1. What to Expect from the “Stingray Experience”
Ivy Hills Stingrays
Orientation Session
What to Expect from the “Stingray Experience”
Chuck Herrington – Parent Coordinator
Tom McTernan – Head Coach

2. Ivy Hills Stingrays Orientation Session
Agenda What are the Stingrays? League Key Dates Swim Meets Meet Sign-Outs Practice The Coaches Coaching Philosophy Parent Expectations Communication Swimsuits Merchandise
Tom McTernan – Head Coach
Chuck Herrington – Parent Coordinator

3. Ivy Hills Stingrays – What is it?
The Ivy Hills Stingrays is a social, yet competitive Summer swim team whose mission is to develop the swimming skills of our membership’s youth—while promoting goodwill, sportsmanship, and fun for all of our swimmers and parents!
Anyone ages can be a Stingray, regardless of swimming skill level.
We had 85 swimmers in 2012, ranging from ‘Learning to Swim’ to ‘National Level Athletes’, and look to have over 100 in 2013!!
Wonderful opportunity for the kids and parents to meet and socialize with others in the Ivy Hills community!
FUN, SOCIAL, SUPPORTIVE,
with a little bit of WINNING sprinkled in!!

4. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Our League
The Stingrays participate in the 14-member “Greater Cincinnati Country Club Swimming & Diving League” (GCCCS&DL), and follow the league’s By-Laws and Meet Guidelines.
The GCCCS&DL is divided into 3 Divisions based on Team Size and Championship Meet Results at the end of the previous season.
Each season the top team in each division ‘moves up’, while the lowest scoring team ‘moves down’. Because we won the 2012 White Division championship, we are moving up to the Red Division this year!

5. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Key Dates
SEASON OVERVIEW
Wednesday, May 1st: Orientation Session
Tuesday, May 7th: Registration/Suit-fitting event
Thursday, May 30th: Practice Begins
Wed, June 5th – July 10th: Weekly Swim Meets (every Wednesday night)
Thursday, June 27th: Picture Day
Saturday, June 29th: “King of the Hill” Meet
Tuesday, July 16th: League Championships
Thursday, July 18th: Award Banquet
SWIM MEETS
Wednesday, June 5th: at Summit Hills Country Club
Wednesday, June 12th: vs Hyde Park Country Club
Wednesday, June 19th: vs Coldstream/Camargo Country Clubs
Wednesday, June 26th: at Highland Country Club
Saturday, June 29th: ‘King of the Hill’ Meet (voluntary at Anderson YMCA)
Wednesday, July 3rd: vs Terrace Park Country Club
Wednesday, July 10th: at Maketewah/Clovernook Country Clubs
Tuesday, July 16th: CHAMPIONSHIPS at Highland Country Club

6. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Swim Meets
Our Swim Meets are the highlights of the Stingray season! They are essentially a weekly, pool-side party happening every Wednesday, with parents and swimmers all socializing, eating, drinking, and cheering on our Stingrays!
Swim Meets start at 6pm and last roughly 3 hours.
Swimmers must report 30 minutes before the meet for warm-ups.
Swim Meets have 68 events, where each event is a different race for each stroke type, by age group, by gender. Each event could have multiple ‘Heats’ if there are more than 6 swimmers entered in the event (since we only have 6 lanes in the pool).
Swim Meet entries will be determined every Monday by the coaches, and ed out to all parents early Tuesday. Swim Meet entries are the listing of which events each swimmer will be swimming for that week’s meet.
Girls Event/# Boys

7. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Meet Sign-Outs
Q: What if we can’t make it to a meet?
A: No Problem!! Just let us know no later than the Monday prior to the Swim Meet!
If your swimmer will not be swimming in a Swim Meet, you will need to “sign out” your swimmer by the Monday before the Swim Meet!
There is a “Sign Out Book” always at the pool that has a page for each meet during the season.
To sign out of a particular meet, simply write the names of the swimmers that will not be able to attend that Swim Meet! It’s that easy!
Except the swimmers who have been “signed out” of a meet, all other Stingrays will be entered into events for the meet per the coach’s discretion on Monday night. To eliminate rework in preparing the Meet Entries, please make sure to sign-out swimmers by Monday.

8. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Practice
Practices are every weekday from Thurs., May 30th through Mon., July 15th.
Ages 9 and over (age as of June 1st): Every weekday from 8:30am to 10:00am
Ages 8 and under (age as of June 1st): Every weekday from 10:00am to 11:30am
Practices are split by age group to better meet the different needs/abilities of each swimmer. Times are determined to not conflict with the Club’s other summer sports programs.
Attendance to all practices is recommended, but not required. Attendance awards are given at the end of season award banquet.
Swimmers must attend at least one practice (Thurs – Wed) in order to swim in that week’s Swim Meet.
Thursday practices end with donuts and giving out awards from the previous night’s Swim Meet.

9. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Head Coach
One of the key contributors to a solid and successful swim team is consistency in coaching and teaching swimmer development throughout the years. The Stingrays have had this consistent, high-quality coaching with the same Head Coach for the last 4 years!
Tom McTernan – Stingrays Head Coach
This will be Tom’s fourth season as the Head Coach of the Ivy Hills Stingrays. Tom has over 30 years of swimming and coaching experience, and developed a passion for swimming in High School, placing second in the 50 Free & 100 Free at the Cincinnati District meet. Tom is a ‘Master Swimmer’, and has held many coaching positions in the local Cincinnati area, most recently serving as the Head Coach for the Clark Montessori Jr. and Sr. High Swim Team, the Head Coach for the Beckett Ridge Barracuda swim team, and coaching the M.E. Lyons YMCA Special Olympics team. Tom has a passion for teaching swimmers, and recently developed and implemented new stroke clinic programs at the Beckett Ridge swim club.

10. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Assistant Coaches
Helping Tom, we have two excellent Assistant Coaches who will be instrumental to developing our Stingrays!
Brian Hefele – Stingrays Assistant Coach
This is Brian’s third full season as an Ivy Hills Stingrays coach, but fourth season working with the Stingrays, as he was a volunteer instructor with the team three years ago. Brian swam for four years at St. Xavier High School, one of the top high-school swim teams in the state. While breaststroke is his specialty, he is accomplished in all four strokes. Brian is dedicated to swimming development - especially age group swimmers. He works very well with younger swimmers in a calm and patient manner, and provides individual lessons for local competitive swimmers throughout the year. Brian is a great asset to the team.
Temarie Tomley – Stingrays Assistant Coach
This will be Temarie’s first season as an Ivy Hills Stingrays coach, but she has many years of swimming experience. Temarie actually got her start swimming for the Stingrays at the age of 5, and has gone on to swim competitively for the Mercy HealthPlex SeaWolves and her current high-school team (Ursuline Academy). Just two months ago, Temarie finished 2nd in the state in the 50-Free—while also being a part of the state champion 400-Free and 200-Medley relay teams. Her performances were key enablers to Ursuline Academy winning the 2013 Ohio Division I state swimming championship! Temarie works wonderfully with age group swimmers, and will be an outstanding addition to the Stingray team! Welcome back, Temarie!

11. Ivy Hills Stingrays – ”Philosopher Tom”

12. Ivy Hills Stingrays – The Parents!
Parent Involvement is CRUCIAL to making the “Stingray Experience” awesome for everyone!
Our children depend heavily on all parents investing their time into the team to ensure the season flows smoothly and is enjoyable to everyone. This means:
Making sure our swimmers are at practices and meets on time!
Volunteering for meets to make the season flow smoothly and be enjoyable to everyone!
We’re one big happy family, so don’t be afraid to ask for help from fellow parents (especially for carpooling to practice/meets or swapping volunteer positions)!! A contact list will be sent out right before the season starts to help everyone be able to contact each other.
Parents need to sign-up for various ‘positions’ for each Swim Meet in order for the meets to be run smoothly (and on time!). Each position is easy to execute, and most positions change at halftime.
Volunteer positions include Timers, Runners, Scorers, Starting Block Organizers, Ribbon Writers, and Stroke Judges. Each position will have a simple ‘training session’ before each meet. Sign-up for preferences to your volunteer positions in your Registration Packet for each meet.
Chuck needs to make sure all volunteer positions are filled the Sunday before each Swim Meet, so expect your Parent Coordinators (who are volunteers themselves!) to ask you for help!! 
Most importantly, have fun! The best thing about volunteering at Swim Meets is that all positions can be worked with a cold beverage in your hand!! Ask someone to fill in for you for a few minutes if you’re child is racing. Remember, the “Stingray Experience” is all about having a good time!

13. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Communication
Before and during the season, there are various methods for Stingray information to get out to Parents and Swimmers. These are highlighted in the Registration Packet’s Team Communication sheet – so please reference that in more detail.
The vast majority of your communication will come via from your Parent Coordinators or Head Coach—so it is critical that you provide correct addresses in your Registration Packets. If you have more than one that you wish to get these communications, list both on the registration packet!
The website will contain all important documents, schedules,
meet entries, meet results, and other formal Stingray
information.
The Stingray Facebook page is where all photos and videos will
be posted throughout the season, as well as quick news items.
The Stingray Twitter account will pretty much tweet out similar
information that is posted on the Facebook page.

14. Girls ($41.60 +tax) Boys ($28.80 +tax)
Ivy Hills Stingrays – Swimsuits
The 2013 swimsuit is the TYR Finals Cabana Plaid suit, the same suit we used last year!
Girls ($ tax) Boys ($ tax)
Regional swim retailer “Kast-A-Ways” will be at the Club on Tuesday, May 7th from 5:30pm-7:30pm at our “Stingray Registration and Suit Fitting Event” to help with ordering and sizing our Stingrays into the correct suit.
Note that these suits are not required to be members of the Stingrays, but are the recommended suit for the 2013 Season to maintain a unified team ‘look’.
For those families who are not able to make the May 7th Suit Fitting event, arrangements can be made to order their suits directly from Kast-A-Ways. Their contact information is below:
Kast-A-Ways National Headquarters Retail Store Hours:
9356 Cincinnati-Columbus Rd., Rt Monday - Thursday - 9:00am - 6:00pm
Cincinnati, Ohio Friday - 9:00am - 5:00pm
Toll Free: (800) Saturday - 9:00am - 3:00pm
Local Calls: (513) Sunday - CLOSED

15. Ivy Hills Stingrays – Merchandise
You and your swimmers will be able to show off your Stingray Spirit through various Stingray Merchandise items being available during the season: everything from swim caps, towels, t-shirts, sweatshirts and adult golf shirts, and more!
We should have the 2013 offerings and order forms at the May 7th registration event.
All proceeds from Merchandise sales go directly back into the swim team to continue to make the Stingray Experience an awesome one!
Look for upcoming announcements on 2013 Stingray Merchandise availability and ordering processes!

16. Ivy Hills Stingrays Orientation Session
Agenda What are the Stingrays? League Key Dates Swim Meets Meet Sign-Outs Practice The Coaches Coaching Philosophy Parent Expectations Communication Swimsuits Merchandise
Tom McTernan – Head Coach
Chuck Herrington – Parent Coordinator