2026 Parent Meeting Agenda and Notes

Agenda for the Meeting:

• Introduce Head Coach and Board Members
• Review Communication procedures
• Review Practice Schedule and procedures including Code of Conduct
• Share Meet schedule and general meet procedures
• Review Expectations of Parents - Volunteer Requirements

Coaches and Board

Board members

Nancy Riggle - Team Manager

Danny Tundidor - Head Official

Natasha Mahdavi - Volunteer Coordinator

Ruth Meacham - Treasurer

Coaches

We have a strong and passionate coaching staff with Head Coach Ella Moulder leading a team of assistant and junior coaches. Assistant coaches Courtney, Lola, Kezia, and Harrison are returning for another fun summer of coaching. 

Coaches will be available for private lessons in the Rivermist pool after school ends.

Communications

Email, swimtopia app notifications, and our website will be the primary sources for reference and for updates and announcements between meets. Save rivermistracers.swimtopia.com to your favorites. Also follow us on Instagram @RivermistRacers. 

I send a weekly email on Fridays sharing updates and news plus actions needed and any deadlines. Be sure to read these emails completely.

Download the Swimtopia App: Urgent Push notifications will be sent via the FREE Swimtopia App. This is how we will communicate any weather delays or critical meet updates. You can also see your jobs, meet responses, and swimmer times. 

Contact information for Team Manager and Coaches are posted on our website.

Practice Schedule

Refer to the website for age specific times and dates. For after school practice, swimmers are encouraged to attend with their age group. If you have other activities and need to come at a different time, please discuss with a Head Coach or Nancy. After initial evaluation, Coach may contact families to adjust groups based on skill level.

Donuts and Ribbons

Fridays after each dual meet will be our “Donuts and Ribbons” fun practice for all swimmers from 9:00 until 11:00am. Coaches will talk about the meet, distribute ribbons and Swimmer of the Meet awards, and we will celebrate with a snack and fun pool games. Families are welcome to join the swimmers in the pool area and then parents/siblings may swim until the pool opens at 11. 

Note: Placement ribbons are given out to 1-6^th places for all individual events. 8 and Under swimmers get Participation ribbons for all events completed (not disqualified). All swimmers are eligible for rainbow ribbons indicating a time improvement – these are the best!

Kids get a raffle ticket for each Rainbow Ribbon to enter for a special gift at the end-of-season party. 

Team Photo

Check the website for the date. Sibling and team photos will be taken at this time as well as a team photo.

Swim Team Procedures

Practice Procedures:

Drop-off: Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday practices are drop-off with no parents allowed in the pool area. Children 6 and under must be walked to the lower pool gate by the bathroom. 

**Swimmers are supervised by our coaching staff in the pool area only during their practice time. There is no staff supervision on the playground or any areas outside of the pool fence.**

Parent Waiting Area: Parents may leave the clubhouse area during practice, but should remain in the neighborhood or very close by in case of an emergency. If you want to stay on the grounds you may hang out in the playground, down by the lake, or in the tennis area.

Watch-me-Wednesdays: On Wednesdays (starting the 2nd week of morning practice), parents and siblings may watch practice from the pavilion. You must enter along with your swimmer and proceed quietly to the pavilion remaining there for the entirety of practice. We want to give parents a chance to watch practice while not distracting our coaches or swimmers.

Pick-up: At the end of practice, children will be released to be picked up at the top of the pool stairs or to the playground. 6 and unders must be released to an adult. Families often team up to carpool. Parents may queue up starting under the overhang to pick up your child(ren).

What to send for practice: Send only the basic needs for each practice. Kids should arrive dressed in their swimsuit with some shoes for dry land (slides/flip flops/tennis shoes). 

Bring a small bag with:

• Cap
• Goggles
• Towel
• Water bottle

Practice Meet 

The practice meet is the chance for kids, leadership, and volunteers to have a “dress rehearsal” for the upcoming dual meets. For younger swimmers and those new to the swim team, it is so important to learn the flow of the meet and work out some jitters.

Swimmers arrive at 5 to warm up and eat dinner (pizza dinner provided).

Parents return at 5:45pm for a quick meeting and to get to their volunteer positions.

We will need volunteers to set up and run this meet and expect all swimmers to attend. This is a great time to learn a volunteer role and for you and your swimmer to get comfortable with the meet setup and procedures before we host another team. Volunteering for this meet is required and does not count towards your required shifts.

This meet will end promptly at 8pm when we will all clean up. 

Dual Meets

This season we have 5 DUAL meets. Our meets begin with setup at 4pm, warm-ups at 5pm and swimming to start at 6pm. The meet dates are posted on the website along with opponent and location (Home or Away).

Refer to the Meet 101 section on our website for details of meet prep.

Swimmer Attendance: You will need to declare if your child(ren) will be attending each meet. This is done on our website. You can declare for all meets ahead of time, but MUST declare by Monday before each meet in order for your child to participate. 

Volunteer Roles: Additionally, you must select your family's volunteer roles during Open Enrollment. The volunteer coordinator will communicate the # of shifts required for each family. After Open Enrollment, volunteer roles will be chosen for you based on the needs of the team. 

County Practice and Meet

The finale of each season is the County Swim meet. The top 50 swimmers in each event are invited to this amazing event. It is a huge honor, a very fun event, and a great goal for swimmers to work towards. We will communicate after the first 1 or 2 meets if your child is showing county potential for any individual or relay events and will update further after each meet. While standings might change, we want to identify county swimmers early so that you can schedule and plan for them to attend.

County Practice: June 30th - July 11th

County Meet: July 11^th-13th at Georgia Tech

Volunteers

We are a parent-run, volunteer driven organization. We rely on volunteers to plan, setup, run, and takedown each meet. Families will be required to volunteer for a required number of shifts throughout the season. Signup for Volunteer shifts will be available during Open Enrollment. If you want specific roles or have scheduling limitations you will want to log on at exactly when Open Enrollment begins for the largest selection of volunteer roles.

Check the website for a description of each role before signing up. Our volunteer coordinator will email when details are posted and we are ready for parents to sign up.

Volunteer Sign-up Procedures

As usual, the volunteer shift requirement will be communicated ahead of time and there will be an Open Enrollment period when you can select your own Volunteer shifts. However, after that period ends if your family has not selected the required minimum shifts, the volunteer coordinator will select the required # of shifts for you to meet the needs of the team.

Swimmer Meet RSVP

We rely on Swimmer RSVPs to set entries. The final deadline for each meet will be Monday evening before each Thursday meet. You are able to RSVP for all meets before the season starts so can set up your whole summer all at once. Any swimmers not declared as "Attending" at the Monday evening deadline will not be entered into that week's meet. We will send the usual reminders leading up to Monday, but will no longer text or hunt you down.

Core Values & Code of Conduct

Our goal for every season is to be an exceptional team! We want to be exceptional in every way and represent that to visiting teams as they come here to compete! The following are what we expect of our swimmers, families, coaches, and volunteers:

• Be helpful, friendly, and courteous to our visitors, teammates, & timing partners
• Be enthusiastic in your meet worker assignments
• Don’t gossip or talk negatively about our team, parents, or swimmers
• Respect our pool and ensure that your children clean up after themselves and take all of their belongings home before leaving each meet and practice
• Encourage our Racers every chance you get
• Exhibit great sportsmanship by congratulating and encouraging swimmers from other teams
• Remind your children to be respectful and courteous!
• If you see a need – jump in and help! It takes a village folks!

The Rivermist Racers are committed to fostering a positive, respectful, and inclusive team environment for all swimmers and families. Swimmers are expected to demonstrate respect toward coaches, parent volunteers, teammates, and competitors at all times; use appropriate language; engage in age-appropriate conversations; and contribute to a team culture that values inclusivity and respect across age, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, and background. Any behavior that undermines these expectations will be addressed promptly.

The Rivermist Racers operate under a two-strike policy: a swimmer will receive one formal warning and opportunity to correct their behavior. A second violation will result in removal from the team, with forfeiture of all registration fees paid.