Hello Ray-Nation!

We are off to a great start and the Ray-vibes are flowing!

RSVP’s are due TODAY for this week’s Red and Black meet. Please log into Swimtopia and mark your child as “attending” or “not attending” that meet. While you are there, you can go ahead and mark your child’s RSVP for next week’s Village Green meet. The more time Coach Jodi has to plan a lineup, the better. Even if you texted Coach Jodi that you are out of town, please take a moment to login and select your child as “not attending”.

Schedule for this week:

Monday - practice, Blaze pizza night 5-9pm

Tuesday - practice

Wednesday - practice

Thursday - practice, Red & Black (see below)

Friday - practice

Red and Black Timeline:

3:30 PM Pool Set-up begins inside the fence once pool closes- Parent Volunteers who signed up to help set-up pool arrive, set up parking cones

4:15 PM Parking attendants in position directing vehicles.

4:30 PM Swimmers and parents arrive and CHECK-IN, get their team shirt

4:30 PM - 5:00 PM Individual pictures (optional)

5:00 PM TEAM PHOTO all swimmers participate

5:15 PM SWSR warm-ups

5:45 PM Swimmers meet with coaches for meet training

5:45 PM Parent Workers meet with referee for meet training

5:55 PM National Anthem and Prayer

6:00 PM Swim Meet STARTS

Be on the lookout for an email from either Amy Steger or Natalie Evans tomorrow. They are our meet directors and will be sending out worker shift sign up information. Remember, Red and Black is ONE shift. Typically, meets are split into 2 shifts. However, because Red and Black is a shorter meet and we have the same number of positions to fill, there will only be one shift. Every swimmer is required to have a parent/caregiver worker shift filled.

Stacy Rector will have swimmer tshirts and online orders available for pick up at the Red and Black meet. Please see her table for pick up.

Thank you to Legends Event Photo for taking our team and individual pictures again this year! They always do a great job. Information on ordering pictures is attached to this email.

Ray-Nation, come ready for dinner at this week’s meet. Thank you to the Yoakum family for preparing pulled pork nachos, brisket sliders, burnt end bites, smoked cherry limeade, and queso! We will also have homemade sourdough pretzel bites courtesy of Debbie Sharpe! There will also have pizza, beverages, candy, and other snacks. We are happy to welcome back Pelican’s Snoballs as well! Concessions will be set up under the outdoor pavilion near the tennis courts. BBQ items will be purchased there and can be picked up at the outdoor kitchen area.

In honor of 25 years of the Ray-Nation, we are bringing back something special to the Red and Black meet….Parent & Coaches Relay! If you would like to join us, please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D49AFA92EABF4...

This is for fun and we don’t care about your ability, we want the kids to see us having fun together and in something we may not all even be great at! So sign up today so we can be making these relays!

SWIM MEET REMINDERS

The paved parking is reserved for individuals with disabilities and Senior (65+) visitors.

Everyone is expected to park in the grassy areas around the pool as directed by our Swim Team Parking attendants.

Be on time or be early!

Top Ten Parent Reminders

1. Parents - Be on time, it is vital to the team function.

2. Parking - park in the grass on the east side of the pool and follow the parking attendants directions. DO NOT park on the subdivision streets or the street leading to the pool.

3. Parents - Come to the meet ready to help. If your family has swimmers swimming in the swim meet it is expected that a parent will be working one shift of the swim meet. The stingray nation always participates as a team, if it has been determined that swimmers have been dropped off at a swim meet with no parent participation, the team will have to remove the swimmer from the line-up and the swimmer will not be allowed to participate. Typically, we do not have a problem with this but I do want to make sure the Stingray Nation understands. Those parents willing to work double shifts are very much appreciated and true to the stingray spirit of "stepping up" when needed.

4. Parents - If you are a new family in the Stingray Nation this year, please ASK questions. Things move fast and can be confusing for anyone not familiar with a swim meet event. Every family on the Stingrays at one time was new to the Stingrays.

5. Parents - come ready to place your swimmers in the ready bench area when it is their time to swim. If a swimmer misses an event it is NOT the parent workers fault. The parent workers are there to help facilitate the swim meet, not find your swimmers.

6. Parents - prepare your swimmers to listen to the events being called and teach them about the layout of the pool and where the ready bench is when they hear their event being called to report to the Clerk of Course (Ready Bench).

7. Parents (especially VETERAN families) pick out a new family and mentor them.

8. Parents bring lots of PATIENCE. Everything will not run smoothly. There are always situations that develop that take time to communicate, train, and respond.

9. Parents during the mock meet try worker positions you may have never done before if anything just to try it, this meet is to TEACH you as much as to TEACH the swimmers what occurs during a swim meet.

10. Do what Stingrays do, HAVE FUN AND SWIM FAST!

More great information for parents can be found here: https://swsr.swimtopia.com/parent-need-to-knows

Show the attached flyer at Blaze on Monday night for a portion of your purchase to be donated to the Stingrays!

You may have heard some custom Ray-beats being played at practice. Those were created by our very own DJ Flipturn! Be sure to check them out on all streaming services.

We are going to be running on high RAY-octane for the next 7 weeks! The Stingray Nation has been doing this for 25 years so let's continue the great tradition as a team. We are grateful to have each of you with us this season!

Rays in the water!

Michelle Bell

Thank you to our sponsors:

Stir Fry Cafe

Vineyard Turf

McKinnish Law Group

Smoaked

Einstein Brothers Bagels

Whit’s Frozen Custard

Burks & Ogle Attorneys at Law

Mollenhour Gross

Isagenix Team Brown

Bell Family Chiropractic