Frequently Asked Questions

Transcription

1 Frequently Asked Questions What is the purpose of Carmel Swim Club? Our mission is to offer a competitive USA Swimming program to athletes in Central Indiana that teaches excellence through swimming for life. Our vision is to be a nationally ranked and recognized club that creates avenues for all athletes to achieve their full potential, while building life-skills and long-term relationships. The core values of the club are courage, perseverance, and building a culture based on FTT (for the team). How is the club structured? The club is a 501(c)3 non-profit membership organization. The club has a governance board of 13 members, 12 of which are elected by the membership in three-rotating classes. The final member is appointed by the Superintendent of Carmel Clay Schools. A board meeting schedule and roster is on the website. Board meetings are open and members are encouraged to attend. The board establishes policy and procedures (the dry side of the club). The staff creates and implements the swim program (wet side of the club.) What are the practice groups? Carmel Swim Club recognizes that every swimmer develops at different rates, responds to different levels of conditioning and has different long term interests. Resultantly, we offer 12 different practice groups. From the beginning swimmer, simply wanting to swim a 25 yard fly to a National Team member swimming for a spot on the Olympic Team, we have a place and a program. Our educated and experienced staff works together to develop the most comprehensive and successful swim program in Central Indiana and the 2 nd ranked club in the Central Zone. The Central Zone is comprised of 14 States in the Midwest. Workouts are tailored by the staff to meet the overall goals of the program, the progressive goals of the swim group, and the goals established by the swimmer. Our coach to swimmer ratio is based on actual daily attendance. Our discovery groups swimmer to coach ratio ranges from 10:1 to 15:1 while all the other groups range from 15:1 to 20:1. To ensure a quality program and a positive experience for every swimmer, the club uses the following time standards, as well as coach evaluations and attendance records to determine appropriate placement.

2 How is Carmel Swim Club funded? Carmel Swim Club s annual budget is in excess of $800,000. Monthly dues and registration fees are 70%; hosted swim meet profit is 25%; corporate sponsorships are 5%. Income Dues Hosted Meets Sponsors How is the money spent? Annually, the board presents a budget to the membership for approval. The club expenses breakdown as follows: 81% Administration (rental to fee to Carmel Clay Schools for use of the Aquatics Center, salaries, benefits, office rental and equipment, club insurance, etc.) 9% expenses related to hosting meets 2% Age Group Travel Coaches and Swimmers 3% Senior Group Travel Coaches and Swimmers 3% Team Social Expenses (Spring Banquet, Awards, State t-shirts etc.) 2% Sponsorship Expenses (Volunteer t-shirts, etc.) Monthly, the board receives and reviews financial reports. Additionally, CSC has responsibility for the operation of the Aquatics Center at Carmel High School. The Aquatics Center is funded through registration fees for swim lessons, masters swimming and pool rental. Expenses Administration Meet Expenses Age Group Travel Senior Group Travel Team Social Sponsorship

3 Fun Fact: 110 Age Group Swimmers had short course state cuts with 66 swimmers scoring points. CSC swimmers set 24 individual or relay club, meet or state records! At Long Course, Swimfest 2012, 103 CSC swimmers scored points and 27 new club, meet or state records were set! How is it determined which coach attends which meet? Carmel Swim Club is fortunate to have a talented coaching staff with great depth and knowledge. The goal of the club is to have your child s primary coach present for their meet as often as possible. The Head Coach and Head Age Group coach assign coaches to meets considering first, who is swimming; second, how many weekends has this person coached at a meet this year; and finally, what are the overall needs of the program FTT. On occasion the Head Coach will attend portions of Age Group meets to watch swimmer development and build relationships with younger swimmers who will soon move into the senior program. However, the Head Age Group Coach is the primary coach for this group. How much money was spent on Operation Omaha (002.0)? In 2010, the board voted to spend up to $30,000 and no more than $1,500 per swimmer to support athletes who wanted to work toward Olympic Trial cuts. The resources came from club profits generated by growth and increased meet attendance. The $1500 was credited toward team travel expenses charged to the swimmer s account (flight, hotel, entry fees etc.). Seventeen swimmers were able to achieve Olympic Trial cuts. Not all of the Olympic Trial swimmers received financial support from the club. The club offered no financial support for the week of the trials, as Indiana Swimming offered some financial assistance. How much does it cost to attend a National level competition? A week at a National or Junior National meet typically costs the swimmer s family between $1200 and $1500. The club provides minimal support against these expenses. Indiana Swimming does provide a travel stipend for each of these meets to help defray the costs. Warm-ups, bags and suits for these swimmers are provided by Speedo, who recognizes national elite level swimmers. CSC Fun Fact: Did you know that in 2012 Carmel Swim Club Coaches spent 24 weekends attending swim meets for all ages? Did you know that when there is a swim meet and your child s practice is cancelled on Monday it is for your swimmer s body to rest and our coaching staff to have an all staff meeting for training and preparation? What is a Gold Medal Club? A gold medal is awarded to local swim clubs who display excellence in many areas of leadership. Among those areas are board governance, continuing education for coaches, participation in elite level meets as a host club, swimmers with junior national time standards, and at least one 18 & under swimmer ranked in the top 150 in the world for girls and 200 for the boys. Carmel Swim Club has received over $33,000 in Gold Medal funding from USA Swimming. While only a handful of swimmers reach the necessary time standards for the club to receive these funds, the funds benefit the entire club. The coaching staff has used the money for various items including but not limited to: new dryland equipment, Vern Gambetta s assessment and evaluation of our dryland program, bringing a nutritionist to the club, purchased new underwater cameras, tivo s, ipads, televisions, and evaluation equipment.

4 So does everyone pay the same amount? The dues are structured in accordance with the practice schedule for your swimmer. The more hours a swimmer is expected in the pool, the higher the dues. The dues structure can be accessed through the following link: doc /191675_1_12-13%20fee%20spreadsheet.pdf How are the staff compensation and benefits decided? The club has an employee handbook which outlines the basic benefits offered to our staff. Each year the Board does a full evaluation of the head coach and coaching staff based on their individual performance and the performance of the club. The outcomes are then entered into a matrix that measures the performance criteria, assigning a percentage to each full-time staff member. This percentage is used to determine the possibility of a raise for each employee and a bonus, if available. The Head Coach s salary is set by the Executive Officers. The annual budget has a salary pool that the head coach and head age group coach use to determine salaries. A normal work week for a full-time CSC coach is: Monday-Friday: 6-7 hours per day at the pool and 2-4 hours in the office, plus 3 hours on Saturday. On a meet weekend our coaching staff adds between hours of additional work. So if I pay dues, why do I have to volunteer? Meet and triathlon revenue provides the club with approximately 30% of our annual resources. Without our volunteers we would need to increase dues by over $400 per family per year. As the largest and only Gold Medal, Level Four club in Indiana, we are often asked to partner with Indiana Swimming and USA Swimming to host larger meets, such as Junior Nationals. At the 2012 Junior Nationals we were able to recruit over thirty new clubs to our November and January meets. Additional benefits of hosting national meets are a greater level of competition and additional revenue to the club. Fun Fact: Did you know that Carmel Swim Club has grown by over 200 swimmers in the last 8 years? Who do I talk to if I have a concern or question? Most operational questions can be answered by ing the club office at carmelswimclub@aol.com. Practice questions should be directed to your swimmer s coach. Governance questions about policies or budgets should be directed to a member of the board, in particular the board president. A board roster is located on the secure portion of the club website. Visit login, click on the board tab. Are we out of water? Carmel Swim Club is not out of water. There are limitations based on our current space and our previous model of operating the club. The coaching staff has worked diligently to make changes to our pool use to increase the space available for our swimmers. We will no longer be renting winter water from the Monon Center. During the summer, we will continue to work in partnership with local facilities to accommodate the needs of the club and maximize the opportunities for our athletes.

5 Will we host more National Meets? Carmel Swim Club is the largest swim club in Indiana. Resultantly, Indiana Swimming looks to us as a primary partner for national meets with greater volunteer needs. CSC has a reputation for hosting outstanding meets. This reputation extends well beyond Indiana Swimming. When the board votes to pursue a meet (local or national), the board considers the financial need of the club, the volunteer time commitments required of our members, and our partnership with Indiana Swimming. Hosting national meets attracts clubs to our November and January meets. Exposure to national meet and elite level swimming motivates younger swimmers towards their goals. The Olympic Trials Trip swimmers clearly communicated this through the blog this summer. Will we have a Trials program for 2016? The coaching staff is currently reviewing Operation Omaha and will make recommendations to the board. Our mission is to create opportunities for all swimmers to reach their goals and maximize their potential in the water. This is evident by the number of swimmers who medaled at State, swam personal bests and broke records and were not part of the program. The club contribution covers about 10% of the cost of the program, with the individual families covering 90% of the cost. CSC FUN FACT: Did you know in the summer of 2009 in the Senior Group o Swimmers who had Senior State times averaged 79.5% of practices o Swimmers who had Sectional Cuts averaged 82% of practices o Swimmers who had Junior National Cuts averaged 86% of practices o Swimmers who swam in finals at Junior Nationals averaged 92% of practices o 100% of our senior 1 and HP swimmers who wanted to swim in college are and most of them are receiving scholarships! If I want a private lesson, how do I schedule one? Private lessons are not coordinated by the club. Based on their work schedule and family commitments, individual coaches will determine if they are available for private lessons. Our full-time coaches work between hours per week on non-meet weeks. Most of our part-time coaches also work full-time jobs elsewhere. Our overall lesson philosophy is lessons are a privilege and not a right at the Carmel Swim Club. Coaches who participate in lessons are acting on their own free will. Solicitation by coaches for lessons is prohibited. We feel lessons serve as opportunities to enhance skills and ideas that already exist in practice and are not a necessary component to achieve personal excellence. Therefore, it is the coach s discretion regarding additional hours. Who determines what event my child will swim at a meet? The coaching staff determines appropriate events for swimmers. CSC believes in well-rounded athletes and emphasizes long term development. Coaches work to provide the appropriate challenge for every athlete at each competition. Most meets have no qualifying standards, however, there are some meet with qualifying times. Usually the more experienced your swimmer, the more likely they will see qualifying standards at meets. Most meets have entry limits that cap the number of events a swimmer can compete in on a daily basis and/or for the entire meet. Occasionally, host clubs limit the number of participants in certain events due to timeline constraints.