Dear Swimmers and Parents

Coaches’ Message Dear Swimmers and parents,

First, I want to say that I am humbled and excited to be appointed by the board to be the Interim Head Coach's position. We have a great team and fantastic swimmers and I am looking forward to being a continued part of that.

Second, what a GREAT Long Course Season! The kids swam their hearts out this summer with many new best times and swimmers swimming events that they have never swam before. That takes courage in the Long Course pool! The Lions rocked the house at the Championship Meet with 28 state champions and Girls 15-16 200m Free Relay and the 11-12 Boys swept the 3 relays. Our Lion men came in second place and it really came down to relay points. They gave Bozeman men a run for the money up until the very last swim. Overall, the Lions took 4th place. GO LIONS!!!

We have completed our first week back and the coaching staff is really excited for the Short Course season! The tune-up-team building week went extremely well and we are looking forward to getting down to swimming next week. We are very grateful to the City of East Helena for allowing us to use their pool.

Our indoor schedule will begin on September 14th, the practice schedule is posted on the website. Please note that there are various pools. Again, we are very appreciative to the YMCA and Capital City Health Club for hosting us. For squads that practice at CCHC, swimmers will be expected to bring all personal items onto the pool deck during practice times. All swimmers will be expected to behave appropriately at health club facilities. Any swimmer who misbehaves or disrespect staff at facilities will face practice suspension. Parents are not allowed on deck during practice sessions. Not only is this a space/membership issue, but it is a liability insurance issue. USA swimming requires that only certified coach members can be on deck during practice sessions.

Please be prompt when picking up your child from either practice facility. We are incredibly lucky to have so much community support and would like make our presence felt minimally.

HLST is very appreciative of Debbie Skibicki, she is in the process of completing the USA Swim Volunteer requirements and will be helping our coaching staff with dry land training. She has a Group Exercise Certification from the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) and I maintain certifications in PIYO Live (a pilates and yoga inspired format focusing on core and resistance strength), ZUMBA (including ZUMBA Kids and ZUMBA Gold for seniors) and Total Barre. She currently teaches PIYO Live, ZUMBA, and a strength and flexibility building class for cancer survivors at CCHC. We are very excited to have Debbie to help our swimmers become stronger and improve flexibility. Thank you Debbie for volunteering! The coaching staff and the board will be working on our Short Course Meet schedule, so be looking for that information to be forth coming very soon. Please remember that some of the meets we attend have qualifying times and with this being an Olympic Year, some of these meets will have the finals will be swam in a 50m pool.

Coach Beth

GO LIONS!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO… September: Anna Kerins 9/6 Allison Christensen 9/15 Parker Keller 9/30 October: Talulah Munn 10/2 Kate Obert 10/3 Preston Fischer 10/3 Melissa Patterson 10/6 Christion Goetsch 10/7 Zachary Wadhams 10/10 Emily McAnally 10/13 Taryn Oser 10/14 Eva Kellar 10/14 Elena Skibicki 10/16 Alex Ackerlund 10/20 Samantha Zody 10/31

UPCOMING EVENTS SEPTEMBER 19: TRYOUTS #2, 9:30am-10:00am at the YMCA pool SEPTEMBER 22: Long Course Banquet, HHS cafeteria, 5:30-7:30pm OCTOBER 31 – NOVEMBER 1: Fall Frost Meet – Great Falls (TEAM MEET)

PRACTICE SCHEDULE Beginning September 14th: Senior: Mon./Wed./Fri. 5:45am-7:15am, Sat. 7:00am-8:30am/8:45am-9:45am dryland YMCA Tues./Thur. 3:45pm-5:15pm YMCA, Mon./Wed. 3:45pm-4:45pm dryland YMCA Tuesday, Thursday, 3:45pm-4:45pm - YMCA dryland Junior: Tue./Thur./Fri. 3:45pm-5:15pm, Sat. 7:00am-8:30am/8:45am-9:45am dryland YMCA Mon. 3:45pm-4:45pm dryland YMCA, Wed. 3:45pm-5:15pm CCHC Advanced: Tue./Thur. 5:45am-7:15am YMCA, Mon. 3:45pm-5:15pm CCHC, Fri. 3:45pm- 5:15pm YMCA, Sat. 7:00am-8:30am/8:45am-9:45am dryland YMCA Development: Mon./Wed. 6:30pm-7:45pm CCHC, Thur. 5:00pm-6:15pm YMCA, Sat. 8:30am- 10:00am YMCA Cubs 1: Tue./Fri. 5:00pm-6:00pm YMCA, Thur. 6:00pm-7:00pm YMCA, Sat. 8:30am-9:30am YMCA Cubs 2: Tue./Thur./Fri. 6:00pm-7:00pm YMCA, Sat. 9:00am-10:00am YMCA

Volunteer Hours: Just a reminder that every family is expected to donate at least 5 volunteer hours to the team during the short course season. There are numerous ways to fulfill this commitment including timing at meets, business sponsorships, and helping with the banquet. Families with fewer than 5 hours will be charged a fee on a sliding scale as follows: 0 hours/$50, 1 hour/$40, 2 hours/$30, 3 hours/$20, 4 hours/$10. Please submit your hours to our volunteer coordinator, Andrea Goetsch at [email protected].

FUNDRAISING If anyone is interested in joining the fundraising committee please email Jennifer Krattiger at [email protected].

Raffle Tickets: At registration, each family paid for raffle tickets. This year’s prizes will be the same as last year: Grand prize $1,000, 2nd prize $500, 3rd prize $250. The drawing will take place January 13, 2016. Families may keep their tickets for themselves or sell the tickets to recoup their money. HLST will also have extra books of tickets that can be sold. We encourage families to help with this important fundraiser. Watch for more information to come soon!

Business sponsorship campaign will begin in October. This is a vital piece of our annual fundraising and only takes about 20-30 minutes per sponsor. Your time spent on this fundraising effort will count ½ hour for each business approached toward each family’s mandatory volunteer hours. Be on the lookout for more information.

Last year, HLST had mini fundraisers around town, including Panda Express, a pancake breakfast, and Lewis & Clark Brewery. This year, HLST is planning on several additional fundraisers. These are easy ways for swim families and community members to support the team by simply presenting the team flyers to the businesses when purchasing dinner! Watch for more specific information to come in future newsletters.

E-Scrip : Scrip turns everyday shopping into cash for your team or booster club when families use retail gift cards to pay for everyday purchases (like gas and groceries) instead of the usual credit/debit card or other money. When you use a gift card you purchased through Scrip, HLST gets a percentage of that amount back for our fundraising goal. There are hundreds of stores, hotels, restaurants, etc. to choose from like Applebee’s, iTunes, Walmart, Target, Albertson’s, and many, many more! Additionally, you can watch for special offers where the percent HLST receives is increased. Check out the E-Scrip program on our website: hlst.org

Amazon Smile: Amazon Smile is another simple way to help support your team. Just go to smile.Amazon.com, sign up, select Helena Lions Swim Team as your charity, and voila! A portion (0.5%) of every eligible purchase is donated to HLST. It’s so easy, it’s automatic, and it is no cost to you.

HLST would like to thank Sharon Malaski for her hours of volunteer work and WalMart for their recent donations to the team in Sharon’s name. THANK YOU, SHARON! Swim Shop NEW SHORT COURSE HOURS: Swim Shop will be open at the YMCA Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30pm-5:30pm starting the week of September 14th. Anyone interested in working during these times to fulfill volunteer hours can contact KayCee at [email protected] (You may also email KayCee if you need any items during non-open hours.)

Lions Team Gear On our home page, hlst.org, you will find our team store. Here you will find the Arena team swim suits, warm up suits, parkas, and much more! Check it out and make sure your swimmer is properly outfitted.

Lions Team Store Once again this year, HLST will be opening a team store through Universal Athletics. This store will be an online store where you can order HLST merchandise such as hats, towels, stadium seats, and much more! Watch for more information to come. A Letter to the Struggling Swimmer When you are feeling down after a bad day of tests and school… Do the work. When you are coming back off of a disappointing competition, where you swam below expectations… Do the work. When your personal relationships are causing you frustration and stress… Do the work. When you are coming off a successful season… Do the work. When your stroke isn’t feeling 100%, and you feel like your feel for the water has left you… Do the work. When you are injured and the only options available to you are dryland and/or kick sets… Do the work. When you find yourself struggling to stay motivated and keep yourself inspired… Do the work. When you have moments of complete and utter success… Do the work. When people tell you that you will never achieve your goals… Do the work. When you feel beat up, tired and rugged… Do the work. When people tell you that you have all the talent and genetics in the world… Do the work. When your stroke is feeling amazing and you are swimming faster than ever… Do the work. When your facilities aren’t nearly as rad as your competition’s… Do the work. When you have an opportunity to make a deposit into the piggy-bank of training… Do the work. When you get the chance to prove to yourself that you are mentally tougher than you ever thought possible… Do the work. When you feel those voices of doubt and insecurity in the back of your mind… Do the work. When you feel like you have never been stronger or faster in the water… Do the work. When you feel like giving up… Do the work.