Greetings Waves Families!

We get started in a week and everyone is pumped for an awesome season ahead. Here are some dates and other information that will be key for everyone to have a great start. This one is kinda long but important so take 5 minutes to read it thoroughly.

Swim Shop and New Parent Orientation - This Saturday, April 11 from 9:00 AM until Noon

DJ Sports is popping up at the FMKP pool with all the suits, gear, and swim‑season essentials! Come try things on, stock up, and kick off the season with a splash! We are wearing the same suit as last year. Team shirts will be ready for pickup if you registered by March 25. We are accepting credit cards and Apple/Google pay in addition to cash.

Hey New Swim Families! We are having a new family swim orientation starting at 10 AM. Several board members will be there to present all the information you will need to understand the swim season and how the meets are run. It’s also a great chance to ask questions.

Rookie Camp - Monday April 13 through Wednesday April 15

Rookie camp opens for all new swimmers. These three days give new swimmers the ability to get into the pool and understand how practices work, what’s expected of them and also give new swim families the ability to experience practice prior to the larger groups. 

During Rookie Camp, new swimmers will also be evaluated for readiness to participate in the swim team. This is not a “learn to swim” opportunity and we expect all new swimmers to be able to at least swim the length of the pool without assistance. If your swimmer is not ready for the team yet, they will not be allowed to continue and we will refund your registration fees. 

The rookie camp schedule is located on the practice schedule page at https://fmkp-waves.swimtopia.com/practice-schedule. Reminder to all parents - you are not allowed on the pool deck during practice. Please stay outside the gate.

NEW!! First Half Volunteer Shift Signup Opens - Monday April 13 at 6:30 PM SHARP

We are doing volunteer shifts differently this year. Instead of opening the entire year of events, we are going to have two signups - one for each “half” of the year. On Monday, April 13 at 6:30 PM SHARP, the first half of the season will be open for you to go and grab volunteer shifts.

All the shifts are roughly equal - some are early and require heavy lifting but are shorter in duration while other shifts are longer in duration but only require clicking a stop watch. We also have volunteer shifts outside of the meets to assist volunteer families who may be short handed during actual meets.

Remember that we are doing the volunteer shifts differently this year as we are eliminating the point value aspects of the shifts and simply requiring each family to have six shifts throughout the season. Six meets. Six shifts.

We are also asking families to limit their signups to one shift per meet. So for this first signup, you should be signing up for three shifts. Yes, we are aware that some families will need to miss a meet due to reasons and will need to double up a shift at some point in the season. We ask those families who need to make up a shift due to missing a meet to use the ancillary events such as Pep Rallies, Awards Night and Breakfast of Champions to supplement that extra needed shift. Please don’t double up on meets early to “just get it done”. Every family who doubles up requires a second family to double up later to make up the difference and that puts a strain on the system.

Check out the volunteer page at https://fmkp-waves.swimtopia.com/volunteering

Full Team Practice - After School Schedule starts on Thursday, April 16

And of course, full practice starts on Thursday April 16. The schedule is on the practice schedule page at https://fmkp-waves.swimtopia.com/practice-schedule. Again a reminder to all parents - you are not allowed on the pool deck during practice. Please stay outside the gate.

The rest of the season is completely planned out and all the events on the schedule page at https://fmkp-waves.swimtopia.com/swim_meets. Update your calendars!

That’s it for now. If you have any questions about the season, have concerns or feedback - negative or positive - we are always looking for it. My email is below. Also, we are looking for some additional board members so if you are interested in giving back to a great organization and working with a really fun group of parents, please reach out.

Go Waves!

Stephen Nimmo

FMKP Waves - President

[email protected]