Sports Lessons for Life

"I think I made the HighPoint for the team this season," my son said to me the day before the swim team awards picnic.

Jay started swimming on a team because he saw other kids practicing with a team coach while he was still learning to blow bubbles. He watched them and told me he wanted to do what they were doing.  "Then you've got to put your face in the water. All the way in the water," I told him.

And he eventually did get over his fear of submerging his face and the rest of his body into 4 feet of water, because he wanted to do what the other kids were doing.  Once he learned to swim across the length of the pool, he told me he was ready to join a team.  I had no idea what joining a swim team or being a competitive swimmer entailed, other than the few tales of water-obsessed parents, but they didn't sound any crazier than the soccer-moms and basketball-dads that I already knew.  Just a different and wetter crazy, but on the same level.

That was four years ago and Jay has been swimming ever since.  He's won, tied, come in last, been disqualified, cheered, cried, set goals, tried harder, tried again.  He's learned to take pride in his accomplishments and set new goals to do even better. He encourages his team-mates and celebrates their wins or commiserates over their losses. He's pulled his sister into swimming with him and encourages her.  He knows when he's been goofing off and when he's really put in some work.  He appreciates the coaches who invest their efforts and is learning (still learning) not to waste their time by not putting in his own hard work.  He's learned so much more than just how to properly churn his arms and kick his legs to execute the perfect butterfly.

And this year, he did win that High Point award - the swimmer who has earned the most wins and points for his team this season.  And he's learned to be proud, yet still humble.

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Dinner to Go: Quesadillas

In the summer, its a little bit like Union Station in our house around dinner time.  Most evenings, someone is heading to practice or a game or a swim meet or music lessons or a friend's house or somewhere.  Many of our summer dinners are easy to take with us foods, or something that folks can eat whenever it is they are home without any special prep.

On swim meet nights, we need our dinner to fit both these criteria.  We are poolside for about 4 hours in the evening.  The swimmers are in and out of the pool for warm-ups and their events, and I'm trying to time when they eat based on their schedule.  The non-swimmers are lounging about, reading, listening to music, waiting for the 2 minute period that pops up every half hour or so when they have to pay attention to the swimming sibling.  And everybody's hungry.

I have a couple standards for swim nights; quesadillas is one of them.  They are probably the easiest and a great way to use up some leftovers when there's really not enough to make a meal.  Of course, I did not invent the quesadilla, but I'll share this easy method to get dinner in the picnic basket.

Quesadillas

Quesadillas served with fried plantains and sour cream. 

Basic Ingredients
Tortillas (I prefer flour, but you can use corn, too) - 2 per quesadilla
Cheese, grated - cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey Jack *you can make it easy and buy the pre-mixed, pre-seasoned packs in the grocery store cheese section

Fillings: this is the fun part - it can be whatever you want.  For meats, make sure they are cooked thoroughly as the few minutes of heating will not cook it properly.  These are just suggestions to get your thoughts going.

Meats
Chicken, chopped or cut into slender slices - perfect use for any leftover chicken
Ground beef - if you have tacos or make spaghetti sauce, cook a little extra and save
Ham - chopped or in thin slices
Steak - in thin slices
Fish - tilapia works well
Shrimp - tails, shells off

Veggies & Extras
Fresh spinach - raw works well; don't use frozen
Asparagus spears - cook first
Grilled corn
Tomato salsa
Guacamole
Black beans - cooked
Jalapeno slices

Easy to cook

Fill quesadillas with cheese and your favorite meats & veggies

• On a flat grill pan, heat tortillas.
• Sprinkle one tortilla with cheese.  Add any other fillings, generously spreading across tortilla.
• Top the cheese & fillings with the second tortilla.  Allow cheese to melt a little bit, then flip over.
• Let cheese melt and tortilla brown slightly.  Remove from pan.
• Slice into quarters.
• Wrap stack of quesadillas in foil.

Quesadilla pizza - cheese & pepperoni

Quesadilla with shrimp

If you like, you can also pack sour cream, guacamole, and salsa to serve on top of the quesadillas, too.

Enjoy!

A few hours to myself

Time to sit with my headphones on, listening to whatever I want, whether its Darius Rucker or John Legend, Adele or Beyonce.  I've got my book and my crochet, going back and forth depending on the mood.  My coffee and a snack of trail mix and potato chips.   I can catch up with a few friends, chit-chat.  Write a blog post.  A couple hours to sit back and not worry about going anywhere.  I wonder if there's a bar in this place?

Oh - wait, let me pay attention, my son is about to swim.

Sit back, put your feet up, wait for the 2 minutes you've got to pay attention.

Want a sure way to get a couple hours to yourself every few weeks and feel like a good mom for cheering enthusiastically for your kid at the same time?  Swim team.  A typical swim meet runs about 3 hours, sometimes 2 or 3 days in a row.  In last month's meet, my son swam for 9.7049 minutes, divided into 6 events over 2 days.  The other 5 hours, and 51 minutes?  I read half a book that I've been stuck on for weeks.  Finished a crocheted skirt.  Caught up with a friend who I don't see that often because we're both busy doing the mommy thing.  As for her swim meet time?  She has 2 swimmers, so she was at the pool for 8 hours each day, and her girls, combined, probably swam a total of, say 16 minutes (they're a bit faster than my son).

On the other hand - my daughters play basketball and tennis and sing.  The games and matches can run from a little less than an hour to one and a half hours.  In basketball, she plays for most of the game.  Tennis, of course, she plays the entire game.  So there's no down time for me.  I definitely can't get any reading done, although I can crochet, so can manage to work on a scarf or hat or something like that.  And I have to pay attention the entire time.  Other daughter - singing and acting.  If she's got a chorus performance or in a play - I've got to pay attention the whole time and, anyway, its usually kinda dark.  This is not to say that I don't enjoy going out and cheering for my girls, because I absolutely, so proudly do.  So much in fact, my cowbell often goes "missing".  (And, by the way, cowbells are looked down on in the theatre.)

But if we're talking about a spectator event at which you can almost relax - and yes, I consider sitting on a hard bench in a humid, hot swimming pool with 500 other parents randomly screaming "kick!" at children who cannot hear them at all for hours to be 'relaxing'.   Put your kid on swim team.


*Photo - feet provided by swim mom Charon (that's with a "C" not an "S")

Pack Your Bags! For the Pool & Swim Meet

In my last swim team post, I talked about practice and swim meets.  Now let’s look in our swimmer’s bag. You know he needs a bathing suit and some goggles.  What else?  (And again, thanks to Coach Jenn from RMSC and Tilden Woods, for her helpful tips.)

Ready for the pool!

What kind of bag?

Your child’s bag should be easy to get into, large enough for all of their stuff, and water-proof.  Backpacks made by water sports companies like Speedo are a popular choice, however, these may seem expensive for a summer-only swimmer.  A regular sports duffel/gym bag works well, too.  Put some kind of luggage-tag or identifier on the bag; you can imagine how many blue backpacks are lying around on the pool deck.

In the bag

Be sure to check his bag before each meet.  Yes, because the goggles were there after the last meet, you would think they would still be in there.  But do you really trust that he put them back after playing at the pool with his friends or that she remembered to tell you that her swim cap tore?

• Flip-flops/Crocs/sandals – water-proof shoes
• Towel
• Goggles (2 pairs), favorite pair plus an extra pair in case 1^st gets lost or broken
• Swim cap (2 – for same reason as 2 goggles) – team cap, if you have one.
• Team bathing suit – Yes, they are a bit more expensive than the one you bought at Sports Authority or Target, but for the meet, Coach Jenn says that its “always nice to look like a unified team by all having the same suit & swim caps.”
• Team t-shirt
• Water-proof sunscreen and lip protection (yes, even for the brown-skinned swimmers - they will burn, too, just ask my kids)
• Hydration – water, Gatorade, coconut water
• Healthy snacks – peanut butter, nuts, cheese sticks, carbs, fresh fruit, pretzels or chips (but watch the salt – swimmers don’t really sweat too much)
• Entertainment – book/magazine, cards.  I wouldn’t advise electronic equipment or anything expensive, not only because of the obvious potential for water damage, but the bags are often left unsupervised while the children compete and wander around the pool deck
• For evening meets – a sweatshirt, tight-woven cap or towel for wet hair
• For after the meet, if needed: multi-purpose wash/shampoo, swimmer’s shampoo and conditioner, moisturizer

A note on swim caps.  I’ve had a few discussions with parents on swim caps, and here’s my take.  Should your child wear one – yes.  It keeps long hair out of your kid's face, whether that’s long straight hair or long curly hair, even if it is in ponytail, an Afro, or in braids.  Although they don’t keep hair 100% dry, swim caps generally keep hair to just being damp, so less chlorine exposure and that’s better for your hair (not scientific evidence, this is my own opinion).  And for swim times - the point of swim caps is that their smoothness gives the swimmer a little more glide in the water and keeps them from getting weighed down by the water in their hair. Granted, the design and quality of the cap should be comparable to the skill of your swimmer, hence, why the Michael Phelps swim cap is like $40 and the regular swimmer’s cap is about $10.

Family bag

Parents may also want to carry their own water-resistant bag of supplies, especially if there are other siblings coming to cheer on the swimmer.  Depending on the meet, swimmers will stay with their team and parents will stay in the viewing area of the pool deck or stands, so separate bags is important.  Most of this is stuff you would also take with you for just a fun day at the pool.

• A couple dollars for the concession stand and the swim program – this is the printed line-up of the events, swimmers, and their seed times
• Water-proof shoes
• Folding chair
• Hat with brim
• Sunscreen
• If its looks like its going to rain - rain jacket, hat – swim meets will often go on despite the rain as long as there is no lightning
• Water
• Snacks, lunch – don’t have to worry about cramps and jumping in the pool, so pack whatever is desired
• Entertainment – book/magazine, portable games, small toys for siblings.
• Camera to capture all those beautiful strokes
• Plastic, ziptop sandwich bags – I put my phone and camera in them so they don’t get splashed.
• Bathing suits for the other siblings?  Depends on the pool.  Some have a second pool that they can use; some pools only have one and its restricted just for the swim meet.

My bag
The polka dot bag in the photo is what I'm using as my pool bag.  Its large enough for a family's worth of towels and all the other stuff listed above.  It has long handles so I can carry it on my shoulder and is waterproof.  This is the Utility Tote from 31 Gifts.

You're ready to pack your bags - have a great time at the pool!

This is the first of a series of posts - check back weekly for more fun reasons to "Pack Your Bags" this summer and a chance to win a bag of your own from 31 Gifts!

Get Ready for Summer Swim Season

Is your kid splashing into the pool with eyes on being the next Michael Phelps or Cullen Jones?  (I think with some work, I could catch up to Dana Torres, but that’s another story.)  We’ll be hanging out pool-side, too; my son will be returning for another summer season, now officially a year-round swimmer, joined by his sister for her first year.  I’ve collected some tips from our experience and checked in with one of our local swim team coaches, Jenn Barnes, for her expert input, too!

Practice

• Yes, swim practice is every day.  Even when its really hot and even in the rain (as long as there’s no lightning).  Practice is important, so do your best to get your child there. 
• Introduce yourself to the coach - according to Coach Jenn, its helpful for coaches to be able to match your face to your name and to your kid. 
• If you stay at practice, stay quietly.  Coach Jenn says to “let coaches do the coaching, it's important to allow the swimmer and coach build a relationship/bond.”  If you do have any questions, don’t assume, go ahead and ask, but after practice so that the coaches can pay full attention to the swimmers. 

Meets

The swim meet consists of a series of events – all the swim strokes, divided by age and sex, as well as relays and stroke medleys, that all totaled could be 40 or more events and can last about 3, even 4 hours, with your child swimming for maybe 5 of those minutes. 

In our swim league, there are “A” and “B” meets.

• “A” meet competitors are selected by the coaches.  How do the coaches make up the “A” line-up?  Coach Jenn says that “many factors go into creating an “A” meet lineup (opposing teams strong spots and weak spots, who is available for the meet, maximizing points).  Typically the top 3 fastest times for the whole team from each event are chosen to swim.”
• “B” meet swimmers may be asked to swim or allowed to sign up for eligible events. 

Warm-ups

• Swimmers need to get to the pool for warm-ups before the meet. This is your child’s opportunity to wake-up, stretch out their arms and legs, get a sense of the pool (is it a deep diving pool, is the depth graduated or flat, is the water cold), and get mentally ready for the meet.  It will be his only warm-up time; the next time he touches the water it will be for his event.
• Additionally, for the team coach, she can check who is there and make any necessary adjustments to the swim line-up.  If your swimmer doesn’t make it to warm-ups, his slot in the events may be given to another swimmer. 

Parents’ Role

• Cheer - We’re the cheerleaders and we are there to support our swimmers. Coach Jenn emphasizes that during the meets, again, “leave the coaching to the coaches”. Remember all the bonding the kids and the coaches did during practice?  This is where it kicks in. 
• Volunteer – We will be asked to help with the meet as timers and lane organizers, as well as with set-up and at the concession stand. Helping out with the team is a great way to be involved in your child’s activity (in a way they don’t mind) and get to know the other kids and parents on the team, as well as to pass the time.
• Make sure the kids are near - Our team, and many others, has a “Clerk of Course”.  This is the person who wrangles all the kids for each event into their correct line-up; its much like herding and corralling wet cats.  I did this last summer; other parents can make this job easier by having your swimmer ready a few events ahead of time and near the line-up area so that they can be easily found. 

Team Spirit

A swimmer can come to practice, swim his events, and never have to talk to another teammate, because other than the relays, swimming really is an individual sport.  But how fun is that?  Through-out the season, many teams have team activities and pep-rally type events, to further develop the team bond between the swimmers. Coach Jenn believes that “summer swim team is where lifelong friendships are made and the best way to build these relationships is to attend the team activities/functions.  This not only builds personal relationships but also builds a team.”

If your child is only swimming one or two events in the beginning of the meet, I know, its real tempting to dry her off and head off to the rest of your day.  But if you can, stay at least a few events and cheer on the swimmers.  For Coach Jenn’s swimmers “building a team that supports each other and is there for one another is more important that winning; staying until the end of the meet is a good way to do this.”  Swim teammates often scream cheer at the end of a swimmer’s lane and during half-time, the teams often become their own crazed cheerleading squad, complete with cheers, synchronized dances, costumes, and cannon-balls into the pool.  This all builds the team bond and leads to a more positive experience.

See you at the pool!

* What goes in the swim meet bag?  Check my "Pack Your Bags" post on the Swimming Pool. *

Did you know that “drowning is the 2nd leading cause of childhood accidental death”?  African-American and Hispanic children are less likely to know how to swim than White children, making them more at risk for drowning.  

If your child can’t swim, check your local YMCA or public pool for lessons.  

Stats and information from “Make a Splash” Foundation.