On September 10, 2010, we got an email from Shane saying that the merger that was planned had in fact happened already. MWY, Lodi and MEYO all merged into one.
This happened after tryouts, and after people joined the Y Teams. Hard luck to you if you wanted to be on a small-ish team, the decision was made apparently with no input from Swim Families. I can appreciate the need to merger (I think, for example, that Wisconsin Counties should merge to save money -- what purpose is served by having both a Kenosha and a Racine County? Why couldn't Dane and Rock Counties merge? But I digress), but I'm not certain this merger was as seamless as it could have been. It seemed very very rushed to me.
As a result of this, Shane was "promoted" to Regional Swim Team Director, which took him off the Deck. So a superb coach was gone. From his email announcing the merger:
Communication will be one of the keys to making this a success merger a success. I plan to keep everyone updated and informed of all new information through emails and our team website.
Although this merger was not well communicated beforehand -- the style, in my opinion, of the new CEO of the Y, I thought Shane did a great job of keeping in touch with all of the West parents, in addition to learning all the new swimmers. But I missed seeing him on Deck at West Practices, even though his replacement coaches were excellent. And it seemed like he was, increasingly, doing Swim Team paperwork rather than coaching.
I will also note that Families did an excellent job of stepping up to volunteer at meets they previously did not have to work at. (At least the families I hung around with).
No comments:
Post a Comment