Moms of swimmers...a few questions

[TXMomof4]

Two of my dds absolutely love swimming. I had planned on putting them in lessons through one of the rec. centers this fall, but by the time registration opened to non-residents all of the classes were full! So, I'm looking ahead to the spring.

I would love to find something that is more than once a week. Especially for oldest dd - she would be completely content to sit and read for days on end and needs some directed physical activity. Even when I send them out to play, she will sit on the porch and read.

However, everything I've found is so darn expensive! Am I going to just need to suck it up and pay through the nose? Are there places that I'm not thinking of looking? Swim teams? Where do you find those (except through the Y)?

Thanks!

[Valerie in MI]

I'm guessing it depends where you live. Everywhere I've lived there have been private and park district teams outside the Y that utilize school pools or park district pools. I'd start with the name of your city and the word swim or swimming and a Google search. Yes, you're going to probably feel it is expensive. Valerie

[Danestress]

We are members of a big swim organization, and they offer a lot of programming for children who are not yet ready for a real swim team. They have "junior swim league" for example, where the kids practice twice a week and have a couple of meets against each other.

 

Swimming is really not that expensive compared to other sports for kids at a serious training level. Yes, it's more expensive than being on a soccer team, but then you have professional coaches for swimmers - people's whose job description is "I'm a swim coach" rather than some kid's Dad. And that is absolutely awesome. I can't tell you how much my son has loved his swim coaches. Pools are expensive to maintain, too, so that's part of the cost.

 

But still, I think we pay $150 a month, and my son practices four times a week with two professional coaches on deck with his age group, so he gets a fair amount of individual attention. I think that's a decent price, but I know it's out of the budget for many families, and I would look at the Y teams if I were unable to pay for this team.

[In The Great White North]

"I'm a swim coach" rather than some kid's Dad.

 

This is the second time I've seen a comment like this and I'm appalled. Really. This is the last place I would have expected to find discrimination against parents! I didn't lose all competence or forget how to swim when I had children. Nor am I any worse at it because no one "pays me through the nose!"

 

You can use this link, to get a list of all the year round swim teams in your area. There will also be Y teams, country clubs, HOA teams, etc. but I don't think there is a master list of those. Texas is full of swim teams - you should have a large choice.

 

http://www.usaswimming.org/USASWeb/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabId=503&Alias=Rainbow&Lang=en

[Mama Lynx]

I understand that swimming costs less than many other sports, but hey - if you don't have the money, you don't have the money. It's kind of insane that unless you have quite a bit of money, your kids are sports-less. Can you tell that I'm frustrated?

 

For my kids to swim, we would have to pay the $80/month fee to join the rec center, and the $60-80 per kid per session fee for the swimming lessons. With four kids, that's money I don't have. If I don't join the rec center and just do the lessons, then they have no practice time. All classes I have found are once a week, and you do not have privileges to come swim other than class time. We need more practice than that.

 

We're in a class now, but I am seriously considering just paying the rec center fee, so that we can swim whenever we want, and teaching them myself. I am not a trained swim instructor, but I did swim competitively in school. I don't like this option, but it may make the most sense in terms of financial outlay, and time in the water.

[Scarlett]

Wow, I had no idea swimming is so expensive in some places. Wow. I pay $50 a month for ds8 to swim 3 times a week for 45 minutes. Of course even that would add up if I had more than one child.

 

I have to say I think it is an awesome sport. I am not a huge fan of competitve sports, but swimming is different. Seems more about the individual improving their self-discipline...great exercise...learning from a coach that is not his parent...I really like it.

[Danestress]

No offense was intended, and we have had lovely amateur coaches in other sports. You are right - it's not whether the person is paid or not. I was just commenting that one reason swimming is a little bit pricey is that most of us can't find people who have trained extensively as competitive swimmers and have coached extensively and are willing to do it for free. If you are, your students are very lucky indeed!

 

For me, this is like violin. You can't teach violin without having played extensively, and even then, teaching is an entirely different thing from playing. It's something I am willing to pay for. Swim technique is similar. It needs to be taught right, and competitive swimming takes SO much time. My son's coach is there 5 nights a week and spends many weekends at his meets. If someone were willing to do that for free, great. That would be so amazing. But I would feel so guilty accepting that kind of gift.

[plansrme]

Here in the Atlanta metro area, the counties all run summer leagues for neighborhood teams. Most neighborhoods do not require that you belong to their pool to swim on their team--we have swimmers from many nearby neighborhoods on ours. The instruction may not be the best (sweet but lazy high school swimmers seem to coach most of the summer league teams), but getting in that pool every day from mid-May through late June will do wonders for a child's stroke. I think we pay less than $200 for summer league. The meets are tons of fun and a great way to meet neighbors. My 8 yo adores summer swim team and is transitioning to year 'round swimming in November.

I do agree with Danestress about the value of professional coaching.

Terri

[annabanana1992]

My kids swim year around. It costs us over $1000 per child per year. This is different than swim lessons. They are swimming hours a night 4-5 times per week - this is not a job most people would volunteer to do.

 

I know how to swim, I swam competively, and I am the swim team coordinator for our summer team, but I would have no idea how to coach my children at the level they are swimming. I do believe it is a job for professionals for my children and as such it gets pricey.

 

I am too am frustrated by the price of a lot of things even though we are able for now to afford swimming. These activities factor into college admissions like expensive SAT prep classes, etc., and yet they seem reserved for the few that can afford them....

[Scarlett]

I am too am frustrated by the price of a lot of things even though we are able for now to afford swimming. These activities factor into college admissions like expensive SAT prep classes, etc., and yet they seem reserved for the few that can afford them....

 

I agree. We can afford it for now as well....I was just thinking last night how I and ds would feel if we had to take him out of swim and piano...He wouldn't care about piano, but I would for him. He would care about losing swim though....he really enjoys it.

[rafiki]

.

[Elisabeth in IL]

Around here all the teams filled up very quickly because of Micheal Phelps and all his gold.

[Hillary in KS]

If you go to http://www.usaswimming.og you can click the "Find A Club Near You" icon on the right-hand side of the screen. There are TONS of clubs near Texas, and you'll likely find one near you.

 

Swim team is a bit more expensive, but when you compare what you *get* for what you pay, it's an easy decision.

 

For example, my littles are in "swim school" at the local club. (The swim school feeds into the swim team.) I pay $45/month, and get 2 - 45 minute lessons per week. Classes have no more than 4 kids in them.

 

When I had kids in lessons at the YMCA, we paid #5 per session, for 8 TOTAL lessons, 30 minutes each. Classes had anywhere from 5 to 15 children in them.

 

Ds #1 swims 5 days a week, 90 minutes per practice. We pay only $70 a month.

 

Yes, it's more expensive than lessons, but we get a lot more swim time for that money.

[Lolly]

If you go to http://www.usaswimming.og you can click the "Find A Club Near You" icon on the right-hand side of the screen. There are TONS of clubs near Texas, and you'll likely find one near you.

 

Swim team is a bit more expensive, but when you compare what you *get* for what you pay, it's an easy decision.

 

For example, my littles are in "swim school" at the local club. (The swim school feeds into the swim team.) I pay $45/month, and get 2 - 45 minute lessons per week. Classes have no more than 4 kids in them.

 

When I had kids in lessons at the YMCA, we paid #5 per session, for 8 TOTAL lessons, 30 minutes each. Classes had anywhere from 5 to 15 children in them.

 

Ds #1 swims 5 days a week, 90 minutes per practice. We pay only $70 a month.

 

Yes, it's more expensive than lessons, but we get a lot more swim time for that money.

Yep! USA Swimming is where you need to look.

[Unicorn.]

We swim on a summer team. The same team I swam on as a kid, and the head coach is the coach that started the team 46 yrs. ago. We pay ~$150 per kid, for appx. 4 months of swimming. We have 2 hrs. of practice in the morning, and 2 hours of practice in the evening. You don't have to do both, but sometimes we do.

 

Our coaches are dedicated, trained, and make a whopping $10 hr. Most of our meets are at our pool, but we do travel some, and we are very competitive and at the same time, we are about improving ourselves more than winning. We have an awesome team, and it's affordable!

 

Check out the website that "Great White North" posted. It should be able to help you find something in your area!

 

HTH

[TXMomof4]

Thanks for the link. I've got emails out to several clubs. Most of them didn't have anything about costs on their websites, but the one that did was only $195/quarter. That's not too terribly bad if I just have the oldest do it right now.

 

Thanks again!

[at the beach]

Yep! USA Swimming is where you need to look.

 

My dd swims on a summer team and is now starting on a Y swim team. Our closest USA team is about 20-25 minutes away and the Y is under 10. What are the benefits of doing a USA team as opposed to a Y team that is in a local league? I think for now we'll just keep doing the Y team, but I am curious as to specific benefits of USA teams.

 

Anita

[Lolly]

My dd swims on a summer team and is now starting on a Y swim team. Our closest USA team is about 20-25 minutes away and the Y is under 10. What are the benefits of doing a USA team as opposed to a Y team that is in a local league? I think for now we'll just keep doing the Y team, but I am curious as to specific benefits of USA teams.

 

Anita

 

It really all depends on the team and what you want to get out of it. The USA teams have a national system in place. It is THE swimming program as far as swimming goes. This is where the champions tend to come from. The level of competition available would be the main advantage. We competed in the Junior Olympics a couple of summers ago because it was in the area. It is not a USA sponsored event; it tends to be something that the Y teams participate in from what I could tell. The level of swimming was no where near the same. There were a couple of excellent swimmers from Y's, but overall it was just not on par to a USA championship meet.

 

For a beginner or someone who isn't really serious about swimming, the Y programs are just fine. Some Y's have programs that are superb. I believe some Y's are USA affiliated teams. It all just depends on where you are and what you want. The Y's here only offer summer swim team competition. They do practice year round, but at a lower level that what the USA programs offer. The USA teams vary greatly in what they do too. The smaller teams are often more like a summer team.

[Oak Knoll Mom]

Some Y's have programs that are superb. I believe some Y's are USA affiliated teams.

 

Our Y is also a USA team.

[at the beach]

It really all depends on the team and what you want to get out of it. The USA teams have a national system in place. It is THE swimming program as far as swimming goes. This is where the champions tend to come from. The level of competition available would be the main advantage. We competed in the Junior Olympics a couple of summers ago because it was in the area. It is not a USA sponsored event; it tends to be something that the Y teams participate in from what I could tell. The level of swimming was no where near the same. There were a couple of excellent swimmers from Y's, but overall it was just not on par to a USA championship meet.

 

For a beginner or someone who isn't really serious about swimming, the Y programs are just fine. Some Y's have programs that are superb. I believe some Y's are USA affiliated teams. It all just depends on where you are and what you want. The Y's here only offer summer swim team competition. They do practice year round, but at a lower level that what the USA programs offer. The USA teams vary greatly in what they do too. The smaller teams are often more like a summer team.

 

Thanks, Lolly! :) I appreciate your input! Our Y and USA team only go in the fall/winter/spring. The kids join other local teams for summer. I'm sure there are USA teams around here someplace that go year round, but I haven't even investigated any of that. My kid loves swimming. She'd go every day if she could. It's great for her because she needs serious physical activity as I have discovered. It really helps her stay calm and keeps her behavior manageable. I was shocked after she started to really swim how much easier she was to handle and how much more cooperative. She has a variety of learning differences/issues.

 

Anita