Swimmer Expectations
*“Participation in athletics in the Puyallup School District is a PRIVILEGE that involves TEAMWORK and SELF DISCIPLINE…If you decide to participate, be prepared to dedicate yourself to the athletic program. Remember, you will be a representative of your family, school and community, so your actions should be above reproach, both at and away from the athletic site.”
–PSD Student Interscholastic Athletic Handbook pg. 1
*It is not mandatory to be a member of this team, it is a choice that YOU are making. However, if you choose to be a part of all this fun, we expect 100% participation and commitment from you. There are no “part-time” PHS swimmers or divers.
*Members of this team will not do anything which would embarrass themselves, their school, their family, or their TEAM.
*High school swimming is a completely different experience than any other swim team you have been on. This is NOT an individual sport, it is truly a TEAM sport. Everything you do here affects the entire team. If you skip a practice, or don’t work your hardest the whole team’s attitude comes down…everyone knows who is trying and who isn’t. If you work hard all the time, your positive attitude and good work ethic bring everyone up, and the whole team gets faster together! The team is very closely bonded, everyone’s attitude counts, and everyone’s times count toward making our team the BEST!
*There are many opportunities to participate, cheer, and bond with your team. We advise that you take advantage of all of them, you will NOT regret it!
*The PHS Girl’s swim and dive team puts good sportsmanship as our first priority. In order to support
this, we expect our athletes to be respectful at all times, and under all circumstances to: their teammates, members of other teams, all coaches, all officials, pool staff at every pool, school personnel, and all parents and fans. We expect all athletes to be gracious, win or lose. We expect
all comments about self or others to be positive. If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
*TEAM SPIRIT!!!! WE LOVE IT!!!!!!!
*Both your coaches and your teammates expect you to give a full effort every day. If you do anything half-heartedly you are wasting your time and ours. Your team is working hard for you…return the favor!
*We support the district’s drug and alcohol zero tolerance policies. We also have zero tolerance for swearing, or rude/crude/lewd language or gestures, even while “joking with friends.” Please make sure you are being “ladylike” or a gentleman at all times.
Practice and Meet Policies:
*All afternoon practices are mandatory. Work, birthday parties, doctor appointments, etc. need to be scheduled around practices and meets. These are not considered valid excuses to arrive late, leave early, or be absent.
*The only absences that will be excused are: school field trip or concert which we have been notified of in writing a minimum of a week in advance, or extreme illness, or a true family emergency.
*A late arrival will be excused for finishing a test at school, or receiving extra instruction from a teacher, as long as a note from the teacher is provided upon arrival.
*An unexcused absence will result in the athlete not competing in the next meet. Three unexcused absences will result in loss of the chance to earn a varsity letter, and may result in removal from the team at the discretion of the coaches.
*ANY absence from practice, excused or unexcused, the day before a meet will result in the athlete not competing in that meet. DO NOT miss practice the day before a meet for any reason!
*ANY absence from a meet, excused or unexcused, regardless of whether the athlete was scheduled to compete or not, will result in the athlete not competing in the next meet. You must be at EVERY meet even if are not competing.
*A swimmer or diver may not miss any portion of a practice or a meet in order to attend a club practice or meet. This is a WIAA rule that is strictly enforced. If a swimmer or diver misses a high school practice or meet and then attends a club practice or meet in the same day, it could result in our whole team being required to forfeit the entire season.
(WIAA rule 18.22.3 and WIAA rule 62.4.0)
*All athletes must attend all of their classes on a meet day. Leaving early with the team to attend an away meet is okay. Do not sleep in, skip class, or get excused for being “sick” on a meet day…you will not be allowed to compete.
*If you wake up too sick to attend school or swim on a meet day PLEASE, PLEASE,PLEASE call or Text Casi (253)677-3943 as soon as you can!!! NO email, and don’t just tell a friend to tell us, you NEED to CALL. It takes me a long time to make a meet line-up, and it takes even longer to change one. I can’t simply just cross someone’s name out and call it good. This is a team sport, and taking out one person changes the dynamic and the strategy of the whole team.