LAC A Vehicle?

So, if the membership of LAC were a vehicle, just how would you describe us?

By this, I mean the parent volunteer team.

I think of this often after I attended a Leadship class back in January of this year.  The class was offered through USA Swimming Club Leadership and Business Management School.

The room was packed with about 100 swim coaches and board members from all over the west coast -- holding the seminar in Napa helped with the draw! Quite a diverse group, it was a great experience to be part of the class and mingling with swim-types away from that haunting loong whistle, people in white suits, and a sea of pop-ups!

But seriously, think about the dynamics of the parent group all the time. So, if you feel courageous.... post your thoughts to this blog and share, share, share.....

Food for thought -- here are some comments from the class:

• "We are a smart car, towed by towed truck"
• "Volvo, a family oriented team"
• "VW bus with lots of families packed in the seats, lots of windows, with the outside painted with many diverse colors"
• "Older, well built, but in need of an alignment and bad bearings"
• "Party limo... coach up front, BOD in back & drunk"
• "Bob sled; we know the start and end, but will we die getting there?"
• "A remote control car; someone else is in control"
• "A leased car, with 2yrs left of the lease!"
• "New car, with no air in the tires"

Now, if you know me, I'm not poking fun at any other team or our awesome team. We do have  core set of parents who really make our team a good and do all in their power to make us better. But, I'm interested in what you think!

BTW, one or more of the above comments is how I'd personally describe our parent leadership team. 

Maybe you figure my opinion?

What's yours?

See you at the pool!

Tom

Update from the board

Hi,

Last night was LAC's first annual talent show. It was quite the evening. Many of the kids showed their unique talent with playing musical instruments, singing, modern dance, a short movie to name a few.  As a parent, it's so rewarding to see creative talent from kids. It's a great thing when they come up with their own ideas and share their art with friends. With school, homework, swim practice, etc. I don't know how the kids find the time to develop these talents and put on such a great show.  Thank you to all the kids!

Ok, changing gears... here is an update from last month's board meeting.

We approved  a new fund raising calendar for the year. It's posted on the team web site so you can plan accordingly. You'll see fewer small fund raisers and two substantial events; the swim-a-thon (June 5th) and the USA swim meet LAC will host at Los Positas on November 20th and 21st. Since we have focused on just two fund raisers, based on the direction from parents, it is a requirement that we get 100% volunteer rate from parents.

What does this mean? Well, for the swim-a-thon, we need all LAC swimmers to participate in the swim-a-thon and get friends, family, co-workers...etc. to sponsor your children. This event is open to LVTC Fireballs as well. We'll have a BBQ/pot-luck. And prizes will be awarded to participants who pull in the most money for the team. Last year we did a good job. This year, we are looking to do a great job!

The LAC swim meet will require all parents and more to fill many jobs. If you've ever been to a swim meet, you know it takes a small army to make a meet successful. You can take a look at the posted jobs on our web site. Some people have already signed-up for some of the positions. Please take some time and sign-up whatever job you feel fits your abilities.  Our goal is to fill 100% of these jobs by the end of May.  Any jobs not filled by the end of May will be assigned to families who have not yet signed up for a job.

Why is this so important? Well, first LAC has an obligation to USA Swimming, specifically Zone 2 swim clubs, to host a meet. We need to do our part and shine as one of  the premier clubs in our zone. As the saying goes, "all eyes are on us"! Second, it makes great business sense.  We stand to earn $5,000 towards our fund raising goal if we manage this right.  We have a core team of people who have a various levels of experience in running a meet. This core team is made up of parents who regularly attend meets and we are confident we need 100% participation from all LAC parents. Please take some time to review and sign-up for any of the open positions.

The other areas the board has spent considerable time on is getting our finances together. We are a young team, but every successful team needs to manage to a budget.  We also owe you, as a member, visibility to "the books". It's taken us some time, but we've finalized  our income statement.  We'll post this to the team web site in the coming weeks.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or Don Swanson our Treasurer.

So, I typically close these blogs with something you can do for the greater team. Well, some has suggested we start a tradition of a LAC year book. It's important that we preserve our legacy in some way for the future. Something tangible the kids can hold and look at in years to come.... that would be a great thing!

I've spoken to a couple of generous parents who have offered to help - even with busy work-life schedules, people are willing to help this great cause for the kids. Some people have lots of pictures from various LAC events, and some have pictures of swim meets. So, if you have online photos of your kids or others, please contact me.  Some of the senior kids will help with building the year book -- as it should be, right? As we collect pictures, we will look for quotes from this kids about their best and funniest times during the year. Our goal is to have the book ready for sale at the end-of-the-year party for autographs.

If you have pictures, ideas, or would like to work with the senior kids, please contact me directly.

That's it for now.

--Tom

A little background

Hard to believe it has been 6 months since I assumed the great role as LAC President. Time has flown by and I've learned quite a lot about the business side of a USA Swim team and about the personalities of the parents. The biggest source of my education comes from the simple conversations with parents at the club, at meets, quick emails, or walking to our cars in the parking lot.

I came to this role with +17yrs in the technology industry. I've held a variety of jobs ranging from working as a software developer in health care to managing technology at Sun Microsystems (now Oracle). The biggest difference is one group of people are paid through payroll (salary), while the other group of people are purely volunteers and motivated in other ways. The similarity being, we all have choices.

Personally, I chose to take on this role for many reasons - because I believe on Coach Alex's program, I believe that LAC families all share a common vision for their children and we make sacrifices every day for our children, and I believe I can advance the business side of LAC to the next level. This is a group of people I want to be a part of!

I spent a lot of time writing about our recent accomplishments with fund raising and events in my previous blog. You as parents have stepped up to exceed our fund raising goals and provided the board with tremendous support. For this I, and the board thank you!

We have great plans for LAC's future as we build our legacy. There are few areas where we will chose to focus on as we move the business side forward. Many of these, we have spoke about in the previous blog and parent meetings. And I'll expand on new areas in future blogs.

As we build our future together, I've been working with some mentors along the way. I often reach out to other swim team leaders to learn from them what works and doesn't work. I truly believe in learning from the successes and failures of others; with the best of intent, of course. I also meet once a month with a well respected director in the USA Swimming organization, Tom Avischious. Tom teaches USA business development and currently a Director of Field Services for USA Swimming. Tom's a great source of experience and knowledge about running the business side of an A-class team.  I look to coach Alex for all the wisdom he has with the swim program. I rely on my board to set the pace and keep us on the right track. And I look to the parents to give me real time input and open and honest input about the program.

Stay tuned for details from lat week's board meeting.

See you at the club,

Tom

Livermore Aquacowboy Update - March 19, 2010

Hello LAC Families & Friends,

Welcome to my first blog - a new approach towards keeping us current on the "out of water" side of our Aquacowboy swim team.

My goal is to post updates on a regular basis -- things the board is working on, what's on the horizon, and it's a way to seek your help and support in keeping the business moving in the right direction.

Another benefit of this blog is to decrease the number of emails I send you on a regular basis - this is a good thing for us both!

The information I'll post adds to the content on our team web site, and does not replace what you see there! So, continue to get official dates and news from our site.

OK, I have a few updates I'd like to pass along to you and just one (1) area I need your help and support on.

First, reflecting back on the past few months I want to thank everyone for contributing to the team's volunteer and fund raising efforts. We stepped up fund raising over the holidays through February for a purpose. The funds raised went directly towards keeping current with management fees to LVTC and the purchase a few pieces of equipment for our senior swimmers.

We also gave back to our great community of Livermore through our community outreach efforts. I am also proud to see that 74% of our members met or exceeded their obligation through fund raising alone. Although meeting your obligation through writing a check to LAC is totally acceptable and I sincerely thank you for that, it's pleasing to see that having flexibility towards raising team money is working. Thanks to all!

On the topic of fund raising, several parents have spoke to me about the frequency and expectations of our fund raising events. Some feel we should have a couple of BIG fund raising events throughout the year. While others feel having an option to meet their obligation through smaller fund raising events better meets their needs. So, to this end, the board will publish a new fund raising calendar in April! You will see just a couple of big fund raising events during the year. These events will allow everyone to meet, or exceed, their family obligation. We will also have a hand full of "self service" fund raising opportunities available too. Meaning, if a parent chooses to sponsor a fund raiser, let's say for example - senior equipment.... then the board will work with the parent/sponsor on the details of the event.

I hope our new fund raising calendar better meets your family lifestyle!

OK, here's a BIG update -- LAC will host our FIRST USA Swim meet on November 20th and 21st at Las Positas College. Did you know that swim meets we (LAC) attend are hosted by a local swim club? Not only is this a way to support the larger USA swim program, but it's a very smart and efficient way to raise thousands of dollars for a swim program in a single weekend.

Having said this, it's not as easy as I describe. It will take all of us to make this a success. Many host teams reach out to other community service groups such as scouts, religious organizations, seniors groups...etc. for help with various jobs. So, if you are connected to a community organization, please reach out to them and ask for their support. We will have about 20 volunteer jobs posted to our web site within the next couple of weeks. Please mark your calendar to make our first hosted swim meet a success on November 20th & 21st. Look to our team web site for the posting on this event.

Another BIGGIE - we have our annual USA Swim-a-thon on June 5th. We will have prizes, USA swimming gift bags, and a BBQ lunch during this day's event. It will a great day. Look to our team web site for the details about this event.

And last, but not least, around the corner is our annual Mutual of Omaha BreakOUT swim clinic.

We have a tentative date for October 2nd with Josh Davis. This is a once in a life time, well... ok, once a year chance for our fortunate LAC swimmers. In recent years, Josh Davis, one of the nation's foremost swim clinicians and Olympic multi-medalist has brought Olympic metal winning athletes such as Kim Vandenberg, Arron Peirsol, Ben Wildman-Tobriner, and Randall Bal to our LVTC swim club. This is a rare opportunity to meet the Olympic gods of today! This event is open to the general public. Look to our team web site for ticket sale information.

Ok, as promised, here one thing I need your help and full support on --

We must raise the number of LAC swimmers to 110 by September.

Achieving this goal is the single most import thing we can do this year for our swim program.

Here's some background -- Today, we collect dues to pay for a percentage of our management fees (a.k.a. coaches fees). To supplement the shortage in our fees, we take on a fair amount of fund raising throughout the year.

A common and preferred solution, according to USA Swimming, is to meet 100% of coaches fees through membership due collections. By moving to this new model, we will remove the dependency and pressure on fund raising as a means meet necessary management fees. We will be able to shift monies raised through fund raising towards enhancing the LAC program for all swimmers.

How can you help? Well, glad you asked!

Bring 1 new swimmer and have him/her to try out our two week FREE LAC practice program offer. It's that simple. (contact Emily H. for scheduling of the two week free trial)

Do this by spreading the word to your friends, neighbors, kid's school mates, and within your professional and social circles that LAC has open enrollment for new members. We'd rather use "word of mouth" over spending LAC money on media advertising. Plus, word of mouth is more effective and creditable than splashy ads.

So, please spread the word and stay tuned for details on our new Referral and Incentive program. Through the R&I program, you will be directly reward for meeting this goal.

And remember, kids do not need to belong to LVTC in order to swim with LAC.

Ok, enough said. See you at the club.


Tom