Mid-Week Updates and Reminders, June 23
Upcoming meets
As mentioned in this week’s newsletter we have added 4 great meet opportunities for our Springfield Bullets swimmers. Please note that the June 28 meet has been moved to July 5th.
Meet sign-up is now available for all 4 meets in the links listed below. We hope all of our swimmers take advantage of these great opportunities to compete in these very low-key meets. They should be fun , provide a great learning opportunity and provide for team bonding experiences.
July 5th - Intrasquad Meet at Eisenhower Pool Warmups 5:00 pm Meet Starts at 5:30 pm
July 12 - Intrasquad Meet at Eisenhower Pool Warmups 5:00 pm Meet Starts at 5:30 pm
July 26 - Intrasquad Meet at Eisenhower Pool Warmups 5:00 pm Meet Starts at 5:30 pm
Paint the Street – June 25th
I am very excited about our team’s participation in the Springfield Art Association’s Paint the Street event this Saturday, June 25th. This event is an incredibly fun event that I have long wanted to have our team be a part of. I think this will be a great opportunity for team bonding for our swimmers as we complete a Bullets’ themed street painting. It is also an excellent opportunity for us to get the Bullets’ name out to the community and let them see our incredible program in person. Be sure to be there and not miss out on all the fun!!
Time: We will be on-site for painting from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Swimmers can show up at any time to add paint and their name to our squares
Location: Washington Street, Downtown Springfield
Cost: Free to all our swimmers
What to Bring: The team will bring all the supplies. Swimmers should dress for the weather and in clothes they don’t mind getting paint on.
Notes: The team will supply treats for all our swimmers that attend.
Weekend Practices
o Waterslide Fridays – We will once again have waterslide Friday practice this week. All swimmers will have the chance to go down the waterslide the last 15 minutes of their practice.
o Stroke and Turn Saturday – We are running a special starts and turns practice on Saturday, June 25th at Eisenhower Pool. We hope our swimmers will take advantage of this great opportunity; The schedule is as follows:
IncrediBullets – 9:15-10:00 am at Eisenhower - Starts and Turns practice
Bronze – 9:00-10:00 am at Eisenhower - Starts and Turns practice last 45 minutes of practice
Silver I – 8:45-10:00 am at Eisenhower - Starts and Turns practice last 45 minutes of practice
Silver II - 8:00-10:00 am at Eisenhower - Starts and Turns practice last 30 minutes of practice
Gold - 8:00-10:00 am at Eisenhower - Starts and Turns practice last 30 minutes of practice
Fundraising Through Fitness – Thursday, June 30th at Eisenhower Pool
This year’s Fundraising Through Fitness event will take place on Thursday, June 30th at Eisenhower Pool. We will start activities at 5:30 pm for all practice groups and will have treats for all the swimmers when they finish. Everyone should have received an emaila t the beginning of the month describing this event. I have included it below for your reference.
In 2020, rather than having our customary Swim-A-Thon fundraiser, we created a new event called Fundraising Through Fitness ! This event was a rousing success and really sparked our team members into action with the goal of assisting our swim club. We are planning some fun activities and cool prizes around this event for the kids, so we hope to see you all there!
While the COVID-19 pandemic is hopefully moving towards its conclusion, it’s impact still has a lingering effect on the Academy Bullets Swim Club. Due to our inability to host traditional meets, decreased membership numbers due to facility limitations, and increased pool rent, we have made some very hard decisions over the past 12 months - such as cutting pay for our coaching staff - to keep kids in the pool and offer as much programming as possible to our membership.
The Fundraising Through Fitness event will be held the last week of June after the Nashville Summer Sizzler. The exact date depends on each individual site and will be posted in the next few days on your site calendar. Fundraising Through Fitness is like a walk-a-thon where swimmers collect pledges for doing a certain number of rounds of their dryland exercises in a given time period.
FAQ’s-
How do supporters pledge? Donations can be made online starting June 8, 2021 (there is a $3.95 online processing charge) or can be given to you via cash/check payable to Academy Bullets Swim Club.
Each swimmer can set up an online profile for our Fundraising Through Fitness event and send emails from their page. In the next few days, you will receive additional emails with instructions on how to set up your swimmer’s online profile. There are two ways for people to support you:
1. Pledge a certain amount each round completed.
2. Pledge a flat amount regardless of how many rounds the athlete completes (recommended).
What are the Prizes? There will a prize for every swimmer who participates in Fundraising Through Fitness . There will be additional prizes from the Academy Bullets Swim Club for swimmers who collect a higher level of pledges. These prizes can be found below:
Tops 3 Donation Earning Families across the whole team
1. $300 in Speedo Gear
2. $200 in Speedo Gear
3. $150 in Speedo Gear
Top earning family at each site - $ 100 in Speedo gear (Top 3 earning families are exempt from this prize level.)
$600 = Speedo Parka (with team and name customization)
$450 = Speedo Backpack/Duffel Bag
$300 = NEW Speedo Hoodie
$200 = Speedo T-Shirt
Swimmers will only qualify for the highest-level prize above that they achieve.
All participants will receive a Bullets push-pop.
What do we do on the day of Fundraising Through Fitness? Swimmers will attend a time with their practice group. This information will be provided by each individual Head Site Coach in the next few days. Swimmers in IncrediBULLETS & Bronze Team will have ten (10) minutes to complete as many rounds of the dryland routine as possible. Swimmers in Silver 1 & Silver 2 Team will have twenty (20) minutes to complete as many rounds as possible. Swimmers in Gold, Senior, & Elite Teams will have thirty (30) minutes to complete as many rounds as possible. Athletes may take breaks as needed. We want this to be a fun event for the kids.
General Schedule for Fundraising Through Fitness
1. Dynamic Warm-up (15 minutes)
2. Short Team Dryland Session (15 minutes)
3. Fundraising Through Fitness Activity
IB & Bronze Silver 1 & 2 Gold, Senior & Elite
# Rounds in 10 min. # Rounds in 20 min. # Rounds in 30 min
10 Jumping Jacks 10 Jumping Jacks 10 Jumping Jacks
10 Squats 10 Squats 10 Squats
10 Lunges 10 Lunges 10 Lunges
10 Side Jumps 25 Side Jumps 25 Side Jumps
4. Post Fundraising Through Fitness treat as groups finish (i.e. popsicles or other pre-packaged treat).
What is the minimum Family Requirement? As stated in all registration materials and on the online registration for the LC season, each family is required to collect $100 in pledges. Those families who do not reach the minimum level of pledges will have the remainder billed to their account in August.
When are the Pledges Due? July 14, 2021. All money should be turned in or processed online by July 14, 2021 at 11:59 pm.
What if we can’t attend our scheduled time for Fundraising Through Fitness? We can work with swimmers who are unable to attend their assigned time for their group. Please let your Head Site Coach know if you are unable to make your time but would still like to participate.
If you have any questions about this event, please contact Bill Schalz ( b.schalz@academybullets.com ) or Kelly Capen ( k.capen@academybullets.com ).
With your continued support, Fundraising Through Fitness will help to ensure that we can continue to offer programming for our athletes and have the Academy Bullets Swim Club be the place to be for your children.