Burke Centre Penguins

About Us! (Information below: BCSC Basics, General Meet Info, Penguin Particulars!)

BCSC Basics for the 2011 season...

The Burke Centre Swim Club (BCSC) participates in the Colonial Swimming League (CSL) http://csl.nvblu.com/plasma/core/site/csl. The CSL has four divisions - red (top), white, blue, and gold (bottom). The BCSC is comprised of two teams; the Burke Centre Penguins and the Burke Centre Stingers. While the two teams may swim in different divisions within the CSL, both teams are considered equal (there is no “A” or “B” team). The Penguins & the Stingers exist under a single charter, but they operate completely independently with individual team presidents and boards. When you register to swim, you may request a particular team. Once swimmers are assigned to a team, they remain on that team. To keep the teams balanced, changing teams is not permitted. The Burke Centre Swim Club does NOT have a dive team.

Until FCPS ends, practices for both teams are held after-school at the Commons pool beginning Wednesday, June 1st. The two teams alternate weekly between practice times (each week one team will practice from 3:00pm-5:30pm; the other team from 5:30pm-8:00pm). Specific age-group practice times within the 2.5 hour team time will be discussed at team parent meetings and posted on individual team websites. Once school ends, practices shift to the mornings at each team’s home pool (Penguins-Landings pool; Stingers-Ponds pool).

6.10.11 Registration for the 2011 season has closed. Registration for the 2012 season will begin in early April 2012.
Online registration begins in early April. Visit BCSC Swim Team Online Registration to begin the registration process. A late registration fee of $30 is assessed (per family) for those that register for the team after April 30th. New swimmers are assigned to teams at the BCSC draft meeting. The 2011 draft meeting is scheduled for Sunday, May 13^th. Every effort is made to honor preferences, but it is not guaranteed that you will be assigned to that team. Effort is made to balance the total swimmers, age-groups, and abilities of both teams. For this reason, it may be necessary, on occasion, to move a swimmer to a particular team. New swimmers, with siblings already on a team, will be assigned to the same team. After the draft, you will be contacted by the president of the club to which your swimmer was assigned. If you have not heard from a representative of the BCSC by Friday, May 20^th, please call Gordon Smith (703-322-0246) to determine the team to which your swimmer has been assigned. Final team rosters are due to the CSL by the second dual meet of the season. The BCSC will continue to accept registrations until the CSL deadline or until a team reaches 225 swimmers. Once the season begins, registrations are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Parents are encouraged to attend their team’s upcoming parent meeting. Important practice time and meet schedules will be distributed; and coaches will be there to discuss their plans for the season and answer any questions you may have. Both the Penguin & Stinger parent meetings will be held at 7:00pm on their respective date. The Penguin parent meeting will be Thursday, May 26^that the Oaks Community Center; the Stinger parent meeting will be Monday, May 23^rdat the Commons Community Center.

ALL swimmers new to the BCSC (age 10 & younger), including any siblings that have not participated before, must attend the new swimmer Evaluation Day on Tuesday, May 31st @ the Commons pool between 4:00pm-7:00pm (you can come any time during that 3-hr window) to be evaluated. To participate on the swim team, the BCSC requires that swimmers meet the Red Cross Level III performance criteria which essentially requires swimmers to swim 15 yds (front & back) and float & tread water for ~30 seconds. Swimmers do not need to know all competitive strokes. New swimmers that register after the evaluation day will be assigned to a team and evaluated at the first team practice attended. Team rosters are due to the CSL by the second dual meet in the season. Swimmers that do not pass the evaluation may practice (independently) and retest up until that date (for 2011 - Friday, June 24th).

Refund policy: Swimmers that do not pass the evaluation may practice (independently) and retest to join the team. Swimmers who do not pass, and choose not to retest, will receive a full refund. Swimmers may withdraw from the team (for a refund) up until the day of team time trials (for 2011 - Saturday, June 11th). If a swimmer withdraws from the team (prior to time trials) for a reason not related to the swimmer evaluation, they will be refunded the registration fee minus a $10 non-refundable processing fee. No refunds are issued if a swimmer chooses to withdraw after time trials.

General SWIM/meet info

In the CSL, the swimmers age group is determined by the age you are on June 15th. Even if the swimmer ages up after June 15th, but still during the summer season, they remain in the age group they are in as of June 15th. This differs from the Northern Virginia Swim League (NVSL), which requires swimmers to swim in their appropriate age group - which may require shifting age groups in the middle of the season.

The CSL holds developmental meets on Wednesday evenings and dual meets on Saturday mornings. Developmental meets are swum against other local teams regardless of CSL division. Developmental meets are not scored. They do not count toward our standing in the CSL. Developmental meets are open to all swimmers. Freestyle is swum first, followed by backstroke, breastroke, and then butterfly. All age groups swim each event (e.g. freestyle) before moving on to the next event. There are no relays at developmental meets. Age groups swim as follows: 6 & under boys, 6 & under girls (note: 6&unders may be combined with 7&8s depending on numbers), 7-8 boys, 7-8 girls, 9-10 boys, 9-10 girls, 11-12 boys, 11-12 girls, 13-14 boys, 13-14 girls, 15-18 boys, & 15-18 girls. If time permits, interested swimmers will have the opportunity to swim an Individual Medley (IM-fly,back,breast,free) at the end of the meet.

Penguin coaches encourage everyone to swim at least one event at every developmental meet, but it is not required. All swimmers will receive a ribbon. The top six swimmers receive place ribbons; all others receive a participant ribbon. Times are listed on the ribbon. They are also posted under RESULTs. Stroke & turn officials judge the event. If a swimmer does not swim the stroke legally, they will receive a disqualification (DQ). This will be noted on their ribbon. Coaches receive all the DQ slips at the conclusion of the meet. Talk to your coach if you do not understand the reason for your disqualification. Due to the size of our team, swimmers are asked to not sign up for an event which they can't swim legally. Ask a coach to evaluate your stroke if you are uncertain about whether you would qualify. Swimmers may only swim (up to) three of the four individual events (free, back, breast, and fly). IMs are NOT included in the 3 event limit. Any interested, qualified swimmer may swim an IM. Swimmers who ribboned (placed 1st, 2nd, or 3rd) at the previous dual (Saturday) meet, may NOT swim that event at the developmental meet!

CSL dual meets are held Saturday mornings against other teams in your division. Dual meets are scored and have relay events. Swimmers only receive ribbons if they place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Only the 1st place relay team will receive a ribbon. Dual meet lineups are determined by the coaches after the developmental meet, with consideration for conflicts (see below), and are posted at practice on Friday. Everyone is asked to check the dual meet post. If you are listed, please put a check by your name to indicate that you are aware that you are swimming and will be there. It is very frustrating to have swimmers not show for dual meet events. Not only does the team lose possible points, but it deprives another swimmer of the opportunity to swim!

What are the CSL Divisional & All-Star meets? At the end of the summer season, the CSL will hold their Divisional and All-Star meets. Teams in each of the four CSL divisions, send their top three swimmers in each event (including IMs) to swim in their respective divisional meet. There are no relays. All four divisional meets are held on the same day. At the conclusion of all the divisional meets, the times swum at ALL FOUR divisional meets are merged and the top fourteen (12 swimmers + 2 alternates) - across the league - in each event are invited to attend the CSL All-Star meet. To be clear, All-Star qualification is based on a swimmer's time swum from the divisional meet NOT a swimmer's best time swum during the swim season. If a swimmer doesn't swim at divisionals, or swim's poorly, they will not qualify for All-Stars!

Penguin particularS
Summer swim is intended to be fun! The team focus is to improve individual strokes and overall swimming ability. While we encourage swimmers to attend practice regularly, we understand that it is summer and, as such, many swimmers will be involved in camps, family vacations, and other activities. To that end, we urge ALL swimmers to sign the CONFLICT book (on the table at every practice) or online at Penguin Conflicts. Everyone is very busy over the summer. Even if your child is not a top swimmer, it is very possible that they may be assigned to swim on Saturday because other swimmers aren't able to make it. Far too often we hear, "I never thought my child would swim on a Saturday so we didn't bother to sign the conflict book" or "We didn't look at the Saturday meet sheet posted at Friday's practice because we never imaged our child would be listed". It is very frustrating to have swimmers not show for dual meet events. Not only does the team lose possible points, but it deprives another swimmer of the opportunity to swim! Please sign the conflict book once you are aware that you won't be around.

Fun Friday Theme: Austin Powers / 60s power (July 2006)

FUN FRIDAYs are intended to be a relaxed, easy, low-key practice. Practice times start a bit later and do not last as long. There is a theme for each FUN FRIDAY and team members are encouraged to wear costumes that illustrate the theme. Prizes are awarded for top costumes. Food is also served after practice. ALL swimmers are asked to bring a food donation for 8-10 swimmers. Remember, kids are hungry after swimming! Swimmers who do not bring a donation will go through the line at the end.

Team suit requirements - In the Colonial Swim League, it is not mandatory that a swimmer wear a team suit during either developmental or dual meets. It is requested, if they wear a swim cap, that it be their team cap. Swimmers are NOT permitted to wear either a suit or cap from any other swim club (e.g. year-round clubs like Curl-Burke, Makos, Marlins, Machine) during either developmental or dual meets. Believe it or not, they can be disqualified for doing so.