Marlins,

A reminder that Champs closes on July 5th @ 7 PM, so please sign up here now so the holidays don’t throw you off. Big thank you to those families who always sign up on time. For those of you who tend to be a few hours late, I will be on vacation on this weekend, so it’s on you to find a few minutes in the next 5 days and I know you can do it! If SwimTopia says your swimmers are not eligible, that means you did not meet the 2 dual meet requirement and will not be able to participate. Otherwise, everyone, Jr. Marlins & Marlins are welcome regardless of their times or places during the year, you are all Champs!

Please also sign up for jobs, particularly those of you who signed up your swimmers before jobs were open. A description of the Champs unique jobs is below. We need everyone’s help to make these big meets run smoothly. Here is a description of all the jobs. If you are a Marshal or Bathroom Monitor, you can find more specific info here.

Champs is a lot of fun, but it can feel overwhelming, particularly if it's your first year. I encourage all of you to take the time to review the general Champs info here, the parent packet here (also attached), and other maps are attached. These have maps to our team location, parking, food, volunteer meeting times/location, rules regarding set up and more. See the schedule below for an opportunity to visit the pool the day before if you have kids who may benefit from a preview, especially since parents may not be on deck with their kids after 8:30 AM. The final details like heats/lanes will be shared close to the event. Please use the Pep Rally on July 13 3-5 PM as an opportunity to ask any questions you have.

LOCATIONS: Meet, Team Area, Team Cheer Section

Champs is located at Independence High School in San Jose (617 N Jackson Ave, San Jose, CA 95133), which is about 25-30 min from Greenmeadow, so please factor in travel time, parking, and set up. Everyone should arrive by 7:40, but some of you may have earlier arrival times based on your jobs.

Our team area is the same as last year. You can see the location of our team area on this map in the lower left corner. When you get to the main entrance, do not enter the pool area, but stay to the left and go all the way down to the last team area. The easiest pool entrance for us will be Gate 3 on the map.

We have a designated section in the bleachers for our team cheer (closest to our gate 3 on the far right end facing the bleachers, which you can see on this map. You you are welcome to move to other areas of the bleachers during the meet to get a closer view of your swimmers races.

PARKING: FREE

The parking lot by the Independence High School pool is by the tennis courts. Avoid parking by the football field as that is a long walk to the pool. Please park in any available stall in the parking area, including the shade area under the solar panels!

SCHEDULE

Saturday, July 13

• 6 pm Walk through for those families who are new to the venue
• 6 pm Set-up workers to arrive at Independence High, but you will need to come to GM first to pick up our equipment to deliver.

Sunday, July 14

• 7:00: Doors Open
• 7:15: Pre-Meet Marshal Meeting (see here and attached for location)
• 7:40: All volunteers and swimmers arrive.
• 8:00 - 8:35: Greenmeadow warm ups in these lanes only:
  • Lanes 1-4 Dives
  • Lanes 11 & 12 No Dives, 3 Point Entry
• 8:10: Job specific meetings, locations on the map here and attached.
• 8:40: Team Cheers: Greenmeadow will go last from our cheering section.
• 9:00: Meet Begins.
• 2:00 - 3:00: Approx. Meet Ending
• 6:30 - 8:30: End of Season: Awards Night Greenmeadow Park

GENERAL FAMILY INFO

• Absolutely no chairs, tents, or umbrellas are allowed in the Competition Viewing Bleachers or upper deck breezeways. Shade tents and chairs are allowed in our team area.
• Non-working Parents/Spectators are not allowed on the pool deck after 8:30 am. Please prepare your kids that they will be in the clerk and on the pool deck while you are in the stands. Please rely on CITs if your kids need help. There will be plenty of adults on the pool deck to keep an eye on them and get them where they need to be.
• Champs Programs will be available for purchase for $10. The programs list the swimmer names, heat and lane numbers for each event, in addition to purchased ads, Senior Bios and sponsorship Ads.
• Champs T-Shirts will be on sale just outside the main entrance, which the kids love as a souvenir.

FOOD OPTIONS

• There will be 3 food trucks: Waffle Roost, Mona’s Fruit, and Kona Ice outside by Gate 1 (see maps).
• Families may pack a lunch, visit the food trucks outside or drive to nearby food options on Jackson/McKee, about 0.6 miles: Lee’s Sandwiches, Round Table Pizza, McDonald’s, Duc Huong (Vietnamese sandwiches), Chavez Supermarket (Taqueria), Subway~ 1 mile away: Togo’s
• No metal, aluminum or glass containers at the Independence Pool.
• No food is permitted on the pool deck. Food is permitted on the bleachers and upper deck only.

CHAMPS SPECIFIC JOBS

• Blocks: Finishing Block Worker: Herd swimmers to the correct stairway after the race is over.
• Champs Floater: This is supporting at the Champ overall level, not the team level, so you would be available to Champs Team to fill in as needed during the meet. It may be filling in for another team that doesn’t have enough floaters or helping the Champs organizers.
• Data Runner: Pick up collated documentation from Intermediary and deliver to Data Room.
• Day before Set-up Worker: Saturday 5:30-9 pm: Pick up GM tents and clerk of the course benches to deliver to Independence High by 6 PM Sat. Set up equipment, tables, chairs. Get pool ready for the meet. Report to head set-up person. Will need a large car to deliver shade tents and benches.[Good job for parents who want to focus on their kids during the meet.]
• Intermediary: Enters DQ Codes. Validates the times are correct as compared to the recorder sheets. Re-calculates averages as necessary. Notifies Results when an event is complete.

• Lost and Found: Picks up lost and found articles at end of meet. If named, attempt to return to team/owner. Take picture of the group of lost items and send to Champs director to share with Team coordinators. If items are not claimed, they may be donated to charity.[Done at end of meet, so parents can focus on kids during the meet.]
• Men's Restroom Monitor (Male parent only): 1st or second half- Check on the women's restroom every 30-40 minutes to make sure it has toilet paper and soap. If the restroom needs attention, contact Champs Coordinator who will contact the janitor [this is a very easy job-- perfect for a parent who wants a job where they can be with their swimmers and not on the pool deck for half of the meet).
• Ribbons Table: This will be done during the meet, not after.
• Pre-Meet Pool Stair Marshalls (7:15am-9am): monitor access to pool stairs (only swimmers and parent volunteers allowed on pool deck)[Great job for a parent who wants to have a quick shift and be finished when the meet starts!]
• Pre-Meet Upper Deck/Bleachers Marshalls(7:15 am-9am): Monitor families and swimmers on the upper deck and bleachers. Provide map assistance to families looking for team areas. Ensure that families do not set up chairs or shade tents on the upper pool deck or bleachers. [Great job for a parent who wants to have a quick shift and be finished when the meet starts!]
• Team Trash Pick Up: Bring 3-4 large trash bags and periodically go around the team area to collect trash during the meet. [Easy to do during a break in your swimmers’ events]
• Tear Down- After Meet: Meet Head of Teardown at Clerk of Course after final event. Take down equipment, EZ-ups, signs, painters’ tape. Put Independence equipment as we found it. Stay until released by head clean-up person. Drive GM shade tents and clerk benches back to GM. Will need large car to return things to Greenmeadow.
• Twitter Data Entry: Tweet announcements, including team scores and which age groups / strokes need to go to clerk of the course.
• Women's Restroom Monitor (Female parent only): Check on the women's restroom every 30-40 minutes to make sure it has toilet paper and soap. If the restroom needs attention, contact Champs Coordinator who will contact the janitor [this is a very easy job-- perfect for a parent who wants a job where they can be with their swimmers and not on the pool deck for half of the meet).

Let's Go Marlins!!

Donna