Hey all!

Welcome to Short Course Season 23-24! I'm excited to get back at it this fall and winter, and hope your swimmers are as well.

Practices

Practice starts on Tuesday, September 5. 
The usual slate of Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings will progress from there.
White Group goes 6:15-7:00 
Red Group goes 7:00-8:15

Special schedule notes:
Halloween (Tuesday, Oct 31) we will be off.
No practice the entire week of Thanksgiving this year (Nov 20-24). 
Last practice before Christmas Break is Thursday, December 21, we will resume Thursday, January 4th.

Coach(es):
I will be the primary coach this year, as Coach Rhys has gone off to college. However, I do have some scheduling issues that I wanted to make everyone aware of.  First, I have a standing event with my other job on the 2nd Thursday evening of each month, so I will be missing those practices, as well as a bonus event that popped up this coming Thursday, September 7th, for which I will have to miss as well.

Also, it's going to be a bit of an interesting start through September and October for me.  As some of you know, for years I have been involved with the McPherson Community Theatre.  This fall they have invited me to be a part of the fall play.  With that, there will be a good handful more of practices that I will need to miss through this first month and a half or so of the season.  The parent board and I have been working to get everything covered with substitute coaches (there may just be a Coach Alison sighting or 2 or 3), and we are not planning on cancelling any practices unless we have no other choice.  

I will always have workouts planned and posted, and until the week of the performance (October 16-22), I will be able to get white group started at the very least on those nights where I'm needing to be at the Opera House.  To help out our substitute coaches, I will be asking our older swimmers in Red Group to take on more of a leadership role in guiding their teammates through the practices on those nights, and making sure everyone stays focused and on task. It will be different, but I know the kiddos will handle it.  I will of course be keeping up with all communications, and if any issues arise, I'm always a text/call/email away!  Apologies for any confusion or inconvenience with this.  It's a long season, life and passions call and all of that, and I thank you for bearing with me and us!

Swim meets

I will get the the calendar/event page updated as we get events files and meet information from the host teams.  But if you're looking to plan ahead a bit, here's are the ones that we're looking at so far:
-October 7 & 8 - Battle In ICT - Wichita (Nitros) 
*I will likely not be able to attend this meet, and will coordinate with Hutch and Newton's coaches, as well as the host team, to make sure our swimmers are taken care of
-October 14 & 15 - WSC Fall Invite - Wichita (Swim Club)
*I may miss the afternoon session at this meet, and will make arrangements as needed with other coaches
-October 28 & 29 - Spooktacular - Topeka  *** this is a maybe, I've heard Salina is looking to get back on the meet calendar, but they aren't currently listed. If they get that sorted, then we will skip this one.
-November 4 & 5 - Fall Classic - Hutch
-November 11 & 12 - Legends Invite - Wichita Swim Club
-December 2 & 3 - Frosty Frolic - Topeka
-January 20 & 21 - Aqua Freeze - Wichita (Nitros)
-January 27 & 28 - Seahawk Chill - Hutch
-February 3 & 4 - Presidential Invite - Wichita Swim Club
-February 9-11 - District West - Wichita Swim Club  ***Qualifier meet
-February 23-25 - Senior Champs - Lenexa  ***Qualifier meet
-March 1-3 - Age Group Champs - Lenexa  ***Qualifier meet

As always, it is not required to attend all of these meets, and even the ones that you choose to go to, it is not required to do both days.  Keep things in balance, and check in with your swimmer to make sure that they are not getting overwhelmed if you do choose to try to attend all, and please take those breaks as needed!

Thank once more, and don't hesitate to reach out with any questions that you may have!

Coach Kyle Banman
[email protected]
620-245-6562