Wells Branch Armada

Please take a few moments to read the entire newsletter! There are numerous items below which include: News from the WBA President, Head Coach and Volunteer Coordinators, Weekly Reminders, and Meet Information. Thank you.

Thank you to all those that participated in Saturday’s Spirit Day at Panda Express. We experienced a few difficulties with in person ordering, but are working to get everything corrected. Stay tuned for our next Spirit Day! 

by Soonee Wright, President

Thank you to everyone who participated in Saturday’s Red White & Blue meet! GREAT JOB to the swimmers and all of our volunteers too. You all stepped up and your enthusiasm showed throughout the day! Shout out to all those that volunteered for both shifts, we appreciate the extra effort! We have a break this weekend and will be working to finalize a few more details before our next official meet against the Brushy Creek Marlins (at our home pool) on Saturday, May 28th!

Speaking of volunteers, thank you to Coach Tucker, John Henry Mejia and Caleb Jahnke for offering to fill in as we finalize our current coaching staff schedules. All three started swimming with the Armada at a very early age and continued through their age-out year. We appreciate the experience they have to offer and their continued dedication to the Armada family.

Lastly, a few reminders as we continue with our 3rd week of the swim season:

Baby Pool - The baby pool is open during our practices as a convenience to our Armada families. Please read and follow all rules posted inside the baby pool. I have been asked by the Aquatics Supervisor to remind parents that the baby pool is for children under five years old and that YOU (or a designated adult) must accompany your child while he/she is in the enclosed baby pool area. Please also help us by reminding your older children of these rules as well. Failure to follow the rules will lead to the closure of the baby pool during our Armada practices.

LOST & FOUND - Please be sure to check the RED Armada lost and found bin for any missing items from practices and last Saturday’s meet. Goggles are usually handed over to the lifeguard office for safekeeping, so if you are missing any, please check in with them as well.

RIBBONS & CARABINERS - Carabiners were placed in the family file boxes under your child’s registered last name. Unfortunately, our ribbons have not yet arrived from the circuit for this season. Labels have been printed and as soon as the ribbons arrive, they will be placed in your family file boxes. Typically, these are done right after the meets and available for pick up on Mondays. Until the ribbons arrive, please be patient. Also, please remind your swimmers to dry their hands before reaching into the file folders and do not remove the files from the boxes.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. I look forward to seeing you at the pool this week! 

by: Gina Zayas, Head Coach

Congratulations and thank you to all the swimmers and parents who made it to our Red, White and Blue practice meet! The energy in and around the pool was fantastic. I know several of you were balancing more than one activity that day and I appreciate you waking up early and making time for this meet. I also want to thank our older swimmers, most who are junior coaches, for helping our 6U and 7&8s as they participated in their first meet. Their presence on deck and in the water provided extra comfort and confidence to the younger swimmers. 

As the coaches watched and took notes, we discovered some skills we need to focus on this week. Here are a few things we will be giving priority to as we prepare for our May 28th meet against Brushy Creek:

1. Breaststroke and Butterfly Technique

2. Flip Turns and Open Turns (mainly 9yrs and ups)

3. Diving

4. Backstroke Technique and Stroke Count

5. What happens if….your goggles fall off, there is a false start, you begin doing the wrong stroke, etc?

I encourage you to be bold as you choose your events for our swim meet against Brushy Creek. By the end of the season, I’d love to see everybody try each event at least once. The coaches are willing and happy to serve each swimmer as they work toward the goals they have set for themselves. 

 Armada Wants to Know...

"Coaches, what was your favorite part of swimming Armada?"

Coach Kayla: "My favorite thing about summer swim was the family environment and junior coaching. I really enjoyed connecting with the younger swimmers."

Coach Jake: "My favorite part was just having fun and enjoying being around everyone and racing at the meets."

Coach Maddie: "As a swimmer, my favorite thing was always getting to be with my teammates and celebrating improvements and accomplishments together."

Coach Fox: "My favorite things about swimming in the summer was getting to swim with and against my friends and watching each other grow as swimmers."

Coach Caitlin: "My favorite thing about summer swim was having my family and friends support me and watch me grow as a swimmer. I also enjoyed connecting with others and seeing them succeed."

Coach Gina: "The friendships I made and the small, family feel of the Armada was what made me love summer swimming."

I encourage you to read each week and learn more fun facts about our 2022 coaches. Next issue....What is your favorite breakfast cereal?

Upcoming Meet Information

• Sat. May 21st: NO MEET - enjoy your weekend
• Sat. May 28th: WBA vs. Brushy Creek Marlins (HOME) - Meet will open on May, 17th.  Meet Entry Deadline is Monday, May 23rd at NOON.

Upcoming Team Events / News

• Mon. May 30th: No practices - Memorial Day
• Tues. May 31st: Morning Practices begin - see "Practices" for times

by Catherine Kamenicky, Volunteer Coordinator

Howdy all! First I want to thank all of you who volunteered at our Red, White & Blue meet on Saturday! We have so many new families this year and y'all did a great job! I hope after our little trial by fire on Saturday you have a better understanding of how a meet works, and are more comfortable with the positions.  Remember if you have any concerns do not hesitate to reach out and ask questions. I won't be around the pool much this week, but you're always welcome to text me at (956)802-2253.

Just as a reminder, if something comes up on the morning of the meet, and you will not be able to attend, please call or text Paul Wadehra, our meet director, at 512-659-1373 and let him know. Not only will we need to scratch your swimmer(s), but we will also need to fill your volunteer spot. The entire meet will stop if we do not have all positions filled, which is a scenario I personally would like to avoid.

Parents: PLEASE do not remove your children from their pits unless you inform the pit parents, even at the end of the meet. This is not only a huge safety issue, but it can also slow down the pace of the meet tremendously. Pit parents are responsible for getting all swimmers to the ready bench on time, and cannot go searching for missing swimmers. If your child is not in their pit for lineup, they will likely miss their race as the ready bench will not wait for them to be found. Also, make sure to tell the pit parents when you’re checking your swimmers out of the pits permanently.  The pit parents are responsible for all the kids until released to a parent, and we don’t want to them to be searching for a child that as already left for the day.

A couple of last-minute notes. 1) Please check in with me once you arrive at the pool if you are volunteering. This check-in lets me know you are at the pool and recognize you have a position. 2) If you are volunteering for a second shift position, please arrive 30 minutes early. Sometimes the meets run ahead of time and thus you will be in already be in position for a smooth transition of volunteers. 

Swim Shop Update:  I know everyone is wondering when we’ll have our shirts and caps. I’m supposed to be able to pick up our shirts this Friday, assuming that I do, I will be sorting them this weekend, and will have them at Monday’s practice for pick up. 
Our vendor has encountered an issue with our caps, so she is working to resolve the issue. When I receive the caps, I will send out a team wide email, and anyone who has not received their free latex cap can pick one up from me at their leisure. Thank you all for your patience!

These WB Armada swimmers excelled by placing first in one, two, three, or all four events at the Red, White, and Blue Meet. Congratulations.

These WB Armada swimmers and their teammates excelled by placing first in the Freestyle Relays at the Red, White and Blue meet on Saturday, May 18th. Congratulations.

Freestyle Relay Winners:

We are looking for 3-4 parents to serve on the scholarship committee this year. To serve, you will need to be available to meet in early July for an hour or two and not be a parent of an "aging out" swimmer. Please contact Soonee Wright at [email protected] if interested.

Scholarship applications will be distributed in early June to those qualifying swimmers who are aging out. Eligible swimmers are those that have swum 3 consecutive years with the Armada swim team including their "age out" year and who have submitted a completed application

Our annual Swim-A-Thon will be held on Tuesday, June 7 from 6-8:30 pm at the Willow Bend Pool. This is our primary FUNdraiser, with emphasis on the "fun," and the funds raised help us to keep our fees low and help us to purchase needed equipment.

Swimmers will receive a donation envelope in their family folder soon. We ask that each swimmer collect pledges per length of the pool or flat donations. As part of registration, each family has committed to getting donations of at least $50. There was an option to pay this online at registration, which many families did; up-front payment of the Swim-A-Thon fee covers your minimum obligation but does not prevent you from further participation in fundraising and prizes if you would like. 

During the Swim-A-Thon, swimmers will be swimming laps and parents will bring chairs and sit pool side to count their swimmers' laps. Free food and drinks for all family members are provided! Due to insurance coverage, only Armada swimmers are allowed in the pool during Swim-A-Thon.

Finally, Swim-A-Thon is when we kick off our Raffle (drawings and winners will be announced at Awards Night).