Good Morning Mudtoads,

I wanted to address some concerns about last nights meet.

I apologize that there were not enough heat sheets for all of our individuals. Changes to the non scoring heats (heat 2 and 3) occurred before the meet in an attempt to consolidate heats and get us home earlier. NO unauthorized changes occurred to scoring lanes (deck changes occurred in accordance with the rules). Willow Oaks attempted to print out enough heat sheets for timers, officials and coaches but ran out of ink. Replacement ink didn’t arrive until late in the meet…which delayed the printing of the labels.

In the best interest of summer swim, Willow Oaks GPSA rep and I agreed to the additional heats. I reviewed all heats after the meet and ensured accuracy. As coach Kendall said earlier in the day, this meet was going to be a close one and it definitely was! Unfortunately, we were on the losing end of this meet.

There was also some unsportsmanlike conduct by a Willow Oaks member to our coaches. Our coaches handled this situation well, like the true professionals they are. I addressed these concerns with the Willow Oaks rep.

I will reiterate the message I shared from our GPSA vice president a few weeks ago:

“While we all enjoy a healthy level of competition, please remember that GPSA is a recreational league. Our priority is to foster fun, encouraging growth, and a sportsmanlike environment for all swimmers, their families, and our meet volunteers.”

Finally, thank you to all the parents that consistently volunteer to make meets a success. I truly appreciate it and it makes meets run more smoothly.

Our next meet will be a friendship meet against Kiln Creek. Some of our Mudtoad members have been working behind the scenes to get something new for our pool to help our swimmers. This item will be revealed at Wednesday's meet! Come on out to see some more fast swims and some friendly competition.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly.

Thank you,

Eric Balest