Wells Branch Armada

Please read the entire newsletter for information about our Mod Pizza Spirit Night this Thursday and the tri-meet this Saturday at Steiner Ranch.

by Deanna Johnson, President

Team Google Photo Album

Have you had a chance to check out the 2024 Wells Branch Armada Google Photo Album? Three of our parent volunteers have contributed regularly to the photo album and taken some amazing photos. We are so fortunate to have their talents. Please take time to review all the great images they captured, as well as those added from our coaches and other families. 

If you share photos, please credit the owner. The photo album lists the photographer's name who uploaded the photo.

If you need photo services, remember to check out their personal portfolios and send some business their way.

• Diamond Thompson - Portfolio | Facebook and Contact Info
• Francisco Chairez - UnionBooth.com
• Meg Stephenson

Remember that YOU can also upload your favorite shots to the Armada photo album. We will use this album to create the highlighted slideshow at our Award Ceremony on July 1st. 

Austin FC Shoutout to Volunteers

A huge thank you to the Austin FC Volunteers who have volunteered with me at the Q2 stadium so far this year: Lee Logan, DJ Loberg, Jack Bales, David Ward, Cami Crouzet, Krystal & Brandon Whipple, Rebecca Jackson, Ceasar Cabrera, Chistina Sok and Summer Smith. In three games, these volunteers raised over $3200, and we expect the 4th game to generate $1200 or more! It's been a lot of fun, so ask someone who has volunteered or get your training today. We still have a few games left this season, such as 6/19, 6/30, and 7/2, where we could use some help.   

by Jake Tolfa and Maddie Wright, Head Coaches

Congratulations to everyone who swam in the meet this past weekend vs the RR Dolphins! All coaches were very impressed with the team's performances with some new invitational qualifiers, impressive time-drops, and even some triple drops. We look forward to everyone continuing these performances moving on to this next meet @ Steiner Ranch against the Steiner Ranch Stars Red and the Brushy Creek Marlins.

We want to remind everyone that Stroke Clinics have begun! Clinics will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays after the final practice. We will have 2 rounds of 3 clinics, one round 12:00-12:30 and another round 12:30-1:00. Each clinic will have a different focus ranging from all 4 different strokes, to dives, and to turns. You may sign up in the "Stroke Clinic Binder" which will be located at the pool by the family folders. It is $10 per kid per clinic, and the $10 should be paid directly to the coach who coaches the clinic (you may discuss with the coach about payment options whether via Cash, Venmo, Zelle, etc)

Mid-Season Survey:

Another reminder about the "Mid-Season Survey" that was posted last week, we love to hear everyone's feedback on how the season is going and how we can improve the Wells Branch Armada experience.

Survey Link: Survey Link

Meet Theme: Pirates

We hope to see everyone dressed with eye patches and swords ready to kick some "Booty" at this next meet. 

WB Armada vs Steiner Ranch Stars Red & Brushy Creek Marlins (Away)

Our next away meet is this Saturday against the Steiner Ranch Stars Red & the Brushy Creek Marlins. Please arrive on time. Late arrival could result in your swimmer being scratched from their relay. Allow extra time to find the pool and to find parking.

Scratch: After we close the meet online, please email or text DJ, our Assistant Meet Director ([email protected] 512-296-6068), in order to scratch. 

Key Information:

Location: 
Steiner Ranch Bella Mar Community Center, 12401 Bella Mar Trail, Austin, TX 78732

Parking:  

Parking in the Bella Mar Community Center parking lot will be reserved parking only. Parking along Calistoga Way is reserved for the Steiner Assistant Coaches.

Additional parking can be found along Bella Mar Trail. Once parking along Bella Mar Trail has reached capacity - additional parking can be found at River Ridge Elementary where they will be running a shuttle to the pool drop-off at Calistoga Way. 

Please observe the following:
1. Parking prohibited in areas marked by traffic cones
2. No parking in front of mailbox kiosks
3. No parking in front of fire hydrants
4. No parking in intersections or the traffic circle
5. No blocking or parking in driveways
6. Parking violations are strictly enforced (violators will be towed)

See map for further details on remote parking and shuttle:

Tent area:

Our tent area is to the left of the community center on the large soccer fields. We will set up on the fields nearest to the backstop so that swimmers can use the steps. Please see attached map of the pool marking pathways to the ready bench. Swimmers must follow the path, they cannot cut through concessions to get to the ready bench. Also, we should have an event/heat runner who will be responsible for communicating which events/heats have been called and making sure they get to the ready bench. They will be announcing as well, but sometimes the sound gets lost in the distance. 

Meet Schedule: 

We are running 3 shifts this meet, shift changes will occur after events 31 & 57. They are hoping to have the parent coach relay after 57. They will move the 6U breaststroke to be after the 11/12 breaststroke to give the swimmers who swim both fly and breast a chance to rest before racing again. They have a hard stop at 2 pm, so we will not go longer than that. 

Other important times: 

6:55 Timers & Judges Meetings, Timers at Lane 1 starting block, Judges Lane 1 far end. Ready Bench Volunteers to the Ready Bench.

7:00 Event 1 to the Ready Bench, 1st-3rd calls for Events 2 & 3

7:05 1st Shift Volunteers, Timers & Exchange/Stroke Judges to Positions

7:10 Event 1 to the blocks & National Anthem

7:15 Meet Start

Concessions & Merchandise: They will have concessions including breakfast tacos, hamburgers, hotdogs, pizza and Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. Kale Me Crazy will be on site selling smoothies, juices, iced beverages & other healthy fare. Kona Ice will also make an appearance.

THERE WILL BE NO MERCHANDISE TENT provided by Steiner - Betty Jo will bring swimmer essentials from our swim shop should anyone need anything. 

by Genevieve Bales   

Every Family has committed to at least one volunteer role. We still need the following volunteer positions for our 6/15 Swim Meet at Steiner: 

• Equipment Transport
• Set up 
• Tear Down 
• Computers 
• Stroke Judges
• Ready Bench 
• Runner 
• Pit Parent 7/8 Boys 

Armada Families y'all have been amazing! You keep coming through when we need you, and we cannot thank you enough! I've learned that due to our smaller team size, we often need families to cover multiple shifts or roles to satisfy the needs of a swim meet. That said, we have several Super Volunteer Families with Armada. These families often cover multiple shifts, and/or roles at swim meets.  We see y'all and appreciate all that you do! 

OPEN PLAY AREA: The open play area is a privilege. As with every privilege there is responsibility. Children must stay in the designated area while playing, request to leave the area, return to their pit when they are told and respect the adults who are monitoring the area as well as their Pit Parents. If a child chooses to play outside of these rules or disrespect the parents who are monitoring the play area, they are choosing to return to their pit. Everyone please reinforce respect for the others who are supporting our swim team, whatever their role. 

See ya on the Pool Deck! 

by Tricia Hughes, Sponsorship Coordinator

RAISE365 APP

Armada Families:  Thank you for going above and beyond your minimum of $100 of fundraising.  We are 1 day away from ending our 1st annual Swim-a-thon Raise365 app fundraiser.  Here's the breakdown at this time: 

• 24 families raised money on the app (31 families downloaded the app)
• 2 families broke $500 raised
• 11 additional families raised between $100 - $435
• Total Amount:  $4,070  and our take home (80%)  is $3,256

End of Season Raffle

Our final fundraiser is going to be an online raffle.  We need our Armada families to donate things to raffle.  Please send an email to [email protected] by June 21st with the following information:

1. A photo of the item(s)
2. A description of your item(s) you are raffling 
3. Tell the value of the raffle item(s)
4. Is there an expiration date on the item? 

EXAMPLES of items: 

Gift-cards, tickets to an event, gift baskets, anything new and fun, food, etc.  Deadline to submit your donation is Friday, June 21, 2024.  Have questions? 

Call or text Tricia Hughes at 512-947-8247! 

Turn in all cash to our Business Venmo: @wbaswim

Swim-a-thon Donations, Calendar Donations, and any other donations that are cash can be turned in through Venmo. Make sure you use the text box with the following:

1) Swimmer's Full Name

2) Age group   

SPIRIT NIGHT at MOD PIZZA (Thurs-June 13)

Come enjoy a fun family night out with our swim community - AND invite your neighbors!  We are heading into our last 3 swim meets  and seeing everyone out of the water and dining together would be super cool!  Parents- at practice this week- chum it up with each other and plan when your families could meet Thursday night.   This is our only spirit night of the season- so be there or be square!!! Read the flyer below for instructions and location. 

You heard it right, the Armada Meat Raffle is back! We will be holding our second annual Meat Raffle on June 27th from 6-9PM at Hanover's Draught Haus in Pflugerville. 

How does it work? $2 raffle tickets can be purchased and used across multiple drawings for meat! If you are a winner for a drawing, you get to take your pick from the remaining items in that drawing. Each drawing will have multiple pieces of meat including ground beef, steaks, pork ribs, chicken drumsticks, etc. We will cap the night with our epic, super-deluxe drawing ($5 tickets), which will include premium cuts of meat, bacon-wrapped filets, and a full brisket! See below for example drawings from last year, and if you have any questions, please reach out to our "Meat Director" Aaron Bartlett at [email protected].

Round 1 

• Chuck Roast
• 5 lb Drum Sticks
• 1 lb Ground Beef
• 1 pack Pork Chops

Final Round: (Combinations)

• Full Premium Grass-fed Brisket, Prime Tri Tip, Prime Ribeye Steak
• Two 2-pack bacon-wrapped filets, 1 prime Ribeye Steak
• Two- 2-pack bacon-wrapped Filets, 2 prime NY Strip Steaks
• Pork Butt
• 2 Racks Baby Back Ribs
• Brisket Point

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Grab your tissues as this Swimmer Spotlight may be a real tear-jerker. Our last home meet of the season was also the last home meet for a number of our swimmers who are aging out. Their final race was quite fun to watch, and we want to make sure we give them a proper shout-out as they each have brought a ton of energy and fun to the Armada over the years. So with that, special congratulations to Connie Zepeda-Saucedo, Elias Freeman, Jack Halmon, Caden Halmon, Phoenix Mielcarek, and Ayden Kamenicky. We hope you enjoyed your time with the Armada and wish you the best on your next endeavors!

The following new record(s) were set this weekend. Congratulations!

These WB Armada swimmers excelled by placing first in one, two, or three events this past Saturday. Congratulations!

These WB Armada swimmers and their teammates excelled by placing first in the Medley and/or Freestyle Relays this past Saturday. Congratulations swimmers!

Each week the WBA honors the swimmers in each age group who recorded the largest time improvement. Fast Fishy times are based on times from the current season only.

The following swimmers were the fast fishies in their age groups for the meet on June 1:

To achieve a Triple Drop, a swimmer must improve their time in all three of their individual events at a meet. Triple Drops are based on times from the current season only.

The following swimmers achieved Triple Drops at the meet on June 1:

We are behind in pulling Triple Drop winners. We will list the names of the Triple Drop winners for the June 8 meet in the next newsletter. 

This past week we had one new swimmer qualify for Invitationals and seven swimmers who had previously posted Invitational times, qualify in an additional nine events which are noted below in bold-italic. (alpha order by last name)