WHALe: The West Houston Aquatic League (WHALe) is a recreational summer league whose main purpose is to give children an opportunity to participate in organized swimming. The primary emphasis is on individual improvement and achievement. Sportsmanship is emphasized for all participants, children, and adults. The league is made up of 6 divisions comprised of 32 teams and over 4000 swimmers. The league is non-profit (501.3c) and is managed by a board of directors which consists of elected members from several teams. Additionally, each team has a league representative. The WHALe board and league representatives are volunteers. The league provides a framework, foundation, policies and procedures, insurance, leadership and access to other shared resources to every team in the league.
Firethorne Firefish: The Firethorne Firefish Swim Team has been swimming since 2011 and is currently in Division 2 of the WHALe League. The team is managed by its board. The board is comprised of elected members. Currently all board members are parents of a swimmer. The board defines the team policies, hires its own coaches and manages every aspect of the team while insuring compliance with all WHALe policies and procedures. All members of the board as well as coordinator positons, are volunteers.
Coaches: The WHALe league requires that all coaches pass a background check and must be First Aid, CPR and Lifeguard certified. Coaches are hired as independent contractors and are paid a salary based on their experience and qualifications. This year WHALe offered all coaches the opportunity to attend a Positive Coaching Alliance seminar, “free of charge”.
Volunteers: All league dual meets are volunteer (parent) run. This saves the league a significant amount of money that would be required to hire professional referees, judges and meet officials.
Finances: The team’s operating budget is derived from the following sources of income:
- A portion of the registration fee (a portion of the fee is paid to WHALe)
- Spirit wear sales
- Concession sales
- Fundraisers
- Sponsorships
These funds are used solely as operating expenses for items including but not limited to: Coach’s Salaries, Bank Fees, Computer Software, Lifeguards, Team Shirts, Team Caps, Tents, Computers, Printing, Lighting, The Team Party and Trophies.
Declaring Swimmers for Swim Meets: Preparation for a swim meet begins long before the first swimmer dives into the pool. In the days before a meet volunteers and coaches spend several hours completing tasks in preparation for the meet. Some of these tasks include assigning swimmers to events, building relay teams, building the Meet files, printing heat sheets and confirming volunteer availability. We ask our parents to declare – one way or the other – as to whether their swimmer is attending each swim meet. This declaration is done online via our website. A step by step sample of the process is pictured below. If a parent does not declare by the deadline the system assumes the swimmer is not attending. Changes made after the closing of swimmer declaration are cumbersome, effect the other team and in some cases cost the team money. Therefore we greatly appreciate parents complying with this process in a timely manner.
Declaring Swimmers Step by Step: (Sample screen shots are included in the PDF version of these Facts, linked above)
1.From our website’s front page, click on SWIM MEETS, EVENTS & RESULT
2.Scroll down to locate the swim meet you want to declare and click on MEET ENTRY
3.Click on the EDIT Button
4.Click the dropdown list by each swimmer and make your declaration, Attending or Not Attending
5.Click SAVE
Fundraisers & Sponsorships: As you can see above, the registration fee leaves the team with little to no operating funds. Therefore the team relies upon family, friend and neighborhood support of our fundraisers (Spirit Nights, etc.). The team is also dependent upon and fortunate enough to have the backing of several financial and product/service sponsorships. Without all of you it would be almost impossible to run the team. THANK YOU!
