Good Evening Turtle Families,

Please take the time to read this email in its entirety, especially if you are new to our swimming family, as it contains very important information.

The time is almost here for our Mock Meet and Team Pictures. It is only eight days away. Like all swim meets, swimmers need to RSVP a week in advance. RSVP's must be completed by noon on the Sunday before the swim meet. So, the deadline for you to RSVP for the Mock Meet on Saturday, 5/9 is by noon this Sunday, 5/3. Late RSVPs will not be accepted; there is a lot of work for the coaches and board members of both teams to get done in a short time. It would be wise to place a weekly repeat alarm on your phone's calendar as a reminder. To RSVP use the link and steps below.

Also, remember we will be doing the team picture on this same day. We usually do it around 7am just prior to warm-ups.

One more point, we really need parents to sign up for a volunteer shift at the Mock Meet. As a reminder, this swim meet does not count towards your total, but this is the perfect opportunity to sign up for a position maybe you are not sure about, so you can learn and ask questions. The benefit is these are shorter/easier shifts (mock meet is only half the time as a normal meet), there are numerous experienced people to help you/answer questions, and we can iron out some of our wrinkles so to speak. For Timer, Stroke Turn, Ready Bench, and Meet Marshall positions you really get a chance to get hands-on experience. This will make you much more comfortable doing the job once we start the regular season. Also, we always need important set-up, break-down, and parking attendant roles filled to run this event smoothly. Volunteer Sign-ups for the Mock Meet will remain open until Sunday 5/3 @ 12pm. Please follow the same steps as below to sign up.

Please go to the Fighting Turtles website in Swimtopia under the Schedules tab and Swim Meets/Events page Swim Meets/Events - WGV Fighting Turtles and follow these simple steps.

1.Scroll down to the Practice Meet & Team Picture event for Sat May 9th

2.Click on the green MEET ENTRY - OPEN button to the right.

3.You should see ALL of your swimmers here, click on the black EDIT button below them.

4.Your swimmers will be labeled "undeclared", select either ATTENDING or NOT ATTENDING.

5.If you select ATTENDING, you will need to make a selection for relay availability. ***Please be sure you will be there if you make your swimmer available for relays. Also, putting your swimmer available for relays does not guarantee a spot on a relay team.

6.If you have special information to relate to the coach, you can add that in the free text box.

7.Repeat for all your swimmers.

8.Once complete click on black SAVE button below.

9.You will see confirmation of your swimmer’s status and should you need to make a change, click on the black EDIT button below, make changes, and resave.

10.If done, click on Return to Swim Meets link below EDIT button and return to the meet and sign up for a volunteer spot in the same manner as you just RSVP'ed.

Lastly, there will be an email that will come to all families’ Friday night before each swim meet that will have complete information for the next day's swim meet. So, this Friday, 5/8 you will get an email with a complete swim schedule, heat sheets (race order/swimmers/lane assignments), location map, and special info about parking/tent setup. I encourage everyone to begin following/transition to our NEW Facebook page for information, reminders, and alerts. You can easily find and follow by going to our home page Home - WGV Fighting Turtles and scrolling down below the team photo and clicking on the link there and follow the page. Our Instagram account at fightingturtlesteam is also available and should be linked to our FB page now too.

Again, if anyone has any question, please do not hesitate to reach out for help. Have a great weekend.