Posted by Victoria on 6/11/2004, 2:18 pm, in reply to "JMU Synchro" I was involved in starting a team at MIT just last year, and here are a few things you'll want to do to get your program off the ground as easily as possible. I have many other suggestions about what you might want to do, and I'm sure that other people will as well. If you have questions about anything and want to talk to somebody who just went through the process of starting a program, feel free to drop me an email (vkanders at mit dot edu). -Victoria Anderson
65.96.190.69
Hi Jenna,
*Start a good working relationship with the aquatics director at JMU. The sooner you can get to them about any pool time you want, the better. It's probably a good idea to talk to them now about the possibility of reserving a few hours a week for a new organization, and find out what, if any, fees you will have to pay for this.
*Get in touch with the student activities office and/or club sports to work on establishing a new club. There is probably a great deal of paperwork involved, and it can take a long time. While it might be possible to start a new varsity team at JMU, it is generally much faster to start a club team due to the level of financial committment required for a new varsity team.
* Get in contact with the USSS National Office - they will be able to help answer your questions about membership and competition, and potentially help you find a coach.
* Look for new members for the team EVERYWHERE - people with swimming or water polo experience tend to do very well in synchro right from the start, and I've found that experience in dance or gymnastics can also be helpful for the new folks. However, in your first year, it's most important that people be dedicated and willing to work, because getting a new club started requires a lot of effort in and out of the pool - fundraising, travel planning, and administrative duties that you'll have to take on can be very time consuming. Advertise your club in the fall when people are looking to start new things with the new semester, and you'll probably come up with a good group of people.
* Get in touch with local collegiate coaches. In our first year, it was very helpful to have Anna Eng from Wheaton nearby to answer our questions and make sure we got entered in meets, and we also got some help from the Boston University team. There are a few teams relatively close to you at JMU - Mary Washington, William and Mary, and the University of Richmond. (I know that these schools are a hike, but they're still closer than any other collegiate programs).
* Most importantly, find a good friend outside of synchro who is willing to listen to you vent. My roommate got to hear all about people who didn't show up to practice, problems with reserving pool space, etc, and I think I wouldn't have made it through this year if he hadn't been there to listen (and subsequently laugh at me and point out that none of this was the end of the world).
MIT Synchronized Swimming
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