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Visit www.usms.org today!
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Greetings!
How do you keep your swimmers coming back to the pool? It is our goal to help you keep retention in your program high and help you keep your athletes healthy, happy and excited to come back to the pool each and every week.
Swimming for Life!
Your friends at U.S. Masters Swimming
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My USMS
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Do you have athletes
that are still struggling to set up their MY USMS accounts? USMS staff
members will be available during the 2009 Long Course National
Championship to assist your swimmers. Swimmers that register for a MY
USMS at Nationals will receive a new USMS swim cap! |
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Does your website still not display the Join/Renew Membership button?
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The USMS Marketing Committee has surveyed many of our USMS club and LMSC websites and has found that many sites still do not display the Join/Renew button...
To update your websites, simply cut and paste the button graphic and link it to:
http://www.usms.org/reg/
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Stay tuned...
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USMS has been busy finalizing new marketing materials to help you recruit. Brochures and stickers are in the works ... stay tuned for more information on how to obtain these items in the next few weeks.
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Drills for Thrills:
Dive Weight Dolphin Kick
by Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen
The humble dolphin kick is
now considered the second fastest "stroke" and is used for butterfly, freestyle
and backstroke breakouts; as well as on the pull-out in breaststroke.
To help build the abdominal strength needed for an effective dolphin kick, try
the "Dive Weight Dolphin Kick" drill I learned from coach Max Pettigrove while
I was training at the Noosa Aquatic Center in Queensland, Australia.
You will need to have a weight. Start with lower weights, 1-3 lbs until you
have mastered the technique. A small dive weight works best, as they are
designed for in-water use. Dive weights can be purchased in different sizes
either in hard bricks or soft beanbags, which are easier to hold, at your local
SCUBA store.
The drill is simple ... push
off the wall on your back in a streamline position with a weight in the palm of
your hand, then dolphin kick across the pool. With added weight over your head,
your upper abdominals are engaged - and will soon be on fire!
Start with sets of 50s, perhaps alternating every other one with the weight. As
you build strength, buy a heavier weight or add distance to your repeats.
Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen, the
World Masters Swimmer of the Year, offers over 70+ swim technique clinics and
camps worldwide annually. For more information, visit www.aquaticedge.org
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Club and Coach Services:
Ready to Help ... and Challenge
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Mel Goldstein and Chris Colburn of U.S.
Masters Swimming's Club and Coach Services recently visited Coach
Valerie Louthan in Joliet Ill. They
presented information to the dedicated Masters advocates in Joliet in
June and covered subjects such as program fee structures, facility
rentals and how to set up an effective practice schedule. The outreach team challenged the Joliet Park District Blue
Tides Masters Swim Team to grow its team to 50+ members in 2009. U.S.
Masters Swimming wishes Coach Louthan and the Blue Tides Swim Team the best
of luck in accomplishing its goal of 50 members.
Club and Coach
Services is available for free for all U.S. Masters Swimming programs,
coaches and athletes hoping to start or grow their Masters programs. For more information about
Club and Coach Services, contact Mel Goldstein at goldstein@usms.org
or via phone at (317) 253-8289.
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No Pain or No Show
by Dr. Jim Miller
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That's right ... no pain, or no show. Contrary to the usual mantra of no
pain, no gain, Masters coaches know the truth: many athletes will not show up
to your practice if they are hurting from the prior practice. They do not
realize their growth as an athlete and back off from training. So, as a coach,
how do you keep your athletes in the water? How do you keep up their excitement
for more and harder challenges? Read more
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Are You FLOGGING Yet?
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Click here for complete instructions for setting up your MY USMS account and FLOGGING
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The Dos and Don'ts of Collecting Dues
by Ashley Gangloff
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A well-organized system for collecting program fees can make
or break a Masters program (and its bank account). While some programs collect
fees on a monthly basis, others on a quarterly basis and yet others on a semi-annual
or annual basis, each team relies on its members and their dues to remain
afloat. Whether you accept cash, check or credit cards, here a few dos and
don'ts when collecting dues... Read more
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Online Club Management:
Credit Card Processing
by 
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Coaches, do
you have swimmers who pay their club membership late? How about bounced checks?
Do you dread the task of recording and depositing member payments? With a Club
Assistant account plus Credit Card Processing
you will eliminate lots of work and headache from your day. Work less, swim
more!
Your
members log into their secure online Club Assistant portal, sign up for
recurring dues payments, enter their credit card information, and instantly ... both
member and coach have less work to do!
Your Club
Assistant keeps track of expiring credit cards and helps you quickly and easily
get updated card information from members.
Accept
credit card payments for dues, donations, merchandise, lessons, meet
registration, and special events. You can even take credit cards over the phone
and by paper registration.
With credit
card processing, member dues are paid ahead of time, so you will never chase
anyone down for attending workout prior to paying. Members who want to cancel
must inform you, so you'll have fewer no-shows. Members can go "On Hold" for a
period of time, pausing their auto-billing until their return.
By
eliminating the problem of late payments and non-payments of dues, your
merchant account with credit card processing pays for itself. Club Assistant's
introductory merchant account offer for new clients is a rate of 3.5%.
Call the friendly and knowledgeable Club Assistant
staff at 800-SWIM-638 to set up your Credit Card Processing.
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Call for On-deck Coaches
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It's not too late to sign up! |
The USMS
Coaches Committee, through the On-Deck Coaching Program, offers on-deck
coaching assistance for swimmers during warm-ups at USMS National
Championship Events and at the annual United States Aquatic Sports
(USAS) Convention. Coaches monitor the sprint lanes during the early
morning warm-ups at USMS Nationals, giving swimmers start commands and
timing sprints or pace repeats if requested. All participating coaches
are given a special USMS Coaches T-shirt, great for being recognized on
deck.
Click here for On-Deck Coaching in Indy online registration.
Click here for more information about the program.
A link to the above online registration and a PDF with expectations
for coaches can be found there. If you have questions, feel free to
direct them to Chris Colburn at chriscolburn@gmail.com
We're always looking for coaches! You
don't need to volunteer all five days. Just pick a day or days when you
can help and sign up! Those of you who volunteer will receive more
details via email before you arrive at the meet.
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On Deck: August/September
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August
08/01/09
Deadline for USAS convention early registration
Bids for fitness events due to Fitness Committee Chair (Marcia Anziano; fitness@usms.org)
Bids for 2011 Long Course, Short Course and Open Water/Long Distance National Championships due to committee chairs (Championship: Mark Moore-championship@usms.org; Open Water/Long Distance: Marcia Cleveland-longdistance@usms.org)
08/06/09-08/10-09
2009 U.S. Masters Swimming Long Course National Championship; Indianapolis, Ind.
08/15/09
08/31/09
Approximate mailing date for September/October issue of USMS SWIMMER
Final call for Mentor Coach and Swimmer Clinics for budget year 2009 (coaches@usms.org)
September
09/01/09
Rule book cover submissions and bids to print the rule book are due to the Rule Book Coordinator (Susan Ehringer; rulebook@usms.org)Period for 2009 reduced swimmer registrations fee begins
Applications for Mentor Coach and Swimmer Clinics support through the Coaches Committee are due to Chris Colburn (coaches@usms.org)
09/12/09
09/15/09-11/15/09
09/16/09-09/20/09
USAS Convention; Hyatt Regency O'Hare, Chicago, IL
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About U.S. Masters Swimming
U.S. Masters Swimming, founded in 1971, is a membership-operated national governing body that promotes adult health, fitness and wellness through aquatics. It does so by partnering with more than 1,000 adult swim clubs across the country that offer swim/fitness programs, promoting information via a bimonthly member magazine and www.usms.org, and sanctioning and promoting pool, open water and virtual competitions. Nearly 50,000 adults are registered members of U.S. Masters Swimming.
About "News from the Deck"
U.S. Masters Swimming encourages all U.S. Masters Swimming coaches to subscribe to "News from the Deck", however if you would rather not receive this update, please do not click the unsubscribe button, as that will remove you from all other U.S. Masters Swimming National Office mailings. Rather, please click on the "Update Profile/Email Address" link at the bottom of this email. Here you can select to discontinue your "News from the Deck" service.
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Support U.S. Masters Swimming partners because they support you!
Click here for a complete list of partners
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