School Swim team vs swim club question

[SquirrellyMama]

My oldest dd is going to be joining the HS swim team this coming school year. She's been on a small summer swim team for the last 3 summers. If all goes well next fall she would like to join the year round swim club also.

 

If your child is on a school team and a club team do they have time for anything else? She's also a dancer.

 

If your child is only on a school team, do you think they can compete with the kids who are on school and club teams? When she was in Little League she thought that club kids who were on the Little League teams made it too difficult to compete.

 

What is the actual cost per year for a club team with team fees, meet fees, travel, accommodations, etc... I know it will vary by club. Is there an estimate? I saw something about monthly fees, meets fees, coach fees, etc...

 

Is there a reason to have your kid on a club team if college swimming or the Olympics aren't in their future? Especially, if you have a school team available?

 

Kelly

Edited May 11, 2016 by SquirrellyMama

[MysteryJen]

I think answers to your questions are going to vary by region, especially regarding relationships between club and school teams. For our region:

1. It is club swimming that takes up all the time. Most high school teams do not (and are not permitted) to run practices all year.

2. School only swimmers can rarely compete with club swimmers. There are always exceptions, but they are usually exceptional two sport athletes. The state meet looks like a club meet at the top seeds.

3. Costs vary widely for club swimming. The high school groups in our area cost from $150 to $250 a month. That includes all practices (usually up to 11 a week). Meets are extra, local meets run about $35 to $40 on average, 1 to 2 a month. Not much travel unless your swimmer makes sectional or national times. Costs vary on those meets, but each one can run between $1500 and $2500 (inclusive: hotel, car, food, meet fees)

4. Whether or not to swim club should be a decision based on how much your dd loves swimming. We know lots of people who just love to swim and want to practice everyday. For girls, there are literally hundreds of opportunities to swim at some collegiate level. Many of which are very much like high school swimming.

 

Swimming is best when the competition is between you and the clock. Not when comparing to others who have more experience or talent. Everyone can improve and post best times. A late start in swimming, especially for girls, can be a little rough at the beginning.

[bettyandbob]

Where I live there are summer rec swimmers and club swimmers who try out for the high school team. There are quite a few rec swimmers who make the team. But mostly the ones who do the best in scholastic competition are also club swimmers.

 

Club swimming does not appear to allow much time for other activity beyond a few hours teaching swim lessons or volunteer coaching. High school swimmers do other things.

 

Having time for dance also depends on how much dance your dd does. And how well she balances commitments and academics. Some kids do it all. Some need to have one big thing and built in down time.

[plansrme]

Around here (Atlanta, which is pretty intense about its swimming), most HS swimmers who also swim for club teams do not practice with the HS team; all they do is swim HS meets and maybe go to a meeting once in a while.  So whether she would also have time for dance and club or not would depend entirely on the club schedule.  The HS teams usually require HS-only swimmers to come to three'ish practices/week during the season, although I am sure that varies from one team to another.

 

As a swimmer on a HS team only, she almost certainly will not be able to compete with kids on club teams.  BUT, that doesn't mean the same thing it would mean for a team sport such as baseball, in which she'd never see the field.  Swimmers, from elite swimmers on down, mostly swim for improvements in their times, not to win, so a non-club swimmer would probably swim as many events as a club swimmer at a HS meet and would be welcome on a HS team.  She might not make the A relay team, but she could probably swim a B or C relay and any individual events in regular-season meets.  County or state meets may have qualifying times, and she may or may not have those.  As an old beginner on a club team, she is unlikely to finish high in club meets, but she will still have her own times to beat.  Unless you're in the fastest heat at a club meet, trust me--no one else notices where you finish, so there's no embarrassment to finishing near the bottom.  Swimmers are grouped into heats by their seed times, so she wouldn't get lapped by the field or anything like that.  It's definitely not like a cross-country meet, for instance, where everyone knows who crosses the finish line last (although, in fairness to XC fans, that person usually gets the most cheers).

 

As for fees, we pay $300/month for the team fee, but that is for the highest-level practice group our team offers.  There are lower-tier groups that practice less and cost less.  Meet fees vary, and you pay those according to what meets and how many events you swim.  The estimate above of $50/meet is about right.  New swimmers are probably not traveling much, if at all.  Travel meets probably run $500-$1500, depending on distance, whether the parents go, how long you stay, etc.  My swimmer probably does two or three travel meets a year.  Many swimmers do not do any, especially if you live in an area with plenty of swimmers so that all of your meets are local.  

 

As for whether there is a reason to have your kid on a club team if college swimming is not in her future, that depends on what she wants out of swimming.  HS teams are often coached by someone who doesn't know beans about swimming; it is a glorified summer league.  Between the lack of coaching and the fact that you can't swim year-around for HS (at least in Georgia), she'll never be as fast swimming HS-only as she would be if she also swims club.  So, if she wants a higher level of competition, more fitness and faster times, club is the way to go; if she just wants some competition and the social aspects of swimming, HS is probably fine.  

[SquirrellyMama]

I appreciate the all the answers given. Definitely some stuff to think about for me. I'll share with my dd, and have her think on it too. We're going to wait until her first school swim team season is done.

 

I was wondering who the club swimmers practiced with, but wondered if it was a dumb question. Glad that was answered without asking. The club team here practices 6 days a week for 2.5 hours. The HS team practices 5 days a week for 2 hours. I think some of the girls go in the morning to swim also.

 

We'll see how it all goes.

 

Kelly

[Tap]

in our experience:

 

Public school swim: Cost under $600 (team fees will vary on the school- one school here is $75 another is $400).The more swimmers the less the cost, due to pool rental fees. There will likely be a sport fee, ASB fee, team suit/cap, t-shirt etc.  Transportation will likely be provided to and from the school to the pool by the school, so costs for that will be from your house to the school. Meets do not have an additional charge. Families are expected to schedule their lives around the sport and missing meets can result in sitting out future meets as a consequence.

 

Time commitment: public school is weekdays only (unless the team goes to regional/state championships).  Public school team may require a specific PE class at the school for conditioning to go with swimming. Practice will be before or after school, but not likely both.  Swim meets will be on weekdays for public school. Boys swimming may be a different season than girls swimming, so the meets are not co-ed. This can be nice for girls modesty and some cultural preferences.

 

There will be beginning swimmers all the way up to state level club swimmers all on the same team.  Coaches often divide the lanes into levels (true among all swim teams) so moving up a lane, is sometimes a badge of accomplishment. The year round club swimmers will likely be left alone and the coaches will not interfere with their strokes, pacing etc.  The most coach focus will be on the new swimmers, but in watching a few practices of my sons swim team, even then the public school coaches were fairly hands-off compared to year round coaches. Coaches will work on basic skills and teach them the legal strokes and do some basic endurance work.  There is some fine tuning of strokes, but from what I saw, it was minimal. 

 

Sitting in the stands of a public school meet is completely different than a club meet.  You will often see a long-term relationship between the club swimming families because we see each other all the time.  Public school...not so much. The other big difference is the attention to detail of the lane judges.  There are so many errors that are passed by in high school swimming that would get an immediate DQ in club swimming.  You will hear a bit of grumbling about that sometimes, but just ignore it.  It really is too different worlds.

 

The kids I know who were year round club swimmers, who then swam public school too, were the ones who wanted 1 of 2 things.  Scholarship/college teams OR the fun/social aspect of public school swim team.  BY high school level, the year round club swimmers and commuted/dedicated swimmers who have little time in their lives outside of swimming. IIt is a lifestyle and the kids are very serious about the sport. Many public school swimmers just use swimming for conditioning for another sport or just for a 1 season sport that they can join with very little experience. Totally different world.

 

Regular swim meets are much shorter.  They are most often just two schools against each other at a time.  They run 1-2 hours depending on the number of swimmers on each team.  Most of the time, all swimmers swim in a meet. 

 

 

Summer Team: commitment is about the same as public school,  3-4 months.  It is just a season, so the kids are still working on gaining basic endurance. Cost varies, but I would say under $1000 for the summer. Families are expected to provide all transportation and pay meet fees.  Kids can often miss meets due to vacation plans ect without consequence (depends on the coach).  There may or many not be daily double practices.  Practice/meets can be any day of the week.  Conditioning is not likely required (but may be suggested) outside of the pool.  The families will often get to know each other over the summer so meets can be fun to sit around and chat  Swim meets can be half a day to full day, to full weekend events.  Multiple clubs swim against each other so there are a lot of swimmers at a time. Meets are almost every weekend. 

 

Year round: Commitment is swimming 5-7 days a week, and often requires daily doubles, so kids are often in the pool a bare minimum of 5 days (only lightly committed swimmers) to 14 times a week. The will be expected conditioning along with that.  My sons team had land training 3x week for 1 hour prior to full swim practices. Cost is likely a mandatory couple hundred a month for coach/pool fees year 12mths year. Meets will be $100-200 per month 9-10 months year.  Travel is what ever you decided.  As a family we only committed to meets that were within driving distance, but our team traveled to other states.  We tried to keep our costs under $500 month, other families spend $2000 per month. Meets are always on the weekends and often go Fri-Sun. Missing a meet will be highly discouraged.

 

If you are on a high-end team, there will be some kids who are lightly committed but there may also be Olympic Hopefuls. We know a few kids who may go all the way, and it will be interesting to watch for their names over the next few years.

 

You will see more high end suits in club level.  It isn't uncommon to see suits that run in the hundreds of dollars instead of the $40 team suit in public school. Again, it depends on the families financial commitment. 

 

These kids often have zero other interest (or time) in other sports and may even be highly-discouraged from other sports due to injury potential.  Many of the parents on my sons team were appalled that I let him snow board in the winter. There were a few kids who played other sports like baseball, but they were few in-between. 

 

These coaches are very committed and work to fine tune each swimmers strokes to knife like precision.  Private coaching sessions are common and add additional cost.  The kids will  not only learn the legal strokes but  fine tuned things like finger position and flex of the foot at different parts of the stroke will be corrected. 

 

The parents are often a fine knit group.  Their kids may compete against each other in the pool, but at the end of the day, you will hear cheers for the entire team. The ultimate thing about swimming is that the kids are racing their own clocks and unless something drastic happens, the teen can see immense personal growth as they beat their own times. Aside from relays, it really is a solo sport and each event is really all on the individual. 

 

Stopping club in high school is pretty common so the club teams don't have a lot of beginning level swimmers in that age group.  A beginning level swimmer in that age group, may be put with the middle-schoolers.  Between academics and wanting a social life outside of the team, draws many kids out of the sport.  

 

 

No matter what swimming can be a great sport.  My son swam for many years and loved it....until he didn't any more.  LOL  He stopped club swimming once he realized that he didn't want to devote every hour of his free time to a sport that he wasn't planning on continuing after high school. He swam one more year of public high school just for fun, and then stopped. He hasn't swam since.    

 

 

 

 

[bettyandbob]

Does everyone make the high school team. Some schools in my district have only club swimmers or recently retired from club swimmers. It is a competitive tryout. While there are nonclub swimmers on the local HS team, they typically are not the ones scoring the most points and qualifying for championships. Would that bother your child--to be just a team member, rather than a big performer for the team.

[justasque]

Our summer team is around $40 for the season, plus a swimsuit.  You can get your $40 back by helping at one of the meets.  This is at a private swim club; annual membership is around $300-$400/family/year; team members must be pool members.

 

Our (private) high school team was free (that is, no additional fees beyond the school's tuition).  They gave you the team suit, which was yours to keep.  They practiced 5 days a week right after school.  Team members were required to come to at least 4 practices a week (IIRC).  Team members who were also club swimmers were required to come to the high school team's practice at least once a week (and they practiced with the club the other 4 days).  

 

Our local YMCA runs a team; they fall somewhere between club swimming and high school swimming.  They also run "high school warm-up" and "summer warm up" in the fall and spring, where non-team members who plan to swim for their high school (in the winter) or for a summer team can come to the Y's regular team practices.  These are 5 days a week, but you are not required to come to every practice.  This was a good low-commitment way to keep skills up during the off season without having to go to meets and fulfill other team obligations.

 

The high school team was a no-cut sport.  Any student could join the team.  Students who were not good enough to be competitive still got to swim in "exhibition heats" during meets.

[SquirrellyMama]

Does everyone make the high school team. Some schools in my district have only club swimmers or recently retired from club swimmers. It is a competitive tryout. While there are nonclub swimmers on the local HS team, they typically are not the ones scoring the most points and qualifying for championships. Would that bother your child--to be just a team member, rather than a big performer for the team.

 

Yes, everyone makes the team. They have time trials, so you either make JV or Varsity. I'm fine if she isn't the fastest swimmer. I love watching her swim. She's done softball, volleyball and dance, but I don't have the same reaction to those that I do when I watch her swim. It just looks so pretty and graceful. I feel like she's built more for swimming than dance.  She has much broader shoulders than the other dancers :)

 

I want her to enjoy it, not feel like qualifying for championships is the only goal. I'm not sure how she will feel. We've talked about trying to beat her own times. It's different than other team sport experiences so far.

 

Kelly

 

Edited May 11, 2016 by SquirrellyMama

[abacus2]

Our summer team is quite different from what Tap described. It is 6 weeks long, consisting of two team meets on weekday evenings. The only weekend commitment is the all city meet at the end of the season. Costs are a little more than $100 plus the optional team suit.

[clementine]

Swimming with both high school and club teams is smart if you have a dedicated swimmer who wants to improve and become more competitive.  On our team we have about 1/2 of the team members doing both team and club.  

 

Club is very expensive here, especially when you add in meet fees (meets are a must in my opinion, otherwise it's more recreational) high school just costs the school activity fee, suit, and apparel.  High school is 2 1/2 hours M-F, club is 2 hours M-Sat.  

 

Our dd had to choose between her sports at about age 12.  There is no way she could have continued with swimming and dance as she got older because practice times overlapped and I do not approve of leaving early/arriving late to any practices.  I felt it was too disrespectful to the coach and other team members.   If your dd was not doing club then continuing on with dance would probably work depending on practice times.  

 

 

 

 

 

[kewb]

My kids swim for both the high school and a club team. However, their club team is not a usa team which makes a difference. Their friends who swim for usa teams swim and that is their only activity. Since my kids club team is not as competitive as a usa team they are flexible in terms of my kids having time for other activities. Many of the kids on their club team do multiple sports or participate in other school clubs.

 

USA teams in my area are quite pricey.

Edited May 11, 2016 by kewb

[zimom]

My daughter swims for a club team that is affiliated with a private school (which she does not attend).  It is only around $120 a month.  Swim meets (about once a month) are about $30 each and we don't have any additional fees such as fundraising, coaching fees, etc.  They also cover all expenses for the coaches to travel with swimmers out of state when needed.   Most of the ten clubs around our area charge similar fees, versus the large city 7 hours north of us which is closer to $300 a month that plansrme mentioned, to give an example of how much club fees vary.