Great meet this weekend with the Forest North Stingrays! Now that school is out, the weather turned properly hot for us. Now that's a summer swim meet!

This Saturday we travel to visit the Balcones Country Club Sharks. See below in this letter, as well as the www.wbarmada.org home page, for details and directions.

A note about our swim league for those who aren't familiar with it: The BCC Sharks, as well as the Block House Creek Tidal Waves whom we met on May 29, are the two other teams in our division of the Northwest Swim Circuit. The Circuit is made up of four divisions and we are in Division 3. At the end of the season, the Divisional meet will be a 3-team meet between us, the Tidal Waves, and the Sharks. This post-season meet will be at home, on July 17. For more information on our swim circuit and the teams that are in it, check out http://www.nwsc-swimming.org/.

As you know, practice has shifted to the mornings now, see www.wbarmada.org for practice times.

Email me any time with questions at board@wbarmada.org. For complete team information, visit www.wbarmada.org. Don't forget to check your folders daily. See you at practice!

Hi Armada!

GREAT meet on Saturday! You guys were flying through the water and the coaches couldn't be prouder. We swam a very talented team and although we may not win every meet in our races- we win because we are dropping time in every age group! We had many swimmers drop time in their events- and that's our main goal! Thanks to those that continue to have good attitudes and sportsmanship in your pits and behind the blocks. Congrats to Jake Tolfa and Faith Larimore for winning our rock star costume contest- I hope even more people dress up next week!

Just a reminder that the coaches will put you in at least 2 events that you sign up for, but one of those might be switched around. There are a couple reasons for this. First of all, we need to balance the events. If everybody signs up for 25 free and 50 free, but we have no one in fly- we will get zero points for that age group. Second, a huge goal on Armada is improvement. In order to improve, we need to swim every event. Please don't sign up for the same 3 events every week- if you do, you will more than likely be moved to an event you have not signed up for yet. There are many stories I could tell you of swimmers who hated me for signing them up for the 100 IM or the 50 free, or an event they hated- and they ended up thanking me after because they got invitationals, first place, didn't get DQed, or loved swimming it! You never know unless you try! Please be flexible with the events you are signed up for- there is a reason behind it. :) If you are close to invitationals or a record, or it's your favorite event and you don't want to be removed from it- make sure you mark it on your MAF.

Also, remember if you have to scratch from the meet, let us know as soon as you know. Even if it's the morning of- Mindy, Paul and myself get email through our phones so we will check for scratches for kids that are sick. Please don't think that you don't matter to our team if you don't come- everyone makes a difference! Let me know if you have any questions.

This Saturday is an away meet at Balcones Country Club. Make sure to keep yourself hydrated and have plenty of sunscreen on! Keep on doing what you are doing! The coaches are so very proud of you. See you at the pool!

Keep up the hard work at the pool and GO ARMADA!!
Coach Elisa
coach@wbarmada.org

Just a short drive away. A nice pit area with lots of grass and trees. they only have 4 lanes in their pool but usually move pretty quickly. It is important that swimmers are in their pit areas by 6 a.m. The pit parents need to know who is available to swim the relays by 6 a.m. Swimmers who are not in their pit area by 6 a.m. may be scratched from the opening relay.

The Meet Attendance Form for the home meet hosting Steiner Ranch B Team is due Friday, June 11. Please put in the "completed" folder in the MAF Box. Do not return to your own folder.

EVERY swimmer should turn these forms in by the deadline. Mark the box indicating if you will swim or not.

We want all swimmers who are able to swim the length of the pool unassisted to participate in all meets. Swim Meets are an important part of being on the WBA. (We understand if you are out-of-town or unable to participate due to religious reasons.) We are a team - we need you!

This is a home meet but the arrival time has not been set yet. We will determine that after seeing how large their team is.

Come join the fun at the annual Wells Branch Armada Swim-A-Thon on Tuesday, June 22nd from 6pm - 9pm at the Willow Bend pool. There will be lap swimming, refreshments, music, door prizes, raffles, a silent auction, and a whole lot of fun! Papa Murphy's will be there grilling up pizza once again this year … YUMM!! We will also have hot dogs, chips (thank you Schlotzski's), snow cones and popcorn! We will also be selling raffle tickets for an IPOD Touch that we will have the drawing for at the Awards Banquet!

The Swim-A-Thon is our annual fundraiser to offset the cost of running our fantastic swim team! Ask your family and friends to sponsor you as you swim laps to raise money for the WBA. They can sponsor you based on the number of laps you swim or a flat donation.

The grand prizes will be awarded to the top three swimmers who raise the most funds.
1st place - $150 gift card
2nd place - $125 gift card
3rd place - $100 gift card

Movie tickets will be awarded to individual swimmers who raise $100 in funds. All swimmers attending will receive a free Gattiland buffet ticket regardless of age!

The grand prizes and the movie tickets are per swimmer, not per family. Each child that is interested in trying for the grand prizes or movie tickets should have their own sponsorship envelope. There will be extras located in the front of the swimmer's file box in a folder marked Swim-A-Thon. The prizes will be awarded at the WBA Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, July 14th.

Swim-A-Thon money must be turned in by July 7th to be eligible for prizes. A board member will collect the envelopes during all swim practices on Wednesday, July 7th. You can turn the envelopes in at any time to a board member. Envelopes will be distributed in the family folders this week.

Volunteers are needed to work the popcorn and snow cone machines, swimmers check-in table, setup and cleanup. If you are interested in volunteering please contact Mary Hale at 789-3903 or email to mjhale@austin.rr.com. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!! .

Silent Auction
Terrific deals and a great way to support the WBA and our local business partners.

WBA has the BEST sponsors! We get great support from them in goods, services and even cash. We hope each of you will patronize the sponsors you are able to and tell them how much we appreciate their help.
Anytime is a great time to visit our sponsors but we have also set-up the following times for a special Armada "Thank-You"

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 your previous best time each week by recording a new 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!
 

Great Job Armada. Especially to Preston Truong for breaking 3 team records against Forest North and Logan O'Reilly for breaking his third of the season!
 

The Northwest Swim Circuit holds a Championship Meet at the end of the season for qualifying swimmers. Congratulations to our 28 swimmers who have already qualified in the following events. Congrats to Logan O'Reilly who has qualified in all 6 events already!
(Each swimmer will only be able to swim in 3 events.)

Our annual Swim-a-thon & Silent Auction will be held Tuesday, June 22. This is our primary fundraiser for the year and the funds raised help us keep our registration fees low and help us purchase needed equipment.

We are asking for donations of goods or services or gift certificates that we can auction off during the event. We are a registered 501c3 non-profit organization and donations are tax deductible.

Please contact Mary Hale at 789-3903 or email her at mjhale@austin.rr.com. She has letters you can distribute to areas businesses.

Sing the National Anthem at this year's Northwest Swim Circuit Invitational Meet
Location: Lee and Joe Jamail Swim Center - University of Texas
When: Sunday July 18, 2010

Entry Process:
WBA singers - submit your entry on CD to Mary Hale by July 3. Mary will deliver all entries to the NWSC in time for judging. There will be one winner chosen, and a back-up winner chosen. To ensure a fair judging process the entrants name should not appear anywhere on the CD or CD case. Judges will be independent of any NWSC team. Winner will be notified the week of July 12th.

Contest rules:

• Must be a current member of a NWSC team
• Do not have to be an invitational qualifier
• Must submit entry to the circuit on CD
• Must be sung a cappella
• Must use traditional song base
• There can be more than one performer per entry
• Not more than one entry per CD

Order forms for the 2010 Divisional and Invitationals T-shirts will appear in your folders this week. We order these shirts from the swim circuit and they are only sold through pre-orders. The WBA will receive a portion of the sales price to support our team.

The cost is $10 for the smaller sizes and $12 for the larger adult sizes. Checks should be made to the WB Armada and there will be a folder in the MAF box for orders. If you would rather turn your order in personally, please give to any board member.

• Captain's Log
• Coach's Corner
• Away Swim Meet -Balcones CC
• MAF due for SR on 6/19
• Swim-A-Thon Info
• Silent Auction Items
• Sponsors -Say "Thank You"
• Fast Fishies
• Kickin' Hard
• Gold Medal Winners
• Invitational Team Qualifers
• New Team Records
• Donations needed for Silent Auction
• National Anthem contest
• Divisional T-shirt orders