Welcome back, Returning Gators Families!

With an exciting winter swim season wrapping up, the Germantown Gators Board have been busy starting to plan and prep for the upcoming 2024 swim season! We appreciate all of the feedback that was given at the end of last season and are working to implement some changes to how we have done things in the past.

Before we get into important information for the upcoming summer swim season, we’d like to give a HUGE shoutout to some of our very own Germantown Gators who represented Valley View at the OHSAA state swim meet!! Valley View sent two boys relays (freestyle and medley- finished 21st) to state this year; members of the relays were our very own: Sam Berry, Aiden Clendenin, Jameson Cooke, and Grayson Rozelle! Additionally, Jameson (200 IM- 3rd and 100 Fly- 5th) and Grayson (50 free- 31st) swam in individual events. This is an AMAZING feat and could not be prouder of the swimmers! It’s sure to shape up to be an exciting season!

First and foremost, we would like to welcome back our coaching staff- Head Coach, Amanda Fenton; Assistant Coach, Renee Brown; and Assistant Coach, Rachel Fenton. After one of the best seasons in recent Gator history, these coaches are ready to pick up where they left off last season and work with our Gator swimmers to set new goals and continue to develop their abilities this season! We are excited to have them continuing the work that they started last year to build the program.

Next up, important dates!

Registration: We will be running online registration again this year. Look for registration to open up in early April. There have been some fee increases from the league, so that will be reflected. Additionally, we will be supplying swimmers with a Gators cap and a team shirt for the season. As we are ordering team shirts for the swimmers, our registration deadline will be May 26, 2024, so we can make sure orders are placed in a timely manner. We'll send another email as soon as it is open. The fee will be $100.

Pool Passes: This year we will be able to offer the ability to purchase Germantown pool passes online through the city. The specific link for Gators will be available when registration opens up. Passes can be purchased online or at the city building. When passes are purchased through the Gator link on registration, they will be offered at a discounted rate. The rate for the season is: Single Pass $49; Family Pass (2-4 members) $98; Additional members over family pass $20 per person.

Schedule: Our practice and meet schedule for our 2024 season are available on our website! You will notice an additional swim meet this year as we welcome the Forest Hills Swim Team to the SOSL!

Officials: Training for officials will occur in early May. If you are willing to officiate for our 2024 season, please email [email protected] to let us know. For those that volunteer to officiate, 50% of your first swimmer’s registration will be refunded after the officials training is complete with the expectation that you will complete your four regular season volunteer shifts and one championship shift. We are hoping to have ten officials this year so everyone only has to complete four shifts. More information will follow on official recruitment in April.

Finally, a great deal of feedback was given regarding family volunteer requirements, we have heard you and are hoping to help alleviate some of the volunteer shifts. With this being said, there has been some shifting/combining/realigning the job responsibilities. We are attaching a draft of the job description to this message, as well as posting the job description page to our website. These are tentative and may be adjusted closer to the season.

• We will be opening up volunteer shift sign-ups on June 1 this year. We are switching this up from last year so we can have an accurate count of families to determine the number of required volunteer shifts.
• As was the case last year, we will be collecting a volunteer deposit of $200 that will be returned contingent upon completing the volunteer requirement for the season; the $200 will be divided per number of required shifts so completing some shifts over zero shifts will get a portion of the deposit back.

All of this swim team talk has us excited for another great season! Be on the lookout for registration information within the next couple of weeks. See you all at the pool!

Go Gators!

~ The Germantown Gators Board