Organization
VOLUNTEERING
There are many individual responsibilities related to our meets, other team events, and general team administration. Before each of our meets, there will be a sign up board looking for parents willing to get involved with many tasks that are required to run a successful meet. Please don�t wait to be asked. We need many helping hands. Some jobs do require a little more responsibility than others. We can find a job suited for everyone. Not only do we need help at meets, but year round as well. This is your club. Its success depends on volunteers like you.
BFIN MEETS
BFIN sponsors two USS meets each year: Pilgrims Pride in November and Super Sunday in January. A representative from each family is required to work at least one shift at each meet. These meets provide a significant amount of revenue and give our swimmers the advantage of a home pool for better times. Please lend us your support.
USS
This is the abbreviation for United States Swimming, Inc., the national governing body for swimming in this country. The national headquarters are located at 1750 East Boulder Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80909. Every swimmer in the club is enrolled as a member of USS, which includes comprehensive insurance. The USS membership fee is in addition to the membership fee for the BFIN. Each swimmer has an USS number, which is necessary to enter USS sanctioned meets. Adult and family memberships in USS are also available, and we encourage you to consider joining. As a member, you too will be insured (which is necessary to function in an official capacity at any USS swim meet.) and you will receive a copy of the USS rules and regulations. These include the national time standards.
ADIRONDACK DISTRICT LSC
This is the Local Swimming Committee (LSC) for the northeastern New York. Our district consists of almost 32 clubs with approximately 1500 swimmers. It stretches from the Canadian border to Kingston and from Albany to Utica-Rome. The other districts are Niagara (the western half of the state) and Metro (the southeast). Most of our competition will be within our district. However, we do receive invitations to meets in other districts, and many families find it interesting and rewarding to travel to them. By the end of the winter and summer seasons, the district will choose a Zone Team consisting of the strongest swimmers in each age group. They will represent the District in competition against teams from other districts at the Eastern Zone Championships, held in March or April and August. Zone team applications and additional information are made available by the LSC at the end of December and during the summer.
OFFICIALS
All USS meets have swim officials on deck to officiate the meet. These are the people you see wearing white shirts and blue shorts walking up and down the sides of the pool watching swimmers and starting events. They are all volunteers, trained by and registered with USS.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The Club operates according to a set of by-laws that explain the purpose of the club, the membership, and how the Board and all other committees operate. The coaches and a Board consisting of a President, Secretary, Treasurer, Registrar and additional board members manage our Club. Our staff includes two salaried, full time coaches and additional hourly assistant coaches. The Board meets monthly to deal with on-going administration of the club. The time and location are included on the monthly calendar. Meetings are open and parents are encouraged to observe or to make their views known. The secretary prepares minutes of each board meeting and they can be made available to whoever is interested.
GRIEVANCES
Please communicate any problems you or your swimmers encounter to the coaches. There are many ways misunderstandings can arise particularly with an organization as complex as a swim team. We want a successful, challenging and pleasant program for our children. We will try to do everything we can to meet the needs of your swimmer and your family.
AWARDS BANQUET
The annual awards banquet comes at the end of the winter season, after the District Championship meet (JOs-Junior Olympics) the last district meet. The swimmers receive awards and their major accomplishments during the year are recognized. Some special awards are given out. We have a nice dinner, socialize and dance.
