Hello parents,

Thank you to those who responded to the poll to help set a meeting for us to discuss the future of our small but mighty Fontainebleau Twisters Swim Team.

What: Future of Twisters Swim Team Meeting

When: Saturday, September 23, 2023 at 4pm ET

Where: FSTC Clubhouse - 2694 Fontainebleau Drive

Why: To discuss our current team and options on what to do moving forward. See below for the options. Bur first, some important factors to weigh:

1. Our team has been slowly declining over the years. 
   1. 2017: 76 swimmers
   2. 2018: 40 swimmers
   3. 2019: 43 swimmers (35 members, 8 non-members)
   4. 2020: no swim team, but offered a summer swim program
   5. 2021: 39 swimmers (26 members, 13 non-members)
   6. 2022: 30 swimmers (21 members, 9 non-members)
   7. 2023: 27 swimmers (18 members, 9 non-members)
2. Noting member to non-member ratio is important.
3. Swim Team President is an FSTC Board Member and thus must be held by a current member of FSTC.
4. We are not able to truly be competitive as a team in our head-to-head meets, due to being significantly smaller than any other teams we swim against and not having the ability to create relays in all or many age groups, which is where the majority of points come from.
5. Our coaches-- our team offers something that most other teams don't offer our teen swimmers and that's an opportunity to work on the coaching team, helping them to boost their skills as leaders and also have a summer job.
6. Volunteers -- we have 2 important roles rolling off our Swim Team Board this year. In order to continue, we need people stepping up into roles that are available. Our volunteers are at the heart of the team and keep us going.

With that, some options we have for moving forward:

1. Option 1: Stay the course.
   1. We can look to continue competing as the Fontainebleau Twisters. Hoping that our numbers slowly increase and/or inviting more non-members to join the team.
   2. If we opt to stay the course, I would like 2024 to be my final year as Swim Team President. I am happy to continue running School of Fishes and participating in other ways, but would need to role off the presidency for 2025. I would need someone to commit now to taking the role in 2025 so that we can smoothly transition.
2. Option 2: Take a break and hopefully return stronger
   1. We would look to get permission from ASA to skip the 2024 swim team season, in the hopes of rebuilding in 2025. We would also need to request for our swimmers to swim 1 season on an alternate team, while we look to rebuild. Obviously, we've worked hard to keep our swimmers swimming and would look to see if some neighboring teams would be willing to take our swimmers on for a season. This may be a coordinated effort with one team or we look to allow families to go to a team that suits their swimmer best.
   2. Happy to help coordinate this temporary situation, but I would still look to roll off the presidency and would need someone to commit to bringing us back in 2025.
3. Option 3: Thanks for the memories, but it's time to officially merge with another team.
   1. We would look to shop around with other teams to see who might be open to a merger with the Twisters. We would lose our team name and likely our facility for practices/meets. We would also need to determine which team we would want to merge with for the long haul. And will likely need ASA approval to do so.
   2. With a bigger team, it means we can be more competitive against other teams, but it can also be competitive within the team for who gets to swim each event, relays, etc.
   3. Some options of teams: DeerBrooke Waters, Deerfield Spalding Lake, Spalding Woods, Dunwoody North, Kingsley.

Ultimately, I want to do what's best for the team and the community. 2023 was my 5th year as Swim Team President and I am proud of what we have done as a team, with our coaches and our swimmers in spite of the declining numbers...however, it is a LOT of work and like all things, sometimes it's time for a change.

I hope you all can be in attendance for this very important meeting. I will also be opening this meeting up to the FSTC membership as this has a potential impact for the community. If you absolutely cannot be in attendance, please email me at [email protected] with your answers to the following questions:

1. What option you would like to vote for?
2. If option 1 or 2, what volunteer role would you like to sign up for?

Thank you all--I appreciate each and every one of you!

Jen Belknap

Fontainebleau Twisters Swim Team President