Hello,

The month of May has flown by and we cannot believe we are already into our fourth week of the season! The kids continue to not only improve but also impress! Upon following up with a number of coaches, we are truly in disbelief about how solid our little kids are looking, and are motivated to keep pushing our older kids as we get into the competitive portion of our season. 

With Black and Gold (Time Trials) one week away it is time to start talking about competition. In the NVSL we can only enter three athletes in each event per gender for our Saturday meets. With an enormous team of over 300 athletes, the coaches have a difficult responsibility in putting forward the most competitive lineup possible when we swim against the best of the best in NVSL Division 1. Though it may not be everyone's goal to be the fastest kid in the pool today or maybe ever, we want to encourage our athletes and our families to lean into the benefits of healthy competition - that is what the NVSL is here for - to introduce young swimmers to competitive swimming! 

I believe we have established a positive championship culture at Tuckahoe (an imperfect and undying effort we continue to work and improve at) that, firstly, welcomes every single willing participant to find a family of Tigers in the pool and on deck regardless of ability or experience. Furthermore, our expectation is universal - try your best and care with your whole heart - that is the only way to succeed at anything you care about in life - anything less and you are wasting your time. Though these clichés can easily be overlooked as soundbites and fluff, and certainly may not mean much to a 6-year-old, they are the pillars around which we build our team and approach every day of the season - I am beyond proud of my coaching staff because so many of them from a young age have understood this approach to be not just an expectation but law. We want to cheer for our athletes to race hard and do what they practice and be willing to accept the result whether favorable or not. As has been said before and will be said every year - Winning isn't everything - wanting to win is!