Today I am going to write my thoughts as a swim dad and not as a coach.
The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) deserves an “F” for running the 2013 FHSAA Swimming & Diving Championship Meets at an outdoor pool in the middle of November.
A few months ago when they made the decision to host the Finals at the Sailfish Splash Water Park in Stuart, we all thought that it was a big mistake but we were hoping to be proved wrong. Most of us are dreamers ;-); well it turned out to be a big FIASCO. As a parent of a ninth grader I feel that the FHSAA not only placed my child in danger but also took away her chance of performing her best at that moment in time, and trust me that moment in time is a long time gone now.
This is the most important meet of the year for these student-athletes, and instead of choosing an indoor pool with a controlled environment the FHSAA opted for an outdoor pool; an outdoor facility in Florida in the middle of November when the weather is unpredictable and there are higher chances of having bad weather. We don’t have many indoor facilities here in Florida but, YES, we do have a few facilities that can host a meet with 300-400 swimmers on deck and parents in the stands while providing our children with the best environment possible. Orlando, Clearwater and Jacksonville come to mind. I know for a fact that Jacksonville put a bid to host the meet at Cecil Field and I believe Clearwater wanted to host the meet, too.
Today as a parent I am not going to talk about “Best Times” but about something that as a coach I am always remind of by the parents of the kids I coach and by my school’s administration – “SAFETY”. We found ourselves in Stuart in the middle of the warm-up when lighting started up and rain fell like buckets were being poured on us. Officials tried to clear the deck and stands and get everyone to safety, but there was nowhere to go. The lifeguards and FHSAA officials told everyone to go to their cars and buses. Are you kidding me! Some of the buses were parked far away on the open field on the other side of the parking lot, and crossing an open field during a lightning storm is NOT SAFE!
Am I supposed to believe that I can feel good about the SAFETY plan that the FHSAA had for our children, the parents, coaches and everyone involved in making this happen? No way. What were they thinking when they chose this site? Yes the facility is a very good one, the pool is very good and a lot of open space for the teams to set up. But this was November and everyone knows the weather in November in Florida is best defined with one word – UNPREDICTABLE. Still the FHSAA made an educated decision of hosting the most important meet of the swimming and diving season in a facility that, if inclement weather appeared, there is no protection.
Taking a look at the rest of the meet operations you can easily see that the FHSAA are a bunch of unprofessional professionals. There was a radio station playing on the main speakers during the meet and no one knew how to shut it down. The swimmers were confused, even behind the blocks. It was interesting, and incredibly sad when as a parent I knew the kind of work my child put into this season, not to mention all of these children.
I honestly hope that every parent that was at the meet expresses their thoughts and complains about what we had to experience on Friday November 8th at the FHSAA 1A State Championships. Things need to change and they need to change quickly for the benefit of the student-athletes that sacrifice so much at this young age for the chance to SHINE AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME.
Please don’t tell me that there were good times put up at the meet because you will get me even more upset. I know how my daughter’s team performed (Since I coach them) and I watched some very good performances from many student-athletes from the different schools. The bottom line is not swimming FAST (maybe FASTER) but also giving these student-athletes the BEST CHANCE for them to SHINE and not worry about whether THEY ARE SAFE at the most important meet of the year.
I won’t say anything as a coach since I don’t won’t to get in trouble 😉
Sincerely yours,
Sergio
