Message: President South Riding Swim Team (SRST)

Dear South Riding Stingray,

On behalf of the SRST Board of Directors (http://www.gostingrays.com/about/dir.html) and the 2007 coaching staff, I want to thank you for participating in our community’s largest organized group. This season marks the tenth anniversary of competitive swimming by South Riding. Planning for the 2007 season began in August of 2006 and we are confident the efforts of The Board of Directors and our coaching staff will result in even better memories and better swimming in 2007 and beyond.

This year we expect to have nearly 400 swimmers, practicing in all three-community pools from June through July. Our volunteer support extends beyond twenty swim meets to social/community activities that all are designed to create lasting memories for our swimmers and their families. The cost of running such a large program is high. Please support our sponsors. This group contributes heavily to the financial well being of our program. Their money off-sets expenses, coaches salaries, social activities, the awards banquet, the team barbecue, tee shirts, trophies, ribbons, computers/software to score meets, and the many other activities that make every Summer so special for our team. Let sponsors know that you are a part of the team and you appreciate their support. Community based sponsors are the backbone to our success (and your low registration fees). When making a buying decision, please consider supporting our sponsors. Also, I’d like to acknowledge Town Hall. The South Riding Proprietary has supported our pool requests, swim meets and social activities for ten years. We are very lucky to live in a community that supports such a large program unconditionally.

We are all looking forward to another great summer. The continued growth of our team presents us with new and exciting challenges. The most notable change this year will be the addition of some 50-75 more athletes. In order to accommodate this anticipated growth – your swim Board has been expanded to better focus on the needs of the CSL/ODSL/Mini Ray programs. The Coaching staff for 2007 will also be expanded to 6 full time coaches supported by a number of our very talented young adult swim coach’s. Practices will also be utilizing all possible swimming days at each pool helping to keep the number of swimmers per lane to a manageable, and safe number.

There are many challenges facing us in 2007 that will require participation from every parent volunteer. It takes involvement from EVERY parent and child to have a successful year. Our swim team is an all-volunteer group except for our coaches, who are paid for their expertise. A home swim meet requires at least 40 parent volunteers in order to fully staff all positions. Your involvement is critical. The benefits of volunteering go well beyond completing the immediate task at hand. Every time a parent volunteers to help out, they help to move our swim team forward in our journey to make the South Riding Swim Team (SRST) the best swim team around. I guarantee that you will feel enriched by helping out, and you will have helped to brighten our athlete’s swim team experience. Please remember, you will not only help your athlete by volunteering, but you will help the other 400+ athletes who are members of SRST.

We are proud of the consistent compliments that we receive from visiting teams about how well we organize our team and run our meets. I urge you to take pride in your involvement and give your time willingly when you can. We are all very busy and have many things that need attention. Please remember that when you sign your athlete up for swimming, you also sign yourself up to VOLUNTEER! In the coming months when you are asked to help, keep in mind that we wouldn't ask if we didn't need YOU! Let's ALL help make the 2007 swim season a great success, as well as a lot of fun! Lets’ go make some memories for our children.

Last, I want to personally thank the previous SRST Board of Directors for their work in establishing our program. I am privileged to have their continued support and guidance as we move into our tenth anniversary of swimming. We are here today because of the tireless efforts of so many before us. THANK YOU

“United We Swim”

Bill Sullivan

President