Howdy Barracudas, Coach Alie here!

It's the most wonderful time of the year, well, almost! I cannot even begin to tell you all how excited I am to be back as head coach this season! I have a very strong feeling that this is going to be a fantastic season!

As our first registration date gets closer, it is this Sunday (3/6), I wanted to reach out to all of you and explain an amazing opportunity I have for the 11 & ups this summer. Most of you may know that we have our 11 & ups help out during the younger kids' practices as mentors, but the number of our older swimmers who actually do mentor has been decreasing dramatically year after year. In years past, there has been an application to become a mentor that had numerous questions and it really seemed to discourage the kids who wanted to mentor. This year, I have created a new "application" that just asks for the basics. I plan on having all of the applications with me at every practice, that way I can easily find each mentor's information in case of an emergency. 

With all of that said, I am looking for some 11 & ups who want to help out the coaches this season by mentoring their younger teammates! As a mentor, they will receive a black cap that has our logo and the word "mentor" on it to distinguish them from everyone else. They will also gain lots of knowledge on how to teach and correct certain strokes, which can be very beneficial as they get older! I will also be happy to sign off on the hours that they mentor as volunteer hours for any organization that they may be in that requires a certain number of volunteer hours! Finally, they will bond with their younger teammates and serve as role models to them for the remainder of their time swimming with us! I was a mentor when I was on the team and that opportunity helped me realize that I wanted to be a coach when I was old enough!

I have attached the application to this email for you to print off and turn in to any coach at either of the registrations, and at any point during the season. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns and I will happily get back to you as soon as possible!

I look forward to seeing some of you at registration (this Sunday from 2-5 PM) and all of you at some point this season!

Go Barracudas!

 Coach Alie