Parents Information

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Introduction

The Pool - Highlands Park (Westerville Parks and Recreation) sponsors the Otters Swim and Dive Team. The Otters Swim and Dive Team is open to all season pass holders age 18 and under. The Swim Team participates in two swimming leagues; COSA and GCSL. The Dive Team participates in the GCSL.Most Swim Team members will swim in both COSA swim meets and GCSL swim meets.

COSA - Central Ohio Swimming Association

This is a developmental program. The main emphasis is on stroke mechanics. COSA also provides the chance for more advanced swimmers to work on their weak strokes. Team scores are not kept for meets. Competition is secondary to the efforts to provide an enjoyable learning experience.

GCSL - Greater Columbus Swim Association

These swimmers and divers compete in four to five dual meets against league opponents. The dual meets will be very competitive every week. Diving scores are included in the overall meet scores. Generally, the top three swimmers or divers are chosen to compete in each event, although this is not always the case. There are times when coaches want to see another swimmer or diver under meet conditions, reward a swimmer or diver for hard work or just have a feeling that a swimmer or diver is ready to excel and deserves a chance. Line-up changes will be made at the discretion of the coaches.

GCSL Championships

A GCSL Championships meet (swimming and diving) is held at the season's close. The championships will field all the teams in the league. In order to be entered in the championships, GCSL requires that each swimmer and diver participate in a minimum of three meets and the Booster Club requires a parent do volunteer work at a minimum of three meets. We must have our top three swimmers and divers in each event eligible for championships for the Otter Swim and Dive Team to be competitive. If it appears likely that you or your child will not make the three meet requirement, please let the coaches know as soon as possible so that alternate team members may be chosen.

COSA Meets

Parents of children 10 years of age or younger are responsible for COMPLETING the event cards for each event their child wants to swim. The cards should be deposited in the envelope, which will be posted by the event sheets. Event cards will be available at the conclusion of practice Thursday and Friday the week of any COSA meet. Swimmers age 11 and older are responsible for completing their own event cards.

Unless notified otherwise, swimmers who place first, second or third in a GCSL meet (not including relays) should not sign up for that event in COSA meets.

Coaches will oversee the COSA meets and determine relay teams from entries received by Friday. If a swimmer cannot attend a meet after entering an event card, he/she should notify their coach as soon as possible so that relay changes can be made. Failure to notify a coach of an absence will result in that swimmer not being placed on a relay team for the following meet.

The Otter Booster Club

The Otter Booster club is made up of at least one parent of every swimmer and diver. We feel parents have a responsibility to the team for which their child swims or dives. It is required that all parents volunteer to help in at least one of the areas during each meet in which his/her child participates.

The Boosters are a support group for The Otter Swim and Dive Team. They assure the meets are staffed with officials, timers, announcers and more. They hold bake sales and other fund raisers to pay for ribbons, awards, equipment, supplies and team parties. The Boosters coordinate Mini-Champs, Beat Your Best, the Awards Banquet and all swim and dive meets and are the number one fan club of all the Otter swimmers and divers.

Each booster member is REQUIRED to volunteer during at least three meets including away meets. If a parent does not fulfill their three meets requirement, their child becomes ineligible for Championships and Mini-Champs. Parents of swim or dive team members may register to volunteer in any of the positions listed here.

In addition to volunteer work, we ask that EVERYONE supply items for the bake sale held at each home meet.