AWARD-WINNING COVERED BRIDGE CROCS!
Covered Bridge will be having a swim and dive season this year! It may look somewhat different than in years past, but we are still hoping to make it a fun and rewarding experience for our young athletes.
As many of you have heard, the Tri-County Swimming Pool Association and Cherry Hill Association of Pools made the decision several weeks ago to cancel both the Tri-County Swimming Championships and Cherry Bowl Swimming Championships this summer. The South Jersey Diving Association has canceled their championship meets this summer as well. Last night, it was also confirmed that there will not be any “official” dual meets this season for swim or dive. In many ways, this was expected due to the current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, we would now like to move forward. In the interest of keeping our families safe, many of our children have had to miss out on the joy and camaraderie of youth sports in recent months. Our goal this summer is to provide your children with a fun and safe athletic experience that will give them an opportunity to get in shape, refine their swimming and diving skills, and most importantly, have fun and maybe begin to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives. In addition to practices, we would also like to have modified meets with various Tri-County clubs. These meets can still be fun and competitive but will just not be officially sanctioned by Tri-County. We would also still like to hold many of the team bonding activities, like pep rallies, that our swimmers and divers love in order to promote a sense of team unity and make the experience as much fun as possible.
Here are a few things to know about the upcoming season:
COACHES: We are thrilled to welcome back Coach Luke Wister and Coach Tommy Schurer as well as welcome our swimmer assistants, Maddie Desjardin and Skylar Mo. Beckett Erdman and Kevin Sonn will be taking on our pre-team program. We are also excited to welcome Lexie Young into the role of head dive coach.
DATES OF SEASON: The swim and dive season will begin on June 22nd and extend through July 31st for all swimmers and divers. This extends the season two extra weeks in lieu of the fact that there will not be any championship meets.
COST: The cost of swim and dive will remain the same: $90 per swimmer and $70 per diver with a $10 family fee. If your child is a swimmer and also chooses to dive, he or she will get half off the dive fee. In considering the cost, please know that this is the lowest it can possibly be in order to maintain our current program and cover our necessary expenses. Without the ability to host official A meets, we will be losing a great deal of money that we normally gain in fundraising during the course of those meets. Please know that we are dedicated to providing your child with an excellent swimming and diving program this summer while still meeting proper safety standards. Each swimmer and diver will also receive a team shirt with their registration.
PRACTICE TIMES: Dive practices are held daily Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 and 11:00 AM. Swim practices are held daily Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 AM and 12:00 noon, with our 9 to 12 year olds practicing first, our 13 to 18 year olds in the middle time slot, and our 8 and unders last. Due to the high numbers of young children that we typically have, social distancing guidelines are in place for practices. Below is the current practice schedule:
8:00 - 9:00 9-10 year olds
9:00 - 10:00 11-12 year olds
10:00 - 11:00 13-18 year olds
11:00 - 11:30 8 and unders (group 1)
11:30 - 12:00 8 and unders (group 2)
MEETS: Although there will be no “official” meets, we will still find opportunities for our swimmers and divers to compete. These may include intramural meets as well as split squad meets with other Tri-County clubs.
PRE-TEAM: As in years past, we are offering a special swim program for our youngest Crocs. If you have a child between the ages of 4 and 6 who is water comfortable but unable to swim an entire lap of the pool unassisted, you may want to sign them up for our pre-team program. This program is coached by two of our very own CBSC swimmers, Beckett Erdman and Kevin Sonn.
PARENT MEETINGS: A parent of each swimmer or diver, including pre-team, should plan to attend one of the upcoming mandatory parent meetings. These meetings will be held on Thursday, June 18th at 7 PM and Saturday, June 20th at 10 AM. You must attend ONE of these meetings in order for your child to begin practicing.
REGISTRATION: Registration is OPEN on our CBSC Team Unify page. Please register ASAP as that will give us just over a week before the start of the season and we need to know exact numbers in order to properly plan for social distancing.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
I strongly believe that despite these strange times we are living in, we can all work together to make this a fantastic season for all of our young swimmers and divers.
Sincerely,
Le-Ann Wiesendanger
Swim Team Coordinator
As many of you have heard, the Tri-County Swimming Pool Association and Cherry Hill Association of Pools made the decision several weeks ago to cancel both the Tri-County Swimming Championships and Cherry Bowl Swimming Championships this summer. The South Jersey Diving Association has canceled their championship meets this summer as well. Last night, it was also confirmed that there will not be any “official” dual meets this season for swim or dive. In many ways, this was expected due to the current circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, we would now like to move forward. In the interest of keeping our families safe, many of our children have had to miss out on the joy and camaraderie of youth sports in recent months. Our goal this summer is to provide your children with a fun and safe athletic experience that will give them an opportunity to get in shape, refine their swimming and diving skills, and most importantly, have fun and maybe begin to regain a sense of normalcy in their lives. In addition to practices, we would also like to have modified meets with various Tri-County clubs. These meets can still be fun and competitive but will just not be officially sanctioned by Tri-County. We would also still like to hold many of the team bonding activities, like pep rallies, that our swimmers and divers love in order to promote a sense of team unity and make the experience as much fun as possible.
Here are a few things to know about the upcoming season:
COACHES: We are thrilled to welcome back Coach Luke Wister and Coach Tommy Schurer as well as welcome our swimmer assistants, Maddie Desjardin and Skylar Mo. Beckett Erdman and Kevin Sonn will be taking on our pre-team program. We are also excited to welcome Lexie Young into the role of head dive coach.
DATES OF SEASON: The swim and dive season will begin on June 22nd and extend through July 31st for all swimmers and divers. This extends the season two extra weeks in lieu of the fact that there will not be any championship meets.
COST: The cost of swim and dive will remain the same: $90 per swimmer and $70 per diver with a $10 family fee. If your child is a swimmer and also chooses to dive, he or she will get half off the dive fee. In considering the cost, please know that this is the lowest it can possibly be in order to maintain our current program and cover our necessary expenses. Without the ability to host official A meets, we will be losing a great deal of money that we normally gain in fundraising during the course of those meets. Please know that we are dedicated to providing your child with an excellent swimming and diving program this summer while still meeting proper safety standards. Each swimmer and diver will also receive a team shirt with their registration.
PRACTICE TIMES: Dive practices are held daily Monday through Friday between the hours of 9:00 and 11:00 AM. Swim practices are held daily Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 AM and 12:00 noon, with our 9 to 12 year olds practicing first, our 13 to 18 year olds in the middle time slot, and our 8 and unders last. Due to the high numbers of young children that we typically have, social distancing guidelines are in place for practices. Below is the current practice schedule:
8:00 - 9:00 9-10 year olds
9:00 - 10:00 11-12 year olds
10:00 - 11:00 13-18 year olds
11:00 - 11:30 8 and unders (group 1)
11:30 - 12:00 8 and unders (group 2)
MEETS: Although there will be no “official” meets, we will still find opportunities for our swimmers and divers to compete. These may include intramural meets as well as split squad meets with other Tri-County clubs.
PRE-TEAM: As in years past, we are offering a special swim program for our youngest Crocs. If you have a child between the ages of 4 and 6 who is water comfortable but unable to swim an entire lap of the pool unassisted, you may want to sign them up for our pre-team program. This program is coached by two of our very own CBSC swimmers, Beckett Erdman and Kevin Sonn.
- WHAT IS PRE-TEAM? Pre-team swimmers are considered part of the CBSC swim and dive team, get a team shirt, and are included in all team social activities, pep rallies, etc. but they will be taught in small groups with hands-on instruction similar to swim lessons. There may also be some dry-land exercises done as a component of the program, which will enable us to provide practices for a larger number of swimmers while still maintaining smaller groups while in the pool.
- SAFETY PRECAUTIONS: Due to the nature of this type of instruction, there will likely be a need for physical contact with a coach. Our pre-team coaches will receive temperature checks before the start of each shift, and the coaches will continue to wear plastic face shields while in the water with the children. However, if you are not comfortable with this, we would also like to offer the option of having a parent in the water with their child while our coaches provide instruction from a safe social distance.
- PRACTICE TIMES: Pre-team practices are held during morning swim practices, with exact times determined based on the number of interested swimmers due to the need for social distancing.
- HOW TO SIGN-UP: To sign-up for pre-team, simply click on the swim and dive registration link posted below and select “pre-team” when you are asked to choose a group. Please sign-up ASAP so that groups and practice times can be determined that will allow for proper social distancing. Pre-team has always been a fun and engaging program that gives some of our youngest Crocs the basic instruction they need to be able to move up into the regular 8 and under practice. We are excited to be able to offer this program again this season. Please contact me with any questions about the program.
PARENT MEETINGS: A parent of each swimmer or diver, including pre-team, should plan to attend one of the upcoming mandatory parent meetings. These meetings will be held on Thursday, June 18th at 7 PM and Saturday, June 20th at 10 AM. You must attend ONE of these meetings in order for your child to begin practicing.
REGISTRATION: Registration is OPEN on our CBSC Team Unify page. Please register ASAP as that will give us just over a week before the start of the season and we need to know exact numbers in order to properly plan for social distancing.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
- All registered swimmers (with the exception of Pre-Team) MUST BE ABLE TO SWIM AN ENTIRE LAP OF THE POOL COMPLETELY UNASSISTED. This is even more important this year due to the social distancing regulations that will be in place. If your child is not able to swim a whole lap, please hold off on signing them up until pre-team registration has opened.
- Those registering for dive MUST SIGN UP FOR AAU INSURANCE BEFORE THE FIRST PRACTICE at aausports.org. You can contact our dive coordinator, Melissa Young, at (856) 889-6247 with any questions about the dive insurance.
I strongly believe that despite these strange times we are living in, we can all work together to make this a fantastic season for all of our young swimmers and divers.
Sincerely,
Le-Ann Wiesendanger
Swim Team Coordinator
