Mustang Monthly- Internet Edition

November 2009

 

 

An Article from Head Coach Mook Rhodenbaugh

 

The A-B-C’s of Parenting

 

 

 

A is for accountability.  Hold your children accountable for their behavior. 

B is for boundaries.  Set specific limits and make clear the repercussions if they’re exceeded. 

C is for consistency.  Hold to the same principles and practices. 

D is for discipline.  Never discipline in anger. 

E is for example.  Set a good one. 

F is for forgiveness.  Teach the importance of it. 

G is for giving.  Teach the joy of it. 

H is for sense of humor.  Promote laughter with your children. 

I is for imagination.  Be creative, and play with your children. 

J is for justice.  Be fair. 

K is for knowing your children’s friends and their parents as well as their teachers. 

L is for listening.  Listen to your children.  It will teach them how to listen to others. 

M is for morals.  Be sure your own standard of conduct is sound. 

N is for no.  Use it and mean it. 

O is for outdoors.  Provide as much outdoor activity as possible.

P is for pressure.  Reduce the pressure on your children, but insist they maintain high standards. 

Q is for questions.  Pay close attention to theirs. 

R is for respect.  Show it, teach it and earn it. 

S is for source of strength.  Share your own faith or beliefs with your children. 

T is for togetherness.  Have special, designated times to be together-but know when to let go. 

U is for uniqueness.  Let the child be who he or she is. 

V is for voice.  Tone of voice can convey more than words spoken. 

W is for words.  Keep your word. 

X is for examine.  Examine constantly, and be aware. 

Y is for you.  Take care of yourself.  A happy parent helps a child to be happy. 

Z is for zowie!  Who would have thought they would grow up so quickly?

Meet Recaps

 

COPS Little Splashers (Oct 3 – 4)

 

The first meet of the season was an “unclassified” meet held at Loos for those swimmers ages ten and under.  Thirty-Eight of our youngest Mustangs got after it and we ended up in 5th place overall which was a very respectable showing especially given that the majority of our swimmers had only been back in the water for a couple weeks after a three week break! 

 

Even though the meet was “Little Splashers” our Mustangs made a big splash after big splash with their great swims!  Those that scored points are listed below.  Event winners are listed in italics.  Congratulations to all who participated and gave it their all!

 

Jessica Ball (7), Parker Benn (10), Rebecca Brandt (10), Carolina Campbell (10), Stephen Cheng (10), Brennan Davis (8), Tyler Hinderliter (8), Omar Hmimy (8), Jacob Hum (10), Benjamin Hurst (10), Alvin Jiang (10), Brian Jiang (8), Gordon Montgomery (10), Maxmillian Moundas (8), Mohit Rao (9), Felix Van Cauwelaert (9), Maximilliaan Van Cauwelaert (7)

 

COPS 11 & Over “A” Meet (Oct 3 – 4)

 

Loos Natatorium got a workout from two different meets on the same weekend.  This COPS hosted meet was for eleven and older “A” level swimmers.  We had forty-six attend this meet to work out some of the early season stroke and conditioning issues that are especially apparent in the high school athletes.  Maybe that is why about only half of our “A” swimmers attended the meet! 

 

We still managed to place 5th in the team battle despite a plethora of “rough” swims.  Some of the younger age groupers swam like they never missed a beat from the summer!  The swimmers who placed are listed below.  Great job to all our Mustangs who braved the early season waters!

 

Leonidas Blaylock (14), Claire Brandt (15), Sean Bray (17), Michelle Chow (41), Devin Compan (16), Erin Florence (14), Eric Futscher (14), Tiffany Futscher (12), Emma Gruber (14), Conor Guest (14), Mason Kelly (12), Madeline Mailliard (15), Madeleine Marcos (13), Alex McElya (11), Alison Moffit (17), McKenzie Murphy (12), Sam Murphy (15), Lauren Murski (14), Connor Nolan (16), Alex Ober (11), Matt Roney (18), Ali Smith (15), Graham Smitham (17), Annelyse Tullier (12), Jake Watters (14), Keegan Watters (17)

 

TRS BB Meet (Oct 16 – 18)

 

This BB meet was held at the Grapevine Pool famous for its huge scoreboard and nine lanes which somehow you always seem to be a little off when you are trying to pick up times off the board.  Forty of our Mustangs BB swimmers swam in the meet and Thirty-nine came away with at least one best time.  Most impressive! 

 

We finished 5th place as a team despite not being one of only two teams in the top 10 that did not enter any relays.  Way to go Mustangs!  Those that came away with some hardware are listed below.  Swimmers who graced the top spot on the podium are listed in italics. 

 

Parker Benn (10), Mitchell Boyer (14), Patrick Crowling (16), Clare Donaldson (12), Kaitlin Dorey (15), Jon Ericksen (15), Kendall Ernst (13), Kaylan Hardin (12), Nicholas Hemingway (12), Caitlin Klemme (14), Morgan Koranda (14), Jordan Malone (11), Mika Malouf (12), Natalie Morris (12), Whitney Pettijohn (11), Mohit Rao (9), Kathryn Stouffer (14), Annelyse Tullier (12), Dana Valelly (11), Felix Van Cauwelaert (9), Jasper Van Cauwelaert (11), Elizabeth Wessman (10), Rebecca Wessman (10), William Wessman (11), Anna Wilcox (10), Sophia Wilcox (10), Megan Yancey (12),

 

NTN A Meet (Oct 23 – 25)

 

Our A level swimmers traveled out to the Southlake Pool and finished a competitive 4th place out of twenty teams in the North Texas area.  Fifty-three of our A level swimmers did a nice job of racing and most of the best times were turned in by the fourteen and under swimmers.  At this time in the season many high schools are getting their dual meet season cranked up so it was not uncommon for our high school swimmers to only attend one day of the meet with only two swims under their belts.

 

One of the main purposes of the early season meets is to discover what each of our swimmers can work on in practice and the next time they swim a particular event in a meet.  Coaches Lia, Doug, and Mook gave plenty of “constructive” feedback which we are sure will translate into our Mustangs being more successful next time they hit the water.  Those that scored points are listed below.  It is great being a Mustang, good job to all of you who tried your best to be your best!

 

Allison Arnold (17), Luke Blaylock (14), Claire Brandt (15), Rebecca Brandt (10), Sean Bray (17), Carolina Campbell (10), Michelle Chow (41), Caroline Florence (12), Eric Futscher (14), Des Godfrey (17), Conor Guest (14), Jacey Hodan (16), Greg Hoffman (18), Jacob Hum (10), Alvin Jiang (10), Madeleine Marcos (13), Gordon Montgomery (10), Kenzie Murphy (12), Sam Murphy (15), Lauren Murski (14), Connor Nolan (16), Mohit Rao (9), Natalie Rathjen (13), Ali Smith (15), Virginia Tiernan (10), Marylyn Toledo (17), Annelyse Tullier (12), Jake Watters (14),

 

DM Haunted Hat B/C Invitational (Oct 31 – Nov 1)

 

This annual affair was again handled with great skill by our co-meet directors Jan Miller and Dee Koranda.  We had over a hundred of our B/C level swimmers show up to have fun and swim fast at the Alfred J. Loos Natatorium. Time for some trivia….Who knows who Alfred J. Loos is?  Answer: He served as head football coach at Forest Avenue High School (now James Madison High School) from 1921-1934. 

 

Thanks to all our Mustang volunteers who helped make this a success again this year.  The Haunted Hat contest was well attended at both of the Saturday sessions and we saw some pretty creative efforts this year.  Speaking of creative…..How about those Mustang Coaches?  Great efforts by all the coaches.  Some were actually kind of scary!  In what was essentially a two team race we finished a close second to COPS.  Great job to all our B/C HH swimmers!  Point scorers are listed below.

 

Vena Bakick (9), Jacqueline Barnett (7), Rachel Becker (11), Connor Berry (12), Catherine Blaylock (8), Kate Boyer (12), Parker Capron (12), Jordan Carl (11), Kristie Cheng (9), Anna Crowling (11), Mason Daniels (7), Brennan Davis (8), Hannah Dunlap (10), Jackson Farmar (8), Olivia Fennegan (8), Ian Fitzgerald (10), Emilee Gant (11), Erin Harper (7), Jacob Heck (7), Andrew Heimbrecht (12), Nicholas Hemingway (12), Amy Hess (12), Tyler Hinderliter (8), Malak Hmimy (10< Omar Hmimy (8), JB Hudnall (6), Brian Jiang (8), Brett Landin (9), Mika Malouf (12), Miya Malouf (9), Lauren McCaghren (10), Boni McVey (12), Ishan Mistry (9), Arjun Nair (12), Alex Pan (10), Edward Pfeiffer (11), Ethan Racine (6), Mohit Rao (9), Charlotte Rolfe (12), Gabrielle Schirmer (10), Olivia Schoenecker (12), Samantha Schoenecker (12), Shauna Seidel (11), Karina Sell (12), Laurel Sell (8), Cecelie Smith-Morris (7), Tori Smith (8), Madeline Stevenson (9), Abby Tchoukaleff (8), Alish Tierney (8), Niamh Tierney (11), Madeline Tovar (11), Maria Tovar (10), Max Van Cauwelaert (7), Jacob Varela (9), Julia Walsdorf (10), Jamie Wander (7), Kristen Wander (7), James Welch (11), Shannon Wheeler (12), Alice White (6), Colin Wiegand (10), Kennedy Wiegand (8), Bryanna Wilder (7), Alexandra Wolff (7), Megan Yancey (12)

 

Message from our Meet Directors

Thank you MUSTANG Volunteers!

We would like to extend a HUGE "Thank You" to everyone who volunteered at the Haunted Hat meet last month including those who donated beverages to our outstanding hospitality area.  This meet is always fun for the kids, but a little extra work for the volunteers because there are so many new families and swimmers involved.   The Mustangs welcomed many new swimmers and volunteers at this meet and we were very pleased to hear so many of the volunteers say how much they enjoyed working on deck. 

 

We could not have run this meet without the generous efforts of so many Mustang families!  We extend an extra note of thanks to all those families who offered more help than the minimum requirement and those who volunteered without even having children swimming at the meet. Several families worked two or more sessions and we really needed and appreciate your extra effort; we could not have done it without you!  Special thanks to Greg Seidel for managing the timing system.  Our sincere thanks to all of you for helping the Mustangs run another successful meet!

Jan Miller and Dee Koranda


Tuition Policy Reminder

 

Our tuition policy can be found at the end of every newsletter but as a reminder please note that anybody who leaves the team is responsible for giving WRITTEN       notice to the treasurer in order to stop the automatic billing.  In addition, tuition is incurred on the first of the month and there are no refunds.

              

Social News

 

Please mark your calendars now for our annual holiday party for Monday, December 14th at Loos.  THERE WILL NOT BE PRACTICE AT ANY OTHER FACILITY THAT EVENING.  All groups will practice at Loos from 5:30 – 6:30pm and the party will follow from 6:30 – 7:30.  Details to follow.

HIGHLAND PARK POOL CLOSINGS

Highland Park will be closed on the following remaining dates due to high school swim meets.  PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW WITH THESE DATES
December 8
January 12
January 19

 

Volunteer Opportunities

 

We are currently looking for several volunteers to help us with key volunteer positions at Mustang hosted meets.   Anyone interested in learning to be a meet director, Hytek computer operator or Colorado Timing operator should contact one of our meet directors.   These positions all offer many opportunities to interact with the swimmers, coaches and officials and require some basic training.  The North Texas LSC will be offering training classes at the end of September.  Your training class can be followed up with hands on training at the Haunted Hat meet which we will host on October 31.   Please consider joining our team of dedicated operators and meet directors.  Anyone interested may contact Dee Koranda (dee.koranda@gmail.com ) or Jan Miller (jmillerrock@gmail.com ) for further information.

 

Painless Fundraiser

 

The Dallas Mustangs is registered with Tom Thumb in its Good Neighbor Program. Please remember to attach our Good Neighbor Number to your Reward Card and Tom Thumb will donate a percentage of the member’s total grocery purchases back to the Dallas Mustangs every time your Reward Card is used! Painless and potentially profitable for our team!

 

OUR TOM THUMB NUMBER IS 7648

 

 Tuition Policy

The Dallas Mustangs is a competitive year round age-group swimming program.  As such we strive to provide consistent quality coaching and workout facilities.  To achieve this goal we establish pool rental contracts and salary commitments with our coaching staff for a full 12-month period.  The Dallas Mustangs Swim Team is not, and was not designed to be a swim program where swimmers drop in one month and out the next.  Flexibility has always been important to us.  We try to work with each family on the team and we will continue to do so. 

 

Tuition may be paid annually or monthly.  Monthly Tuition must be paid via credit card only.  NO checks will be accepted at any pools or through the mail.  NO EXCEPTIONS.  Annual tuition may be paid by check submitted with your registration form.

 

·       Tuition is due from September through July.

·       Leave of Absence (LOA) is available only for injury and medical reasons.

·       There will be a $10.00 per month discount for the second and subsequent swimmers in the same family.  The fourth swimmer is free.

·       If dues are paid annually, there will be a $110.00 discount for the second swimmer and a $220.00 discount for the third swimmer. If there are more than 3 swimmers; the three highest tuition rates will be billed and the 4th and subsequent swimmers are free.

·       A swimmer transferring from another team must be in good standing with their old team.

·       Tuition is due the first of every month. There will be a $5.00 per family late fee after the 10th of the month for non-zero balance accounts.

·       There are no tuition refunds, tuition paid for the month or the year commits you for that period.

·       Written communication to the DM Treasurer is required to change or stop automatic billing.

·       The swimmer(s) may be barred from swimming if there is an aged account balance is excess of 60 days.

 

Any questions regarding billing should be addressed to the team treasurer via e-mail

 

Meet Entry Policy:

 

Meet entry fees will be paid by credit card only.  Your credit card will be charged monthly.  There will be a $1.00 surcharge per meet per swimmer added to the fee.  Meet entry fees will be charged separate from tuition charges.  All swimmers must maintain a current and up to date meet entry account.   Swimmers who do not provide valid credit card information for meet entry fees will not be allowed to enter swim meets.