2009 was a great year!
Remember the Scott Valley meet?
Remember Champs?
How about the canoe trip? The beach trip?

2010 promises to be all that and more,
there are lots of changes and new things in store for 2010!

Coaches

“Great things happen to great people” our beloved Coach Bella is moving to the Strawberry Seals as their new head coach! Fantastic for Bella, bittersweet for us. Bella has been a positive force on our team for both our young and experienced swimmers. We will miss her. Good Luck Bella! See you at the Strawberry meet!

Along with our head coach Eric Whitten, (without whom our team just wouldn’t strike like a lightning bolt!) we’ve hired not one, but two fantastic assistant coaches: Jack Naylor and Kelsey Louderback.

Jack Naylor – swam for the WaterDevils, swam for Terra Linda High School (NCS qualifier), and then swam for Boston College (Big East finalist in the 200 breast). Jack is studying for his CFA, and wants a career split between financial planning and swim coaching. He’ll be taking over the Lucas Valley Swim School and will coach all age groups of the LVST, with a primary focus on the younger ones. He has the spark and enough team spirit to make every day a fun day in the pool.

Kelsey Louderback – Kelsey is very familiar to Lucas Valley Swimming, her name still stands in our record book and all over the MSL in pool records! As a High School All American she led Marin Catholic to the NCS Championship in Water Polo. Kelsey continued swimming and water polo at Sonoma State, and is currently a top ten nationally ranked US Masters’ Swimmer. She has coached in Marin, both at San Rafael High School and at Swimarin. Kelsey wants a career in education and coaching and currently works with learning disabled students at Mill Valley Middle School. As an LVST assistant she will coach and develop the older age group swimmers.

2010 Schedule and Registration

Note: important upcoming dates on the left side of the web page.

  • Meet the Coaches Night: Friday Jan. 29th at LVCC 5:30-6:30pm
  • Online registration opens: Friday January 29th
  • First day of practice: Monday March 1st
  • Volunteer sign-ups for new families at the pool during practice times: Monday March 1st – Friday March 5th
  • Volunteer sign-ups open online: Friday March 5th

Yes, that’s right! Online Registration and Volunteer Job Signups! The LVST board evaluated several systems, and chose one that was designed specifically for the MSL by a Strawberry dad who is working closely with our own Mary Higgins. You will be able to register at home, in your jammies, and pay via Paypal (or by check & snail mail).

Note: volunteer signups will happen in three phases:

  1. key coordinator jobs (like snack bar, setup, etc.) will be filled in advance. If you want one of these jobs – a little extra responsibility but the ability to do it year after year, email Nancy, nancy@applegarth.net
  2. new families will be guided to an appropriate job based on their knowledge of swimming and their kids’ ages.
  3. returning families will be able to register online (don’t worry, we won’t be able to see those jammies!)

Fees

We are the smallest team in the MSL, and our fees are among the lowest in the MSL. This alone makes our team finances very tricky to manage. As a result we barely broke even financially last year, in fact, we did not break even and had to pull from our savings to make the year-end expenses, just like lots of families had to do in 2009.

So while it’s always a tough decision to raise fees, we feel it’s best for the team if we have a healthy balance sheet. For the first time in 2 years we’ve decided to raise fees 10%, from $335 to $370 for the first swimmer. Note this still is among the lowest fees in the MSL, and is an incredible bargain when you consider that there are 100 practices. Your cost per hour of the highest quality supervised activity is approx $2.50. Compare this with the cost of any other organized sport, and LVST wins hands down.

New Logo and Merchandise

The next big news is our new look. LVST board member Tricia Eichler and her husband Scott have created some great merchandise with a new eye-catching Lightning logo. You may have seen certain board members sporting the manufacturer’s test run, but rest assured, we have plenty of new LVST clothing for everyone. Come get yours on January 29th at Meet the Coach Night.

Marketing and Fundraising

Board member Chris Simpson is our marketing guy this year and doing it right. We’re asking lots of local businesses to help out as sponsors. If you know of a sponsor, let Chris know! Look for our flyers as you run errands in the neighborhood and remember, the best sales tool is word of mouth – tell your friends, neighbors and cousins how much fun you had last year on the team – invite them to join too!

Board member John McLaughlin is developing our fundraising and social calendar, which will go up on the website very soon. He has the best ideas and some pretty fantastic plans, so start shopping for that party dress! We are having a team party this year! Dates coming soon!

Champs and All-Stars

LVST is hosting Champs this year. Fantastic! This is a BIG DEAL and we will need everyone’s help to pull this off. It is our turn (once every 10 years) to put on the best end of year Champs meet we can. Stay tuned for more information.

The All Star Meet is back by popular demand! The date is being set, and as soon as it is decided, you will see it here!

Wrap It Up

Swimmer for swimmer, LVST is the best team in the MSL. We are the smallest, yet we are a top tier team in the standings. And every LVST swimmer, regardless of ability, is a huge part of that success. Our web page and our new logo will only add to the spirit and energy we can already feel for this season! We want and will always need new swimmers on our team, please do you your part pass the word on our great team and invite friends and family to come join the fun!

We look forward to welcoming the new families to the team and catching up with all our old friends. See you at the pool!

Welcome to the 2010 season!
Go Lightning!!

~ LVST Board of Directors