Hello everyone, 

Please READ the whole email; there's a lot I've tried to summarize. :)

Topics: Upcoming Events, Dog Tags/Beads Update, Mailboxes, New Training Groups, LDC Fundraiser

Upcoming Events - See neys.swimtopia.com for details on each event.

• 10/19, Thursday: Team swim suit try-ons and purchase. 
• 10/28, 10/29: Boyertown Boo Invitational
• 10/30, Monday: Halloween "Spirit" Relays. 
• 10/31, Tuesday: No Practice - Happy Halloween!
• 11/7, Tuesday: Team Pictures 

Dog Tags & Achievement Beads: Changing to "bag tags" or "key tags"! 

One thing we do that is unique to our team is the distribution of achievement beads. These are meant to recognize achievement and excellence swimmers do not necessarily win ribbons or medals for. However, since it's tough to put them on swimmers' bags without the chains breaking, and it is out of fashion for parents to wear them at meets and probably more appropriate for swimmers to wear instead anyway (risk of breaking remains though), and five different shades of blue beads don't necessarily convey obvious meaning, we are revamping the program. The goal this year is to recognize swimmers with "bag tags" or "key tags" that can be easily placed on rings and subsequently attach to swim bags. We are also coming up with some designs to make the meaning of the achievement earned more obvious and recognizable.

We STILL have the dog tag contest. Every swimmer will start with an initial dog tag on their ring. So, definitely have your swimmers make a Nazareth/Easton YMCA Swim Team (NEYS) themed design, make a small 2 inch drawing of it, and submit to Kevin Rizzardi's swim team mailbox in the YMCA lobby. All different types of designs have won previously, so swimmers should feel free to be creative. Parents are allowed to guide and assist in the drawing too. :)

Team Mailboxes: Each family has their own folder in the team mailboxes. Mailboxes are the four plastic filing containers located in the YMCA lobby. Flyers, updates, swim clinic opportunities, ribbons, achievement tags can all be found in them. Please check them once per week.

New Training Group Assignments: As we do around this time each season, in an effort to align swimmers with the best fit for their training needs, we readjust groups. We will send out an email with the new group assignments shortly. Please keep an eye out for it.

Long Distance Challenge (LDC) Fundraiser is on Nov. 26, Sunday: Details will be sent next week.

See you on deck,

Coach Drake