Hey Woodfield families! Hope everyone is enjoying your practice-free mornings. I’d like to take a minute (or 5) to wrap up the season and look forward to 2022. Settle in, this one will be a little long!

-First, the Fulton County Championships at Georgia Tech were a big success for Woodfield. Our four swimmers took on 15 much larger teams from all over the county, and everyone came home with hardware and ribbons. Congratulations to Anna Almstedt (two third-place finishes), Rory Bosch (fifth- and 10th-place finishes), Logan Busbee (16th- and 23rd-place finishes) and Ethan Moland (fifth- and 11th-place finishes). Plan on joining them next year!

-Next, to close off the year: a deep thank-you to all of you. This was a strange year, beginning under pandemic restrictions and finishing looking pretty much like a normal year. I really appreciate your patience as we transitioned out of the pandemic protocols and into new, more forward-looking plans.

First, thank you to all the swimmers who came out every morning and every meet. Y’all made this a tremendously fun year, and I’m very proud of all of you! (Parents, pass this along to the little ones; I’m assuming they’re not reading this.)

Thank you to all the coaches -- Jake, Logan, Ethan, Sophie, Charlie, Chloe, Emily and Harris -- who had to deal with a whole lot of transition and change on the fly. It was, in many ways, the toughest year we’ve ever had to deal with -- completely changing over operations from limited to full strength -- and I was very pleased with how they all responded.

Thank you to all of you, parents, for working with us as we made our way through the year. A special thanks to the indispensable Tara Murphy, who handled pretty much everything from payroll to coaches’ gifts to the wonderful final party. Also to Dan Walsh, who kept our tech running smooth; Sara Almstedt, who coordinated volunteers for our live meets; and Stacey Irvin, who helped prep our coaches to better serve your swimmers. Big thanks to Roeline DuPlessis and Mark Sauer for overseeing concessions, which, thanks to our hungry opponents, turned out to be a profitable little venture for us! You’re the best, all of you.

-For those of you who enjoyed the music this year: the 2021 Woodfield Waves Playlist is on Spotify. Cue it up right here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0wbyvFLNd0LdRhcglvQawN?si=2e7e4be64e924fab

… and remember the Thursday evenings spent sitting in the heat waiting for your swimmer to get to the blocks.

-For the rest of the summer: the coaches have talked about having swim team reunions at the pool, so we’ll email out news about those as they come to pass. Nothing formal, nothing required, just a chance for any swimmers who are free to come by the pool some summer afternoons and show the coaches what you’ve learned!

-Looking ahead to 2022: the ASA has already posted tentative dates for the start of the season. Our first meet, under this tentative schedule, would be June 2 -- which means we won’t be having a meet before Memorial Day like we did this year, which was a little strange. We’ll get in the requisite two weeks of practice before the first meet.

-Now, as for 2022 for Woodfield -- I was very happy that several parents offered up suggestions for next year, and I’ll follow up on these as we go through the offseason. These are a few of our plans for next year to sharpen up the team. If there’s something more you’d like to see, let me know:

• Preseason introduction/swimsuit fit meeting at clubhouse
• Specific lesson plans and routes to advancement for lesson swimmers
• Pre-made signs for bullpens
• Swim caps for all swimmers
• Nametags & lanyards for volunteers
• Photo session for team & individual photos
• Updated signage all around pool

-Finally, I want to hear your feedback on 2021 -- what you liked, what you didn’t like, what you want to see for next year. We’re a small team, but we’ve got the potential to get much larger and that much more fun for swimmers and parents alike. At the party last week, I looked out on all the swimmers having such a great time at the pool, and I remember thinking what a gift it is to have this opportunity to bring together kids of so many different ages, all on a team together at the same time. Let’s keep that going, OK?

Please let me know your thoughts by replying to this email, and together we’ll make 2022 our best season yet!

Have a great summer, and we’ll see you at the pool --

Jay