When Your Mechanic Does Your Taxes
When Your Mechanic Does Your Taxes
What do you think would happen if someone had their taxes done by their auto mechanic and the car repaired by their CPA? I am sure an IRS audit and road service towing call would ensue. YIKES!! The same is true in swimming. Lets use our favorite swimmers Sally Swimfast and Billy Bathwater. Mrs. Swimfast and Mr. Bathwater are very supportive swim parents. They are at every practice critiquing their swimmer's strokes and turns as well as making comments about what the Coach should or shouldn't be doing. Mrs. Swimfast has even started video taping practice so she can go over what she thinks is wrong with Sally's turns and strokes. Mrs. Swmfast means well, but she has no training as a coach or experience to properly teach or evaluate what she sees Sally doing or not doing in practice. Further, Mrs. Swimfast probably doesn't realize what damage she is doing to the team and the authority of the Sally's coach when she makes her comments about what does or does not need to be done with the team. This is what I mean by having your taxes done by your auto mechanic....only bad things can come out of it.
At Barrington Swim Club there are roughly 90 families on the club with over 150 swimmers. We have a gorgeous facility that is the envy of other clubs in the area. We have amazingly supportive parents that are more than willing to give of their time to help the club provide both social and competitive opportunities for BSC Swimmers. Of all these great folks, who I truly admire and care about, there is only 1—other than myself-- who is a qualified coach to take video or see a practice, properly evaluate what needs to be done, and instruct their swimmer. This parent is never at practice and always asks if they are seeing the same things that I am. Over the past 28 years in coaching I have coached over 50 kids to USA Swimming Top 16 List, 20 swimmers to the USA Swimming National level—including an 8th place team finish, and had the privilege to see 8 athletes represent their country at the Olympic Games. All I am asking is to let the Coach Coach, let the Swimmers Swim, and let the Parents Parent.
BSC Practices and Seasons are organized and planned with both the short term and long term goals of each athlete in mind. This planning is dynamic and includes time for aerobic development, technical development, motivation, and competition. During different times of a season you will see each of these facets in differing measure. This is the responsibility of the Head Coach to devise and implement this plan making sure the athletes, parents and assistant coaches all understand where we are as a team and where we are going as a team both in the short term and the long term. BSC will not do things by accident. Our success will be the result of a relentless pursuit of progressive development in the sport of swimming. The rewards for the athlete will be both extrinsic—medals, records, best times, and intrnsic—the ability to goal set and work toward those goals. My encouragement is let the mechanic fix your car and let the CPA do your taxes. Put simply, let the coaches coach, let the swimmers swim, and let the parents enjoy seeing their children be passionate about something in the pursuit of a dream.
RACE LIKE A CHAMPION AT SECTIONALS, JUNIOR OLYMPICS and NATIONALS!!
