GCSTO NEW & PAST (but not in the fall/winter 2016/2017 season) SWIMMERS Who Are Joining Us For The Spring

Registration Directions

1 – TEAM INTRODUCTORY MEETINGS & Try-Out Nights:These will be held Monday, April 3 from 6:00-7:00 p.m. at St. Charles in conjunction with that try out night and then on Tuesday, April 4 from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. at Columbus Academy in conjunction with that try out night.A parent representative of each new family should be in attendance at this meeting. In relation to TRY-OUTS, the athletes will report to their respective pools to work with the staff and to see which level it is that they should be on here at GCSTO. If you cannot make the tryout night at the pool in which you wish to train but can for the other pool please come on in the night you can come and simply make sure the coaches know that you’ll be swimming at the other pool.

2 – PRACTICE SCHEDULE: These are listed in our 2017 Spring/Summer informational brochureand, of course, on the web site under the 2017 Spring/Summer drop down tab under the SWIM TEAM tab at the top. Read that section carefully for dates, times, locations and other information. High school age athletes need not come to these try-out days. Instead, they should contact coach Nye for placement into one of our senior practice groups.

3 – TEAM APPLICATIONS & INITIAL PAYMENT:For anyone new to the team the team application must be filled out , marked with “1 Week Trial” across the top, and returned to us immediately (even if it is long before the season starts) to reserve a potential spot on the team. No payment is due with that unless you are 100% sure that you want to join the team. No need to put down a level when you turn that in unless you have already been given that assignment by the staff. Once you come to the try-out days you will be assigned a level and then can come on in to practice with that group for a week before making your final decision about joining the team. If you have been on the team in past (but simply just not this past fall/winter) your initial payment must accompany this application.

NOTE:OUR WAITING LIST WILL BE FILLED ONLY BY THOSE WHO HAVE TURNED IN TEAM APPLICATIONS & ONLY SWIMMERS WITH COMPLETED APPLICATIONS WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE WATER WITH US.

4 – Team fees(which differ by level) are due from each swimmer who ends up swimming with us this season. These are listed in the brochure after each level’s practice schedule and on the application.

New swimmers to GCSTO… once you have decided to join,if you want to simply pay the initial payment amount of $150 (or the total amount due if you sign up for a program that has a total cost assigned to it that is less than $150) you may do so. That payment will be due by April 11, 2017.If your total amount due is less than that $150 please simply submit that total amount by the April 11 date. If you simply wish to pay off the entire spring amount that you would owe you may do so in one payment at that time. Your final payment will be due April 26, 2017 if you do still owe anything at that time.

Past GCSTO swimmers returning to us this spring… please remember that there is no 1-week trial period for you all and your initial payments must be into us by March 22, 2017. If your total amount due is less than that $150 please simply submit that total amount by the March 22 date. If you simply wish to pay off the entire spring amount that you would owe you may do so in one payment at that time. Your final payment will be due April 26, 2017 if you do still owe anything at that time.

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If you need financial help in terms of delaying payments please let me know. All that you will need to do is to submit a post-dated check to us by the payment due date and you’ll be fine. This way, I can make sure to mark your athletes as joining for the spring and that your payment is simply going to be late.

If you are unsure about that entire amount that you might owe for the spring simply contact coach Nye for that precise amount.All checks are payable to “GCSTO” and should be sent to “GCSTO, PO Box 30483, Gahanna, OH 43230” or handed directly to your coach.

5 – USA SWIMMING SEASONAL MEMBERSHIP FEES: This $35 registration fee to USA Swimming is due from any swimmer participating in our Level 1 and above practice groups. Registration with USAS is required for insurance purposes. Novice swimmers are exempt as we insure this practice group through our instructional program. Any senior level athlete age 15 & over who plans on competing in the SPEEDO Sectionals Series or above meets must have full USAS membership which is actually a $70 fee.

6 – SEASONAL CORPORATE/RE-ASSOCIATION FEE: These are due from all new swimmers to the team. This is due, as well, if you were on GCSTO then went to another local USA Swimming or Y team and now are returning to GCSTO. These fees are listed after the cost of each level after the practice schedule listing for each level and the explanation of how to pay these if you have multiple athletes is listed under the “Additional Spring Financial Information” section of the brochure.

7 –BOOSTER CLUB FEE: These are due from no one during the spring season.

8 – MULTIPLE DAILY PASS (MDP): This option exists if, and only if, the level for which you are registering is not filled up with full-time, full-paying swimmers. If the level is full with such full-time swimmers then no MDP swimmers will be accepted into the group. A MDP allows you to come into up to half of the practices available to that group for the pro-rated price you see in the team fees. If you look at the prices of each level there are 2 prices listed. As an example for level 1 swimmers, you’ll see $215/$150 as these prices. The first price ($215) is the price for full-time swimming while the second price ($150) is the MDP cost. This program allows those in other activities the chance to “keep their feet wet” while doing those activities. It doesn’t matter how you put these practices together (2 each week or 3 weeks of nothing then almost all of the remaining practices) so long as it’s not more than half of the practices offered. In the spring, Novice is allowed 2 per week so they would get 8 total practices for that MDP price. Level 1, 2 & 3 are offered 32 total practices so a MDP swimmer could come to 16 of those. Level 4 is offered 40 so they would get 20. You MUST mark MDP on your initial payment to be eligible for this program. An email to us before your payment comes in indicating that you want the MDP will suffice, as well. You can always sign up for the MDP program and then decide to pay the difference for full time swimming but we do not allow the reverse for many reasons (assistant coach assignments, holding out other swimmers because we thought we were full, etc.).

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9 – NEW FAMILY QUESTIONS: If you cannot find answers to your initial questions here’s what I tell people to do… 1) Write these questions down and hang tight for just a bit. You may well find that I answer these questions in subsequent e-mails coming out in the next couple weeks which will save us all

time answering/asking things that will be addressed shortly. 2) Unless these are really vital questions, save these for our meetings that we’ll have at try-out days. We have a presentation that we give at these that will answer many, many of your questions from coaching staff background to practice design to attendance expectations to financial questions. A good thing to do is to contact a current GCSTO family that you know to see if they can help you with some (very basic) questions. Still… if it’s vital that you know something then feel free to contact me. I’m in the office from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can call after 8:00 a.m. or e-mail anytime.

THANKS for giving us the chance to make GCSTO the team of your choice. As we are, indeed, a TEAM and not a club.

GCSTO Strong… GCSTO Proud!

GCSTO Head Coach – Steve Nye (614 478-5445 or )