WHAT ARE YOUR FAVROITE TRADITIONS?

I have always marveled at how much a simple ritual can instantly raise the spirits of an entire group, and elevate one’s pleasure in something.  We have experienced some really wonderful examples of it with our swim teams. Here are a couple of my favorites here.

Championship Water:

 Summer league, in this area, is where most kids get their first introduction to the sport. The young kids often feel very intimidated when they have to go to new pools to compete at away meets.  I remember one time during my son’s 1^st summer when he was so freaked out by a strange pool that he was not going to swim. His baby-sitter (a teenager on the same team) offered to swim warm-ups with his 6 & under age group to help him feel braver.  It worked a charm, but few kids are lucky enough to have a baby-sitter like that.

We had young coaches in those days and they had dozens of kids who had similar phobias about competing in unfamiliar pools. One coach came up with a great tradition to address this for our championship meet. At the last home practice before champs, they explained how athletes always swam best in their home pool. Then they put a small amount of water from our pool into a special jar and said that we were bringing our team’s water with us to champs, so that we could have our home team advantage there. They told the kids that it would make them feel like they were swimming in their own pool. At champs our team had a little ceremony before the meet. They gathered the kids on deck & poured the special water into the pool. Then they did the team cheer. I thought that was one of the most creative traditions ever, & believe it really did help those kids. The little ones felt like they had a secret weapon.

 When those beloved coaches retired a few years later we gave them a keychain with a few charms along with their gift, to remind them of their years with our team. One of the charms was a tiny bottle of our pool water. I always wondered if they knew how much that little tradition meant to those kids & parents. 

Alumni Meet

Some traditions are more about enduring support & camaraderie for a team. The high school my son swam for has an alumni meet to kick off their season every year. All the alumni are invited to come back and compete against the current school team. There is a dinner after the meet. This is held on the Wed. before Thanksgiving, because many of those who live far away are back in town visiting family.

 Some of these alumni are recent graduates who are competing for their colleges & universities. It is fun to see how fast they have become. The HS kids love trying to see if they can hold their own against those guys. Occasionally much older alumni will return and swim too, others they may just come to watch & cheer.  At the end of the meet they all stand in the center of the pool and sing their Alma mater.  It is a great testament to the life-long bond the kids who swim for that team form.

Please share your own traditions in the comment section below. Maybe some young teams & coaches will be inspired to create some great rituals of their own for a new generation of swimmers!