Sponsorship and Advertising with RICE Aquatics

Dear RICE Aquatics Families and Local Businesses, Included in this letter is an overview of the team, its services and the sponsorship and advertising opportunities available to you for the upcoming 2010 - 2011 swim season. (August - July) Rice Aquatic Swimming Club (RICE) is affiliated with Gulf swimming and USA swimming, the local and national governing bodies of competitive swimming. We strive to provide all participants with professional guidance while emphasizing: individual and team growth, good sportsmanship, and a healthy lifestyle. It is our goal to encourage and nurture a life long appreciation for the sport of swimming. We provide a foundation of proper technique and fundamental training in a fun, positive atmosphere under the supervision of a professionally trained coaching staff. RICE began in the summer of 2003 as a masters swim conditioning group.  In the fall of 2004 RICE began an age group developmental team during the school year.  It was strictly skill development and non-competitive.  RICE was not a registered USA Swimming team at this time.  This group continued into the fall of 2005 and doubled in size.  Finally with the core of this group interested in competing and interest in the team growing, RICE became a registered USA Swimming team in September of 2006.  RICE philosophy from its inception has been to serve those interested in swimming from elementary school age kids to senior citizens and everyone in between and accommodate all levels of swimmers from novice to USA National team members. Currently RICE serves a diverse group of over 200 local swimmers ages 5 to 18. Our RICE masters program has over 100 members who range in age from 19 - 80’s. Currently we have swimmers representing communities in the West University, River Oaks, Meyerland, Willowbend, Memorial, Upper Kirby, Montrose, Heights, Pearland and Bellaire area. We are introducing our inaugural sponsorship program this year in hopes of providing multiple marketing and advertisement opportunities for our members and businesses in the surrounding communities. We hope to have you as part of our team for our 2010 - 2011 swim season. Any sponsorship or advertisement inquiries can be sent to:  Jason Wedlick Rice Aquatics Head Coach coachjason@riceaquatics.com www.riceaquatics.com http://rice-aquatics.blogspot.com Sponsorship Levels Navy Level $1000 Annual  Team Website Ad - Linkable logo on front page of website and sponsor link of website for one year. Meet Program Ad - Full Page Interior Add with recognition of navy level sponsor (see meet dates) Meet Program Footer Ad - Logo added to bottom footer of all Heat Sheet pages T Shirt Ad - Logo included on all meet shirts ( At least 3 RICE hosted meets per year.) Twice a year letter sent to membership expressing thanks for support of program. White Level $500 Annual  Team Website Ad - Linkable logo on sponsor page of website for one year. Meet Program Ad - Half  Page Interior Add with recognition of white level sponsor (see meet dates) T Shirt Ad - Business name included on all meet shirts in medium font (At least 3 RICE hosted meets per year.) Twice a year letter sent to membership expressing thanks for support of program. Advertising for Meets Heat Sheet Advertising (Per Meet) * $ 250 Full Page $ 150 Half Page $ 75 Quarter Page  Meets RICE Aquatics will be hosting. Date:October 3rd 2010   RICE Open Water Champs T Shirt/Ad Deadline:September  26th *Date:TBA March 2011   RICE Masters March Madness T Shirt/Ad Deadline: TBA Date:April 23rd 2011              RICE Open Water Carnival T Shirt/Ad Deadline:  April 10th *Date:June 17th-19th 2011    RICE Junior Swim Meet T Shirt/ Ad Deadline: June 1st

Group 4 Parent Meetings

Parents - With many of our families on Holiday for this weekend both Group 4 Navy and White will have their parent meetings rescheduled for Monday the 20th 6:00 - 7:00 pm. I will email out PDF's on Tuesday for those who are unable to attend the meetings.

See you at the pool,
Coach Jason

Group 4 and Senior 2 Saturday Practice

Group 4 White will have Saturday practice 8:00 - 9:00 am.

Senior 2 will have Saturday practice 8:00 - 9:30 am.

1. Sometimes my child doesn’t want to go to practice. He wants to play with his friends. Should I force him to go? 
You should not force your child; you want his participation to be his decision. Reinforce the choices and decisions he has made to start his sport. For example, your son chose to go to practice on Tuesday and Thursdays, on other days he has the freedom to do other activities. As a parent, explain your expectation that he fulfill the commitment he made by joining the team. You don't want to force your child into a sport that he does not enjoy, yet you want your child to be involved in a 'lifetime sport', to learn about making and keeping a commitment and to interact with peers  So, what are you to do?
 
Instead of allowing your child to make a daily decision about going to practice, allow him to decide whether or not he wants to participate for the season. Once the decision is made to participate, he is making a commitment to the team and needs to follow through on it by attending practice on a regular basis. A haphazard schedule is detrimental to the athlete’s overall development.
 
Interestingly, when asked to reflect on the role of their parents in their swimming, athletes from a recent USA Swimming World Championship team talked about being pushed to swim by their parents on a weekly basis but knowing they could quit if they stopped having fun with swimming.
 
2. My child has a lot of interests and activities so he only attends about half of his practices. What will happen to his competition results?
 
Children involved in other activities can benefit in the areas of coordination and balance, as well as improved social and intellectual development. Specialized training in one activity does not necessarily need to take place at this stage of development. Will your son’s teammate who makes all practices have better results? Probably he will because his teammate is working solely on developing one sport skills. It is up to you to explain to your child that making the choice to participate in other activities can have its consequences. Tell your son that he should not compare his results to that of his teammate, but to focus on the fact that he is benefiting from and enjoying other sports.
 
3. It looks like my child is having a lot of fun at practice. Shouldn’t she be working harder?
 
Be happy that your child is having fun!  According to a recent study conducted by USA Swimming children who experience fun while participating stay in sports longer (Tuffey, Gould, & Medbery, 1998). At this stage of the game, the most important aspect of development is the mastery of skills, which means learning the proper technique. Fundamentals must be established prior to true “training” taking place. And, if she is having fun in the process of learning, she is more likely to continue to the sport.
 
4. It looks like all they do at practice is drills. Shouldn’t they be training more?
 
Your child needs to develop a solid foundation in mechanics.  Drills and drill sets serve the specific purpose of teaching skills and fundamentals. Drills develop motor coordination, motor skills, and balance. In fact, your child’s coach may prescribe a particular drill, just for your child, in order to improve an aspect of her technique. In addition, she may actually be experiencing a “training” benefit from drills.  Drills require concentration and aerobic energy to do them correctly.
 
5. My daughter’s coach sometimes makes her “sit out” for disciplinary reasons. Isn’t that a waste of her time?
 
The coach has set up expectations of proper behavior. Hopefully, your child is aware of the consequences of testing these boundaries. Obviously the coach is reinforcing what is expected of the children at practice. We encourage you to reinforce the coach's practice expectations by discussing your child’s behavior and the consequences of that behavior. Hopefully, this “time out” begins to reinforce self-discipline, accountability and respect for others.
 
6. My son complains that some of the kids cheat in practice. What should I tell him?
 
Praise him first for completing the workout the coach offers. Remind him that he is there to improve himself and he can’t control what his teammates do. Tell him however, that his best course of action is to continue to do things right and others may actually be influenced by his good example. By committing to do his best at all times, over the long haul he will reap the benefits of his hard work.
 
7. My daughter just moved up to the Senior Group. Now the coach wants her to train twice a day. Is this really necessary?
 
Your child has established proper technique and fundamentals by progressing through the levels of the team. It is appropriate at this stage of your daughter’s career development to increase the training loads. This includes adding the two mornings per week. Although morning practices come extra early, most coaches feel that this level of commitment is necessary for your daughter to reach the next level of her career. 
 
Training for competitive sports is demanding on young athletes. As athletes develop, they need to understand the upcoming time demands. One specific principle of training that applies is the progressive overload principle. A person must be stressed slightly more each day over time to continue to improve. In order to do that, the coach must plan additional time. The addition of morning workouts often becomes necessary for the coach to develop young athletes to their maximum potential.

Courtesy of USA Swimming

Group 2 Parent Meeting

Parents - The Group 2 parent meeting has been moved back to Wednesday to accommodate a large number of parents who were unable to attend today. The meeting time will be 4:45 - 5:30 pm. 
Coach Jason

Parents - I wanted to thank all of you for being apart of the 2010 Fall Session with RICE Aquatics. The coaching staff is excited and anxious to start the new season. This year marks our first full season in the Gibbs Recreation Center. The new 50  m pool is not the only growth we have experienced the last few years. Only 4 years ago RICE had returning age group swimmer numbers of 26 and topped out for the year at 80 total swimmers. This year we returned over 115 swimmers and will have over 185 registered swimmers for our first day of practice. Our Masters team has also had great growth going from 40-50 master swimmers to around 100 current and active swimmers. All of these swimmers equals a great RICE Aquatics family.  RICE Aquatics: "Team" Momentum One of our main goals and themes this year is going to be the sense of "Team". In short we will be focusing on getting all of our swimmers and families moving in one direction towards forming a team, attending meets, better technique and a higher level of swimming. We have a diverse set of swimmers coming from over 20 schools ranging from home school to private schools and will be looking to get them together in and out of the pool as often as possible. For most swimmers once they graduate and move on in life it is the friendships and bonds that are remembered about swimming and not the times or medals won.  We have some great activities planned for the fall and will be unveiling these as they approach. The second part of our "team" movement is going to be our service hours policy. As the team has grown so have the number of volunteers needed to help run meets, organize group functions, and assist with odds and ends of the team. The coaching staff handles most of the items that help the team function but we do need parent involvement to ease the load. We will have an upcoming meeting and handout that will outline our service policy and all the great opportunities you have to be a part of supporting your swimmers.  First Day of Practice Notes: We will need a few parents to sign up and help pass out lanyards and ID's before each practice. The Job Sign ups are up on our  website for Tuesdays practices. Swimmers will need to have their lanyards visible when entering the building and when not in the pool for practice.  The turnstile to the right of the center kiosk is going to be our entry point for our swimmers.  Please make sure your swimmer has all of their equipment with them. You can leave it in the equipment bag and have them take that to their lane. I would sharpie their name on all of their gear front and back so it is clear who it belongs to. Parents are welcome to sit in our adjacent lounge or under the covered awning in front of our offices. The pool deck is closed during practice times. Drop/Off Pick Up and Parking: Once the session gets going most swimmers will be dropped off and picked up at the curb or be walked in by a parent. ( Younger groups). For the first day we are asking that a parent or carpool parent walk with them to the check in table and then into the building. This way we can ensure they have their ID's and get to the pool with out issue. Older swimmers will still need to check in for their ID's and then proceed into the building. Parking along the curb of the  Rec Center is only allowed with hazards for temporary parking 5 mins. The  RUPD does ticket for cars on the curb and will do so if it is backing up the traffic. Please plan on parking for the first day and then setting up a drop off plan for later practices. Parking Passes - The full Roster has been sent to the parking department in the underground garage near the  REC Center. For those wishing to purchase a parking pass you should be able to starting Tuesday. More info on the pass is available on our  website.  We are asking for swimmers to start arriving 15 minutes early for practice. Our practice start time is the dive in time and swimmers will need to have suits and gear ready prior to practice. The coaching staff will be there by 4:30 every day for swimmers to start arriving. Please do not drop your swimmers off prior to this with out first talking to a coach.  The coaching staff will also be on deck until 7:45 on most nights. If you are running late your swimmer can stay in our lounge area to wait for a ride. Please try to have your swimmer picked up no later than 10 minutes after practice time ends. The staff will be on the pool deck and have limited ability to attend to those swimmers not picked up from their practices. If your swimmers practice ends at 7:45  pm please be there at 7:45 for your swimmer. Weather Due to the pool being outdoors we will have to clear the pool and pool deck (cement area) for hazardous weather in the area. If this occurs during practice time we will have activities /  drylandsfor swimmers to do for their practice times. Please do not pull your swimmer from their class during these activities unless notified by a coach. Many times this down time is just as important for team growth and team bonding amongst swimmers. These activities may or may not be swim related but are in the best interest of each swimmer individually and as a group. If weather is severe prior to practice we do ask that you use your best judgement. We will post on our  website pool closures and try to email out notifications as the status changes. Please remember that we may be on the deck and unable to get an email out every time. Please be aware that in severe rain the roads in or near west university may flood so keep this in mind when making your trek to the pool. If a practice is rained out there is not a make up day assigned. All swimmers will continue with their group schedule and attend their next scheduled group. Need More Information??? You can visit our  website and click on parents, swimmers and news for more information regarding the team. The Blog is also a great place to get updates and information that may not find its way onto our main site. You can also ask one of our returning parents while on the pool deck. We will be assigning a group parents shortly for each group. These parents will help schedule outside activities for the kids but also help pair new parents with veteran swim parents. They will also be the first place you can ask questions and get a parents perspective from someone who was recently in your shoes. Email Updates The coaching staff will send out email updates through out the season to keep everyone on the team on the same page. We will try to get as much info in each email and limit the quantity of  emailsgoing out. Please do not ignore these  emails as there may be important information inside. Hopefully this will be our longest one of the year and get smaller from here! Again thank you for being apart of RICE and we look forward to seeing your swimmers grow in and out of the pool.  See you at the pool, Jason  Wedlick     Rice Aquatics   Head Coach coachjason@riceaquatics.com www.riceaquatics.com http:/ /rice-aquatics.blogspot.com 281.627.2418

Masters

There will be NO PRACTICE this Monday for the holiday.