Village Green VelociRAPTORS

updated March 2025

What to expect from your Coaches: 

Coaches of VGV Swim Team are highly experienced swimmers, teachers, and coaches dedicated to providing the best quality instruction and experience to all swimmers. Our coaching philosophy centers on three main concepts: 

• Improvement over perfection! We value excellence in every part of life, and the focus on improvement and progress is at the center of what we do at Village Green. Honing our skills is extremely valuable but we are not in the business of becoming perfect. We seek to give the skills AND encouragement needed to improve in everything from race strategy and technique, to integrity and kindness! 
• Swimming Should Be Fun!  Not only do we seek to make everything we do both fun and beneficial, we believe that having fun together helps make us a tighter and more caring community of athletes! 
• Kindness, Honesty, and Integrity First!  As coaches and mentors we work to create a supporting team atmosphere in which we are all able to give 100%. As a community, we are dedicated to honoring each other and building one another up every chance we get! These values, while being a core part of our team culture, are skills that should be carried into many other parts of our lives!

Coaches are committed to the highest level of professionalism and to clear and kind communication. It is always our goal to provide excellent coaching in and out of the water. Please do not hesitate to reach out immediately if there is something we need to know about your family or swimmer. We love to learn! 

Swimmer Expectations: 

Swimmers are expected to come to practice daily ready to learn, work hard, and build others up while doing it! Swimmers must be prepared by having the appropriate gear and equipment which includes a personal water bottle, goggles, proper swimwear (one-piece), close-toed tennis shoes for practices and meets, warm clothes on chilly mornings, towel, sunscreen etc... Excellent sportsmanship is our standard! Sportsmanship is an umbrella term which encompasses the way we work together as teammates, the way we train, the way we encourage each other, and the way we interact with our competitors. All actions and words should be focused on supporting those around you and pushing them to succeed! Disagreements happen, and that is okay! When these things arise, swimmers are expected to bring these situations to a coach or trusted adult and seek resolution, not retaliation. 

Parent Expectations: 

The coaching staff believes absolutely and unwaveringly that parents should be knowledgeable of and involved in what their kids are learning and what they are being told. This being said, swimmers swim, coaches coach, and parents parent. We ask that you leave the coaching to the coaches and that you are your child's loudest cheerer and biggest encourager! Parents, while welcome on deck during all practices, are asked to refrain from offering criticism at meets or during practices. We encourage you to help us foster a love for this wonderful sport in whatever way you are able! We absolutely invite you to ask the coaches questions and communicate directly with us about anything! 

Parents must manage swim meet registration in a timely manner. Register your swimmer on time. The website is the ONLY place where swimmers can be registered for meets. Email registration will not be considered; this policy applies to all meets and all parents or relatives. Finally, you are expected to help your child to be on time and well prepared for practices and meets (of course, this becomes less relevant, the older your child is)

Behavior expectations: 

As stated above, excellent sportsmanship is our standard. This entails how we speak to others, our body language and much more. All actions and words should be constructive, aimed at building one another up. Our words should never be condescending, demeaning, rude, or insulting. Remember that we all (parents included) are representatives of our team, our neighborhood, and community. We all equally bear the responsibility to uphold the character of the community. Failure to uphold our community values and abide by expectations will result first in a conversation between the swimmer, coaches, parents, teammates, and others involved. We are all growing and no one is expected to be perfect, but some things cannot go unaddressed. In rare cases, violation of our standards may result in suspension from practices or meets. 

Attendance expectations: 

• Practices: There is no requirement for practice attendance, however, swimmer improvement is directly tied to time in the water and effort given during practices. The summer season is very short and each practice counts for a large percentage of total training. 
• Meets: Attendance at regular season meets is not mandatory, however we are a competitive swim team and swimmers are encouraged to take every opportunity to race both individually and on relay teams. All swimmers are expected to compete at the Horsetooth League Championship Meet (aka: City meet) (July 17-18, 2026). Additionally those who qualify for the CSSCA state meet (July 24-26, 2026) should absolutely swim at this meet, representing VGV in the state of Colorado. This may not be possible for some families, however please communicate this as early as possible.