrition, most of the parents needed to leave with their swimmers. I elected to postpone my talk until next Wednesday, February 27th. I will begin PROMPTLY at 5:30p.m. We will conclude by 6:30p.m. (It is my son's 16th birthday, so I need to leave when I am done) I sure hope you will plan on attending. And I do apologize to those parents who so graciously attended tonight expecting to hear me speak on Nutrition. I just want as many people to hear this info as possible.

BEST Summer 2008 Practice Schedule. The summer practice schedule is now available. Please make sure you get your copy. HOWEVER, there is a mistake on the Starfish schedule. All Starfish will have practice with the Rising Stars on Monday mornings too. So, the Starfish schedule is Mon/Tues/Thus/Sat.

BEST Summer 2008 Long Course Meet Schedule. Also, available is the TENTATIVE summer meet schedule. Please note this is subject to change.

Have a good week! Thank you for your continued support! -Coach Jennifer

Hello! Hope this finds everyone having a great week. I just have a few items to go over with everyone this week.

Schedule Update.Following are the Saturday practice times for the month of February.
*Saturday, Feb. 9th Practice=11:30a.m.-12:30p.m. (Even though we do have 16 Swimmers going to the Phil Levine Invite, practice as usual for everyone else.)
*Saturday, Feb. 16th Practice=11:00a.m.-12:00Noon
*Saturday, Feb. 23rd Practice=11:30a.m.-12:30p.m.
*Saturday, Mar. 1st Practice=11:30a.m.-12:30p.m. (This is the same weekend as the Arizona Regional Meet, but practice as usual for everyone else)

Swim Meet Schedule.Following is the schedule for the remaining meets for the short-course season.
*Saturday, Feb. 9th=Phil Levine Invite. We have 16 Swimmers entered. The meet entries are posted on the age group bulletin board. Swimmers were only entered if you notified Coach Jennifer that you wanted to attend. (This is per the info given out to everyone a few weeks ago.)
*Friday, Feb. 29th-Sunday, mar. 2nd=Arizona Regional Swim Meet. There are no Starfish Swimmers who have qualified for this meet. We do have 14 Rising Star Swimmers who are. Those swimmers will be receiving meet info later this week in their mailboxes.
*Friday, March 28-Sunday 30th=Season Finale Swim Meet. EVERYONE in both the Starfish and Rising Star groups are eligible and recommended to attend!! This is the final meet of the season!! More info will follow in the nest week or two.

New Time Standard Sheets.Yesterday, in your mailbox was a new time standard chart. The one that I handed out has several mistakes on Regional cut times.
*There are NO known mistakes on any of the 10 & Under times standards.
*In the 11-12, there are 2 mistakes on the girls Regional times (100 Fly should be 1:26.79 & 200 Fly should be 3:05.39)
*In the 11-12 boys, there are 3 regional times listed wrong. (50 Free should be 34.69; 50 Back should be 44.49; 50 Breast should be 50.49 and 50 Fly should be 38.29)

Parent/Coach Conferences Information.The informational flyers were placed in everyone's mailbox yesterday-Tuesday, Feb. 5th. Hopefully, if you were at practice, you picked those up. This flyer explains all about the upcoming opportunity for parents to set up a brief conference with the coach to gain more insight into their own swimmer's swimming and progress.
*The actual sign up sheets will be posted tomorrow-Thursday, February 7th for parents to begin signing up for a conference time. *
Please remember, if you would rather do it by phone, please indicate so and leave your number for me to call you at the designated time.
*The time line for conducting these conferences begin the week of February 18th.

End-of-Season Group Celebration.In last week's blog, I indicated many upcoming dates for you. One that I had listed was for our end-of-season- celebration party for the two groups. I listed it incorrectly! The party date that I am looking at is SATURDAY, MARCH 8th. I have an idea already. If any Moms would like to help with this, I would love to hear from them! I really want the opportunity to celebrate a great season and provide some social time for the group to be together away from the pool! Stay tuned.

Enjoy your weekend! -Coach Jennifer

Hello Everyone! After a week hiatus from my blogs, I have many items to share with all of you.

Practice Focus.With the last two months of the season upon us, the focus of practices will continue to focus on developing stroke technique and good habits. But, we will also spend more time on swimming longer distances. Of course the exact distances depend on the level of each swimmer. Also, our older, more experienced Rising Star Swimmers will work on faster intervals within practices as we prepare for our final meets of the season.

Late Season Schedule.Can you believe we are to February! And with the month of February, we only have two months left in our short-course swim season. Just wanted to briefly explain how the seasons end and begin. The final swim meet of the season for all of the Starfish and Rising Stars to compete in is the Season Finale. This meet is March 29-30th. The team will take a break the week of March 31-April 8th. Once we start again after the break, the schedule will remain the same until school is out for the summer. However, our meets will be conducted long-course (50 meters). When school is out, our tentative practice schedule (according to last summer) is three mornings and two evenings each week. We practice long-course in the mornings and short-course in the afternoons. The long course season will run through the end of July. At that point we will take another team break for early August. I would HIGHLY encourage everyone to continue with the team. Many of the young swimmers do take part in a summer league meet also. I will keep announcing this schedule as we approach it this spring.

Swim Meets.
*WSF Swim Meet. A HUGE congratulations to everyone who swam this past weekend! We sure looked good in the water and had MANY new best times. With the two groups combined, we had 90% new best times!! Coach Mo and I were quite impressed with how well the young swimmers handled themselves in the cold on Sunday. The group is doing a very good job of remembering to come see the coaches after every swim. If your swimmer is not doing this, please help remind them that this is important to get feedback from the coaches about how they swam.
*Phil Levine Meet. Please remember if you are interested, I need to know by Friday, Feb. 1st. The meet information was placed in every one's mailbox on Monday. We are attending Saturday of the meet only.
*Remaining meets for short-course=
Phil Levine/Neptune Swim Club Meet (for everyone) Saturday, Feb. 9th
Regionals (must have Regional cuts-only Rising Star Swimmers at the present time) Feb.28-March 2nd.
Season Finale Swim Meet. (for everyone) March 29-30th.

"Swimmers-of-the Meet"For the WSF Meet this past weekend, we had so many great swims. It was very hard to figure out who was the outstanding swimmers of the meet! But based on the number of best times achieved, the Starfish "Swimmer of the Meet" was awarded to Ava DiStefano. She had five new best times! The Rising Star "Swimmers of the Meet" were awarded to two young ladies who also both achieved five new best times-Quinn Blake and Anita Dorsey! Congratulations to these three young ladies for doing a great job this weekend!

"Fun Days"Remember the emphasis of the "Fun Days" are used as a reward for their hard work and fast swimming achieved at each swim meet. It gives all of us a chance to unwind after each of the meets. We try to do something a little different each "Fun Day." Playing team games are the main focus. It gives the children a chance to get to socialize with each other in a more relaxed atmosphere than during practice. It should be looked upon as an avenue to help build team spirit and camaraderie. These always take place the Tuesday after the swim meets. I have been sending out an e-mail to all of the families reminding them of this day and the special schedule for it.

Coach/Parent Conferences Informational Flyer.These flyers will be placed in every one's mailboxes tomorrow-Thursday, January 31st. These will be conducted much like Parent/Teacher Conferences that you attend at school. This will be an opportunity for you, as a parent, to share 15-20' one-on-one with the coach. Sign-up/scheduling sheets will be available starting on Saturday, February 2nd for everyone to choose a meeting time. I hope everyone will take part in this opportunity. Please know that if you don't sign up during the regular scheduling time, it may be difficult to meet with the coach until everyone who has a conference time is taken care of. I want to be fair with everyone and give everyone their fair share of time.

BEST Calendar February-May 2008.
In closing, I would like to give you a glance of the BEST activity calendar from now-February through early May, 2008. I know many people like to get dates on their own calendar:

Saturday, February 9th=Phil Levine/Neptune One Day Meet
Wednesday, Feb. 20th=BEST Parents Meeting (Topics to be announced)
Saturday, Feb. 23rd=Starfish/Rising Stars End-of-Season Party (Bowling?)
Feb. 28-March 2nd=Regionals Swim Meet. (Need to qualify)

March 21-24th=Easter Weekend Break
March 29-30th=Season Finale Meet (for everyone)
March 31-April 8th=BEST Team Break

Wednesday, April 9th=Resume practices for Spring season.
Saturday, April 24th=BEST Long Course Intrasquad Meet

Sunday, May 4th=BEST Team Awards Dinner and Banquet

Thanks for reading I I know I covered a lot of details in this blog. Have a great weekend. Hopefully you can enjoy the Super Bowl and Super Bowl Sunday festivities; FBR Golf Tournament; the NFL Experience or just a quiet weekend with the family! (My support goes out to the Manning Family. If I can't watch Peyton, I'll take Eli!)

Take care! -Coach Jennifer

This blog will be a short and sweet one. A change coming from my usual!

Practice Schedule Reminders/Changes.Following are practice schedule updates for the Starfish and Rising Star groups that are known through the month of February.
Sat. Jan. 19th=11:15-12:15p.m.
Mon. Jan. 21st=Normal Rising Star Practice @ 5p.m.
Sat. Jan 26th=NO Practice due to WSF Swim Meet!
Tues. Jan. 29th=Fun Day!!
Sat. Feb. 2nd=11:30a.m.-12:30p.m.
Sat. Feb. 9th=Practice TBA
Sat. Feb. 16th=Practice TBA
Sat. Feb. 23rd=11:30-12:30p.m.
Sat. Mar. 1st=NO Practice due to the Regional Swim Meet!

WSF Swim Meet.Just so everyone is on the page concerning the upcoming meet next weekend, January 26-27th, here are a few details to help everyone. The Starfish & Rising Stars (all 14 & Unders) swim in the afternoons-both Saturday and Sunday. The meet is located at the Southwest Valley YMCA (where we swam at the November meet), 2919 N. Litchfield Road, Goodyear, AZ
Warm-ups are estimated to start at 1:00p.m. both days and meet starting at 2:00p.m. Please be on time for warm-ups! Everyone needs to wear BEST team apparel. Saturday we will wear Red BEST shirts & Sunday we will wear White. The entries are posted on the age group bulletin board.

"Coach/Parent Conferences" Informational Flyers.Please check your mailboxes for flyers next Tuesday, January 22nd. I will e-mail this information out to everyone at that time also. I conducted Coach/Parent Conferences (much like Teacher/Parent) for many years when I was the Head Age Group Coach in Indiana. I am trying to get this organized for late January to early February. Please make sure you read this very important info coming soon!

Spring/Summer 2008 Practice Schedules.As people/families begin to make preliminary plans for the upcoming spring and summer, I am beginning to get questions concerning the spring & summer schedule for the Starfish and Rising Star groups. At this point in time, I cannot give you the confirmed schedule for the upcoming summer, but I can estimate that it will be close to the schedule that we ran last summer. It was as follows:
Present Schedule runs through the end of the school year.
The changeover to the team's summer practice schedule will most likely go into effect either the week of June 2nd or 9th.
The summer schedule ran through late July, with the majority of August off for vacation and the start of school.
Last year's schedule (summer 2007)=Mon/Wed/Fri 11:15a.m.-12:15p.m.; Tue/Thu 4-5:15p.m.; Sat. 11a.m.-12Noon.
The Starfish were schedule for Mon/Tue/Wed/Thu/Sat
More precise information will follow in late February.
The Rising Stars were offered everyday, except Sunday.
The Starfish and Rising Stars were offered four meets last summer season.

We do now have the ribbons for the Glendale Gauchos Swim Meet in December.
Have a great week!
-Coach Jennifer

Happy New Year! I certainly hope that everyone enjoyed the holiday season and are back into the swing of things! It sure was nice to have the swimmers back in the water this week. both coach Mo and myself noticed how happy, fresh and excited they were all at practice. The big thing that we noticed is how well everyone was listening again! It is amazing what a small break can do for children of this age can do to help keep things fresh and exciting for them!

Meet Schedule.Just want to make sure everyone knows the upcoming meets.
Jan.26-27=WSF Meet. At this meet the 14 & Under swimmers swim in the afternoons. At this meet, it primarily consists of 100's as the focus for each stroke. They do offer the 50 Free. This meet is looked at as a challenge meet for everyone. We will enter all of the Rising Star group and most of the Starfish group. Please let me know if you do NOT want to have your swimmer(s) entered or if after you see the entry, you have questions, let me know ASAP!! The entry will be posted on Monday.
Feb.28-Mar.2=Age Group Regionals. Must have Regional cuts/time standards to qualify. We have approx 10 Rising Stars who are eligible for this meet at this time.
Mar. 29-30=Season FinaleEveryone is eligible for this meet.

Attendance.Beginning at the end of this month, January, I will begin posting the monthly attendance percentages. When we are focusing on improvement, CONSTISTENCY is the key at this stage of development for an athlete!! I will also post the months of September-December, 2007.

Attention...We have a LOST ParkaWe know how much the swimmers take pride in their parkas. Well, some one picked up Lou DiMuro's parka by mistake. He has a parka that says Travis in it. Will everyone please check to make sure they have the right parkas! Thanks for your help! Lou's was taken on Monday,January 7th.

Next week-January 14th's BlogIn next week's blog, parents I will have information concerning upcoming BEST Parent Meetings & Coach/Parent Conferences.

In closing, I want to send out a huge THANK YOU for every one's generosity towards me this Christmas!! Not only in the monetary gift from the team, but also in the many wonderful gifts that i received from both the swimmers and their families! Thank you...not necessary, but very much appreciated!

Thank you all so much for your continued support of BEST, your wonderful children and of the coaches!
-Coach Jennifer