Fees:
Annual athlete and non-athlete registration fees were increased from $56 for 2010 to $62 for 2011. $47 of the $62 is for USA Swimming registration and $15 is for Hawaiian Swimming registration. The USA-S portion increased by $1 as it has done for the last several years. The Hawaiian Swimming portion increased for the first time in as long as anyone can remember by $5. The $5 increase will be used to offset costs associated with hosting meets. Hosts of pre-approved Age Group meets, on all islands, will no longer be charged an $85 sanction fee, timing equipment rental fees, nor ribbon fees.
A per athlete per meet Facility Surcharge fee, on a per island basis, was implemented effective August 1, 2010. The fee will be adjusted on a seasonal basis to cover approved venue rental and lifeguard costs for pre-approved Age Group meets, Invitationals, and Championship meets. For Oahu, the fee for the current SCY season is $1.50 per athlete per Age Group and Invitational meet. Championship meets will be individually assessed. Meet financial reports will be updated shortly to reflect the allocation of this fee. The collected fees will be used to offset meet hosts for their venue and lifeguard costs. Surpluses from the surcharge which exceed the venue and lifeguard costs will be collected by the LSC and used to compensate hosts when the surcharge collected does not fully offset the venue and lifeguard costs. Venue costs are limited to those directly associated with the technical aspect of the competition. Venue costs associated with concessions, for example, are the responsibility of the host.
Both of the above fees are budget neutral for the LSC and are directed back to the hosts of meets. The financial bottom line for each meet is estimated to improve by $500 to $800. This structure was implemented in response to requests from meet hosts due to increases in the costs of renting VMAC and other county facilities while recognizing that each island has different cost factors.
VMAC:
Changes in usage fees for VMAC have hit us hard. In addition to direct pool cost increases noted above, the collection of money at CORP has been severely hampered. Consequences of this are: 1) entry fees cannot be collected at the venue and must be mailed in, 2) the cost of running food concessions is not even remotely practical anymore, 3) this includes the sales of heat sheets, tee-shirts, and any other general fundraising items. Discussions with county management is ongoing.
For Age Group meets hosted at VMAC, the above fee structure is intended to compensate for this. For example, this fall's "classified" meets are expected to have approximately 300 athletes entered in an estimated 3 to 4 events each. As with last year, the meet host will retain $1 per individual event entry fee for an average gross revenue of $1,000 per meet. Since sanction fees, timing equipment fees, and ribbon fees are offset by registration fees, and since venue and lifeguard costs are covered by the per athlete facility surcharge, the cost of hosting a meet is reduced to primarily that of non-donated hospitality costs.
Time Standards:
Time standards for the 2010-11 season are posted at: http://www.hawaiianswimming.org/Pages/Standards.html.
Changes to the Hawaiian Age Group time standards relative to 2009-10 include; 1) all 10&Un Girls events are faster by 1%, and 2) minor adjustments to the calculation of 8 & Un Boys events. Note that the Western Zone Age Group and other national time standards are not yet released.
Hawaiian Senior Standards (SR-A and SR-B) are unchanged from 2009-10. Note that current reports do not include updates for 2010-11 National and Sectional Standards.
Schedule:
The 2010-11 schedule is posted at: http://www.hawaiianswimming.org/Pages/Schedules.html.
For current updates and corrections you are encouraged to look to the "Meet Info" page at: http://www.hawaiianswimming.org/Pages/MeetInformation/MeetInformation-2010.html
Age Group Meets:
Due to an increase in the number of athletes on Oahu, and by request, the SCY season age group meets are adopting the "classified" meet format where Oahu teams are split across different meets. Distance events will not be offered nor will relay events be offered at these meets. Distance events will be offered at the distance meets listed separately on the schedule. A sample survey of coaches expressed a preference to have an event limit of 4 individual events per athlete versus 3 individual events and 1 relay should timeline constraints dictate. The full suite of 25s through 200s will be offered at each meet with 11&Ov in Session 1 and 12&Un in Session 2.
The following SCY season meets are in need of hosts: 10/9, 10/10, 11/6 ,11/7, 12/4, 12/5, 2/19/2011, 2/10/2011. Note VMAC is NOT available on 11/6 and 12/4. Please contact me as soon as possible if your team wishes to host any of these meets. Requests will be honored first come, first serve. Teams which do not host an invitational during the year will have first choice.
Any teams interested in hosting meets from March through August 2011 may request now as well.
Any team interested in hosting the February 26-27, 2011 Junior Age Group Championship Meet please contact me by October 15, 2010.
Coaches Clinic:
Reserve October 15-17 for the bi-annual Hawaiian Swimming Coaches clinic to be held at UH. Mainland and local speakers will be presenting on the following topics:
1. Transition from Develpomental Group to Senior Group
2. Preparing your Senior athletes for College
3. Current Research in Stroke Mechanics and Video Presentation
4. Club Management: Parent Board vs. Coach Owned
5. Modern Mid and Long Distance Training
6. Sprinting and the Art of Kicking
7. Volume vs. Quality: When and How Much?
8. How to Taper More than Once Per Season
9. Current Aquatic Research Laboratory at UH
10. The Diference between Women and Men: the mental side of training
11: Round Table Q&A Session
Officials Clinic:
Oahu Official's training clinics are scheduled for 9/18, 10/16, and 11/20. Teams, parents, your coaches and athletes NEED you to volunteer for this critical function. A number of past volunteers have retired and Oahu is short of officials.
Tour of Champions - Jason Lezak:
Look to the home page of Hawaiian Swimming (www.hawaiianswimming.org) for information on the athletes' clinic with Jason Lezak sponsored by the Iolani Swim Club on September 18th.