Announcements/Additions to Agenda

Approval of Agenda

Adoption of Minutes of April 23, 2008 Meeting

Old Business

Reports of Officers:

Administrative Vice-Chair – Chris Hug
Treasurer - Sue Lecza
Finance Vice-Chair – Jeff Scobee
Age Group Committee Chair – Peter Boucher
Senior Committee Chair – Henk Jansen
Program Development Vice-Chair – Rick Lewis
Program Operations Vice-Chair – Barry Silver
Technical Planning Committee Chair – Ellen Johnston
Coach Representatives - Mike Ferraro/Dennis Flores
Athlete Representatives - Dana Gnerre/Lauren Solernou
Coach-at-Large – Christine Pelham
Safety Committee Chair – Bruce Collins
Officials Committee Chair - Mike Huffman
Registration/Membership Coordinator - Judy Snow

Attachments:

Coach Travel Assistance Proposal and Application
USA Swimming position paper re National Age Group Recognition
Meeting Schedule draft

June 18, 2008
To: Board of Directors
From: Christine Pelham, Coach at Large

PROPOSAL: CSI will set aside a flat fee to provide reimbursement to a Connecticut Coach working the Olympic Trials. This expense is not in this years’ budget. In voting on this proposal CSI should earmark set funding for future reimbursement every four years. In researching this Olympic Trial the cost of the trip can be anywhere from $1500-$2000.

CSI gives $750 per athlete, I would like to propose a flat fee of $500 per coach of record and make it a part of the budget for 2012. This is an important use of our money, these are the coaches that have developed these athletes to represent Connecticut at the biggest meet in America. Many of the LSC’s reimburse coaches for Olympic Trials and senior national meets. CSI should start this Olympic Trials with a flat fee reimbursement of $500 per Coach of Record, even with additional qualifiers it is a relatively small amount. The Paralympic Trials should also be included in this proposal. The 2012 CSI budget should include an amount to set aside for this expense.

Attached please find a draft for a form to be used after this years Olympic Trials.

DRAFT
CONNECTICUT SWIMMING INC.

OLYMPIC TRIALS COACH REIMBURSEMENT FORM

Olympic Coach Of Record_________________________________

Team/Athlete-s Qualified___________________________________

Home Address___________________________________________________

City ____________________________________ State/Zip ________________

Credentials must be current please enter dates of expiration in appropriate box above.

__________________________________________________________________

Date of Olympic Trial Swim ___/____/______

Event ________________________________________________________

PLEASE RETURN FORM AND RECEIPTS TO: Nan Cooper

There will be one flat fee of $500 distributed per coach of record regardless of number of the number of athletes qualified.

******************************************************************************************************

The National Times and Recognition Committee presented the Top 10 single age recognition program at the September 2007 Age Group Development Business Meeting. During this meeting, which involved LSC Age Group Chairs and committee members, the Age Development Committee recommended that the 10 & U age group be dropped as part of the recognized age groups in this program. There was widespread approval and minimal discussion of this proposal. The National Times and Recognition Committee then presented the Top 10 single age recognition program with the amendment of eliminating the 10 & U age group at the USAS Convention. Again, there was little opposition and discussion.

By and large, the decision to recognize ten, and not sixteen swimmers per event, and the decision to use single-year age groups as opposed to dual-year groups, have caused minimum controversy. However, there has been discussion regarding USA Swimming’s decision to no longer recognize 10 & Under performances in its current event ranking system. This brief paper contains the rationale of the Age Group Development Committee for this decision.

The rationale is based on three pillars:

initiatives as well as local traditions

The focus of the National Age Group Development Committee is to find and promote opportunities for age group swimmers to build a healthy foundation for making swimming a life-long sport. The Committee feels that a key part of building that base as an age group athlete is accomplished by a long-term developmental progression. Programs that enhance this focus are supported by the Age Group Development Committee.

The Committee is continually reviewing the scientific literature on athlete development, to ensure that our proposals and programs are in line with the best available information. A current leader in the theory of long-term training and athlete growth and development is Istvan Balyi. In an article he wrote with Ann Hamilton, "Long-Term Athlete Development: Trainability in Childhood and Adolescence," Balyi argues,

Concurring with this opinion, the Age Group Development Committee believes that recognizing the 10 & Under swimmer nationally puts undue emphasis on short-term accomplishments, and it conveys a sense of these young swimmers’ having reached the highest levels of the sport, instead of a rung in a long developmental ladder. In lieu of national recognition of the fastest times in individual events, USA Swimming provides other opportunities that encourages and motivates young swimmers, and that align with its goal of building the healthy base.

USA Swimming has a long-established age group development philosophy regarding the proper

emphases in the training of our youngest swimmers:

This developmental progression is outlined in detail in several USA Swimming publications, most notably the Foundations of Coaching collaboration between USA Swimming and ASCA. There is a progression of programs for both coach and athlete development based upon that philosophy.

The Age Group Development Committee believes that formally recognizing 10 & Under achievement in specific events does not align with its philosophy of long-term development grounded in working all strokes and building a strong base. Instead, it is more appropriate to reinforce with age group swimmers, coaches, and parents the idea that there are more important considerations than simply being fast – for young swimmers, "how you get fast matters most" for their long-term development in swimming.

USA Swimming’s Individual Medley Xtreme Challenge (or "IMX") is a national program that encourages all around athlete development. This program requires that 12 & Unders swim five events:

1. 200 Freestyle

2. 100 Backstroke

3. 100 Breaststroke

4. 100 Butterfly

5. 200 IM

Each time a swimmer swims an event the time is converted to a point score. Upon completing the five events each season (short course yards or long course meters) the swimmer will automatically receive an IMX score on his/her My USA Swimming page. Throughout the season, this score is updated with each best time in these events.

It is important to note that the IMX program "works with" common biological pitfalls/challenges, helping both early- and late-maturing swimmers. Age group coaches face the obvious and common problems resulting from swimmers’ uneven and unequal biological maturation every day at practice. They face the challenge of keeping the small and slow-growing swimmer in the sport when most extrinsic motivators (i.e., awards, victories, publicity) are absent. Simultaneously, they face the challenge of getting the big and strong early maturers to train according to their long-term best interests and ignore short-lived motivators (awards, victories, publicity) that encourage them simply to "do what works," – that is, rely on size and strength rather than train well and develop good technique. It is often challenging to keep the first group in the sport while they await their growth spurts, and it is difficult to keep the second group in the sport as they are "caught" by their later maturing peers during the high school years.

The IMX program gives early maturers the motivation to be well-rounded and not focus on an event or events where their biological advantage may allow them to overcome poor habits. And by rewarding across a spectrum and especially for longer events that respond more to stroke technique work and aerobic training, the IMX program helps retain late maturers.

In review, IMX performance focuses on success and improvement across a broad array of strokes, in particular events more technically and aerobically oriented – and not single-event performance for 10 & Under swimmers. By utilizing IMX as a training, goal setting, and recognition tool, swimmers are rewarded for behaviors consistent with USA Swimming’s development philosophy. The Age Group Development committee feels that emphasizing participation in and formally recognizing high achievement in the IMX program accomplishes these goals more effectively for the 10 and under age group than did the previous National Top 16 program.

It is important to note what will stay the same. We are obviously not doing away with single-event racing. Age Group athletes will still race the 50 fly or the 50 back at meets, and they will still be given times and awards based on their times for individual events. Swimmers will still be excited and motivated by improving their best times in the 50 free and 100 IM. Finally, every team will continue their recognition traditions through team banquets, most improved trophies, best technique honors, spirit awards, etc.

The Motivational Times Standards list will still help swimmers find motivation to get faster. In fact, the technology advances have made it easy for any swimmer to obtain his/her national ranking for his/her age group for any event and distance. That capability is available to everyone to monitor an athlete’s progress at any point in time for either short course or long course events. With the advances made in the SWIMS database software, there does not have to be a single point in time for that tool to be used in measuring performance goals set by the athlete and coach. It constantly gives the athlete and coach the opportunity to modify those goals as the age group swimmer continues to improve.

Further, it is important to make clear the committee’s intentions. We do not mean to diminish 10 and under athlete’s accomplishments – but we do want to steer that accomplishment into one stream rather than another, and to ensure that the foundations of that accomplishment are strong, secure, and long lasting. Nor do we mean to discourage fast swimming – but we do want that speed to be broadly-based and founded on good technique. Nor do we mean to discourage competition – but we do want that competition to include the full range of strokes and events.

In summary, the landscape of age group teams and competitive swimming remains much the same. The Age Group Development Committee believes that the best motivation and encouragement for 10 & Under swimmers come not from formal national rankings but rather from sources closer to home – their teams, their coaches, and their families. These powerful sources remain.

The Age Group Development Committee supports the Time and Recognition Committee’s decision to eliminate the 10 & Under category in the National Recognition program. Every reward system is based on values and philosophy; in our recognition program, we want to measure, and we want to reward, those things we consider most important. We want to reinforce those behaviors we consider most beneficial to the swimmers involved. This means we want to encourage well-rounded swimming development across the four strokes, technical development, and aerobic base development among our youngest competitive swimmers. We believe that emphasizing existing USA Swimming and local programs for 10 & Unders best serves the long-term growth of these age group swimmers.

September 2008 through July 2009. All meetings begin at 7:30 PM unless otherwise specified.