State of the Storm

Storm Families,

Welcome to the very first State of the Storm newsletter! In order to streamline our team announcements, we will be sending out a weekly newsletter that will provide our parents and athletes with important information for team meets and other events. We will feature some fun extras along the way, too! I hope you find this resource useful and a good way to stay connected with all the things that are happening with our team.

As always, please also visit our website and read communications from your practice group lead coach for group-specific information.

Thank you,

Coach Mary

• October 15-16: GMNY Harvest Haunt (Thunder 3, Lightning 3); optional for Thunder 1/N, Lightning 1/2/N if unable to attend GSCY Champions Classic
• October 15: RVY Spooky Sprints (Waves S/N)
• October 22-23: Westfield Devilfish (Waves S/N, Thunder 2)

October 22-23: GSCY Champions Classic (Thunder 1/N, Lightning 1/2/N, Junior 1/2/3, Senior 1/2/3/4); optional for Thunder 3, Lightning 3 if unable to attend GMNY Harvest Haunt

To all of our swimmers, good luck and swim fast!

More Information: please visit the Events Page of our website.

Questions: please contact your practice group lead coach.

• Wednesday, October 19th
  - First Frost registration deadline for Waves S/N, Thunder 1/2/3/N and Lightning 1/2/3/4
  - Candy Cane Classic registration deadline for Waves S/N
• Friday, October 21st
  - GMNY December Classic registration deadline for Senior 2/3
• Wednesday, October 26th
  - EEX Holiday Classic registration deadline (groups TBD)
• Sunday, October 30th
  - Fall Shootout registration deadline for Senior 2/3
  - JW Thanksgiving Meet registration deadline for Junior 1, Senior 1

You must sign in by the registration deadline in order to compete! Registration deadlines may be subject to change. Please refer to communications from your practice group lead coach for the latest information.

More Information: please visit the Events Page of our website.

Questions: please contact your practice group lead coach.

The job portal for the GSCY Champions Classic is now open! Please keep in mind the following:

• Review the GSCY Volunteer Policy before signing up for a job.
• Families can sign up on the job portal for jobs totaling no more than 2 points.
• If your swimmer(s) scratches after the portal has closed and you are signed up for a job, it is your responsibility to do one of the following:
  - You still have to work the session for the job you signed up for;
  - You will need to find your own replacement to cover; or
  - A no show penalty will be applied.

Questions: please contact Gaby Castro at gscyvolunteers@gmail.com.

As we continue to improve our livestreaming of our GSCY Storm meets, we are presenting an opportunity for families and friends of the Storm to sponsor our events throughout the season. It's a great way to promote your business while also supporting the team!

Some of the options we have for our sponsors:

• Your logo appearing underneath the scoreboard
• Live reading and promotion of your business before and during the livestream
• A brief commercial for your business
• A link to your business in the description of the video

If you are interested in sponsoring our livestreams or know someone who might be, please send an email to fbituin@gmail.com for more information.

This year, GSCY Storm can no longer register 9/O athletes with USA Swimming on their behalf. If you have a swimmer in the Thunder, Lightning, Junior or Senior groups, you must register your swimmer(s) with USA Swimming directly.

Any swimmer that has never been a USA Swimming member must get their memberships now or they will not be able to compete in any USA Swimming meets this year. All current USA Swimming members have until December to register as that is when the current membership will expire. Premium Membership is the athlete membership. Any 9/O swimmer that does not have a valid/active USA Swimming registration will not be able to participate in any USA Swimming-sponsored meets we attend.

Please click on the document below to view instructions and additional information.

The 2023 NJ YMCA Championship Qualifying Times are published! All times in red show changes from last year's qualifying times. Please click on the link below to view the file.

Questions: please contact your practice group lead coach.

From time to time, we will be featuring Frequently Asked Questions as part of our newsletter. If you are a new or returning family and have general questions about our program, meets, or anything else that might benefit other parents, please send your questions to gscystormconnect@gmail.com and we might feature your question for future newsletters!

DO I HAVE TO SIGN UP FOR A MEET?

YES! Athletes will no longer be automatically signed up for a meet. Each family/athlete must actively select to sign up or sign out of a meet.

Here are the steps if you ARE GOING to a meet:

• Click on the meet Signup Record and select Yes
• Once Yes is selected, you will see the sessions that are available for this meet. If you are signing up by Day/Session and want to see what events are available, simply click on the meet name next to the Meet Name: heading.
• Click on the check box to the left of the name for the Session(s) you would like/can swim.
• Once you have finished, click on the Save Changes Button in the lower right.
• Repeat the process for additional swimmers.
• Please pay careful attention to add any notes that you want the Coach or Administrator to see.

Your coach or team administrator will review your declaration and APPROVE or REJECT your request. Once they submit the final choices you will be able to review by signing in and clicking on the meet page. Look at the Coach Approval column for the events that you have been confirmed to swim.

Here are the steps if you ARE NOT GOING to a meet:

• Click on the Member Names [they default to Not Committed].
• Click on the meet Signup Record and select No

• Click on the Save Changes button to save the changes.
  
• If you have more than one child, repeat the same task as listed above.

For additional information on how to sign up for meets, please click here.

HOW DO I VIEW THE TEAM WEBSITE?

You can go directly to www.gscyswimming.com to view the website. Alternatively, if you are on the Team Unify portal, scroll to the bottom left of the page and click on "View Team Website" to be taken to our team page. Please ensure you are logged in to the website using your Team Unify credentials, as some pages may require you to be logged in to view.