Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. The float was decorated beautifully for the parade!

We had a smooth and successful meet with the Round Rock Dolphins. Congratulations to all the swimmers with time improvements and Invitational qualifiers. We finished the dual meet season 4-2.

This Wednesday, 7/9, is our annual Awards Night at the Recreation Center on Shoreline, from 7-9pm. Come celebrate the season!

On Saturday will be our Divisional Meet with Balcones Country Club and Block House Creek, at our pool. It will be a fun meet with lots of special treats. Then on Sunday at UT will be the Invitational Meet for those swimmers who qualified. Good luck to all!

You can contact me with questions at board@wbarmada.org. For more team information, check our website at www.wbarmada.org.

Regards,
Paul

Wow! What a season! First and foremost, I want to express my complete gratitude for all the support from the Armada family. Being new is never easy, but you guys made it wonderful for me. I feel like I've been part of the team for years. For all the new swimmers, you guys have improved so much! No one would have ever known this was your first year in the pool. You all have more than exceeded my expectations as far as improvement and attitude. We sure have made our mark among the other teams this year and it's all because of your hard work. You guys make it fun to wake up early, and stay out in the 100-degree weather. I hope that all of you, and your families, enjoyed this summer as much as I did. Keep swimming! - Coach Elisa

Notes from your assistant Armada Coaches...

Summer league swimming is one of the most impressive sports. Each season we have swimmers that join with very little swimming experience. By the end of 10 weeks these same swimmers look like pros! I am so proud and impressed by each of you. Awesome job this season! - Coach Gina

It has been a fantastic season Armada! This was my third year coaching for this wonderful team, and I can honestly say that it has been my favorite year. All of the experienced Armda members really stepped it up this year, and a lot of our new swimmers learned legal strokes and started winning points for us! I am so proud to say, "I am an Armada coach". I hope to see you all back next year! - Coach Andi

I'm so happy I got to come back this summer! This team is amazing! I saw so many time improvements and personal accomplishments. I am so very proud of all our swimmers! Thanks for an awesome summer! - Coach Lauren

This year has been awesome for our team. I'm so proud of all our swimmers who have worked so hard. These past few weeks I've been so impressed with all of the great effort shown and as a result of that effort, the numerous time improvements too. Thank you Armada for such as great year! - Coach Bethany

Thanks for making my first year an awesome one! I love being a part of Armada's team spirit. I feel like a proud parent when I see the 6 and unders make it all the way across the pool for the first time. - Coach Bryn

In my years of swimming, I've never been more pleased with the effort and improvment seen this summer in Armada. I feel so fortunate to have seen such hard work pay off in the pool and to have experienced such friendships amongst the swimmers, parents, and co-coaches. Thanks to everyone who made this year happen! Keep on working hard and enjoy your successes! - Coach Anna

The annual WBA Award's Night will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Wells Branch Recreation Center on Wed, July 8.

Each swimmer will be recognized at the ceremony with an award. In addition, awards will be given for our high point winners, most improved in each age group, the coaches choice awards, perfect attenance at each dual meet, and swim-a-thon winners.

There will also be an election of a new WBA board for the 2009-10 year. A slate of officers will be presented and nominations will also be taken from the floor.

We encourage everyone to attend.

If you are not able to attend Award's Night or pick up your ribbons after Divisionals and/or Invitationals, you will be able to pick up you awards at the Willow Bend pool beginning next week. Watch your email for days and times.

The WB Armada has a snack bar open at each home meet. We sell items such as breakfast tacos, coffee, baked goods, hot dogs, sausage wraps, water, sports drinks, soda, etc
 
Parents - Please help the team by donating baked goods to our concession stand for each home meet. It is fine to purchase items such as muffins and bagels but please avoid pre-packaged items such as store-bought rice crispy treats, Twinkies, etc. Important notes: Chocolate melts too quickly in the summer heat. Fruit, such as individual-size bags of grapes, or cups of cut-up fruit are very welcome.

The following is the recommended snack bar donation schedule but any age group is welcome to contribute.

As this season comes to an end, please take a moment and reflect on the hundreds of volunteer hours it takes to make the summer swim season a success. Without the help of all the WBA volunteers who so willingly help out on Saturday mornings, we would not be able to have a summer swim league. Each of you is appreciated so much! The board is so grateful to all those workers who arrive to set up tents on Saturday am and stay in the hot, hot sun to help put them all away.

We have many volunteers that go above and beyond each Saturday but we also have some volunteers that extend themselves during the week. Thank you Cathy Standage for going to the office early to print our documents - you save us hundreds of dollars each year and many hours! To Glen Taffinder who not only runs our computers but is in charge of the computer end of things for the entire swim circuit - I know you are up late many nights! To Donny Koester who was a hero this year and took on the job of concessions manager - thank you! To Ange Trent and Elaine Trent for many, many years of swim-a-thon help. We will miss having you on the team - although I know a part of you will stay with us. Joy and Gary Bryant - you make registration easy for the rest of us.

Please give huge thank yous to our board of directors. You cannot imagine the number of hours these people devote year-round to the WBA.

Paul Wadehra - did an excellent job of president. Organizing and archiving information for the future! In late April and early May, the WBA becomes almost a full-time job.

Scott Casper - has redefined the office of vice-president. The VP has to have a tool box, a lot of muscle and be able to build a ship every year.

Debbie Dalke -- many years of taking great care of our Armada funds. Debbie also does an outstanding job of "starting" the races at meets.

Beth Gavin - the go-to person this summer. Beth did a great job with coaches appreciation day and took on a bit of everything this summer.

Jeannie Boylan - the volunteer coordinator job is one of the hardest in any organization and Jeannie did a great job and put in long hours managing the volunteers and making sure all our swimmers received their ribbons each week.

Trish Koester - the merchandizing queen! Trish managed all the swim shop sales and pitched in where needed - always with a great attitude.

Mary Hale - sets the standard for getting sponsors and donations for the WBA. She was in charge of the Silent Auction at the swim-a-thon which raised over $2,500. Mary makes board meetings an "event."

Thank you to each board member, each meet volunteer, each parent by the pool. Thank you to a great coaching staff - Elisa, Gina, Lauren, Andi, Anna, Bethany and Bryn. Thank you to our oustanding swimmers who give their all in the pool.

And a special thank you to the Wells Branch MUD and Chris Donnally. They are beyond generous to our team and try to give us any assistance we ask for.

We've had another great Armada season!
Mindy Lewis
WBA Meet Director and Newsletter Editor

Let's wear those Armada swim caps to Divisionals - Let's let everyone know you are a part of the WBA!

Swim-A-Thon & Silent Auction
If you have not turned in your swim-a-thon money there is still time to do so.

Swim-A-Thon donations were due June 30. You can put donations in the file folders. For large cash donations, please give directly to a board member or Coach Andi if a board member is not avilable.

Each week the WBA honors the swimmers in each age group that record the largest time improvement. In swimming, the goal is to try to beat yourself each week by recording a personal best.
 

Each week the WBA coaches will recognize swimmers that are working extra hard at practice. Congratulations to this week's winners - keep up the great work!
 

Congratulations to the following swimmers who raced to GOLD against Round Rock
 

The Northwest Swim Circuit holds a Championship Meet at the end of the season for qualifying swimmers. Congratulations to our 45 swimmers who have already qualified in the following events. (Each swimmer will only be able to swim in 3 events.)