Parents,

Now that you are pro’s at signing up for regular dual meets, we have the next challenge for you!

Invitationals are OPTIONAL (read: extra) meets designed for kids who (1) can’t get enough of summer league and love, love, love to compete, (2) want extra opportunities to make cuts for later invitationals, and (3) want to get a taste of what a year-round swim meet is like. They do cost extra money: $7 per individual event. The team pays for any relays your swimmer gets placed on (made up from the swimmers who enter the meet). Invitationals also have qualifying times. Your swimmer must qualify for each event they enter. The easiest to qualify for are (mid-season) Summer Thunder and (end-of-season) Red, White and Blue (which actually has two different levels of cuts). Much more difficult are the (mid-season invitational) cumulative Fl/Bk/Br/Fr/IM Pentathlon time and (end-of-season) Ponderosa Cuts.

PLEASE DO NOT enter all the invitationals. Pick one, or max two, invitationals that make the most sense for your family. We would rather you participate in all dual meets and Divisionals. Do not burn out on us. The Stingray season is short and intense, and the end of the season is much more intense than the beginning.

The following invitationals are offered to Stingrays this season. All are “indoor meets,” meaning they have an indoor pool and an indoor staging area between events. Please pay attention to the sign-up dates. Sign up online--just click on the invitational name when the entry button is green and CHOOSE ALL YOUR SWIMMER’S DESIRED EVENTS. Coaches do not choose individual events; just relays. Not all coaches will be present at all times during invitationals, but there will be at least one coach at every session to give feedback and encouragement and to run warm-ups. Also, there are no age group tents at invitationals. We have a team area where families set up with a ring of chairs and assist each other in getting swimmers to the ready bench on time. It is a team effort; do not plan to drop off your swimmer if they are 12 or younger.

Please Note: Be prepared to time if your child swims any invitational meets. Each team is required to provide timers based on the number of swimmers we have attending.

More information is available on-line, and I strongly encourage you to read the meet announcement for any meets you are interested in at https://www.nwal.org/invitational-meets. Also, if you have questions, Jessica Ortego is our Invitational Meet Lead Contact. You can reach her at [email protected]or 337-692-7705 with any questions. She is also available to assist you during meets and has all invitational information handy.