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--- Lane 9 News ---
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Club Spotlight: City of Plano Swimming -- September 9, 2007
By Lindsay Hock
PLANO, Texas, September 9. THE job of the professional swim coach is one of the toughest there is with early mornings, long hot weekends spent on deck and dealing with those sometimes overzealous swim parents.
But, the parents at City of Plano Swimming in Plano, Texas are far from annoying to the coaches. In fact, they are an integral part of the team's success.
"Our parent board is without a doubt our greatest strength," said head coach Steve Mateer, who has been at City of Plano for 25 years. "The parents allow us coaches to do our job: make their children better swimmers. They take care of the dry side of the team, while we are able to focus on the stuff that really matters - the wet side."
Whether the "dry stuff" involves office work, fundraising or general team administration, The City of Plano Swim Team Parent Board is deeply committed to aiding the coaching staff in any way possible, said Mateer.
Each family is required to lend support, and a points system is used to keep track of service commitments and clarify the responsibilities of each job.
While this setup might not work for all swim teams, it appears that parental involvement helps make fast swimmers. Along with placing third at the Texas Long Course Age Group Championships, City of Plano senior swimmers took third place at the Southern Zone Sectionals in February.
Despite all the success at City of Plano Swimming, Coach Mateer stresses that his team is not only in the business of building great swimmers.
"Through swimming, we can prepare these kids for anything that comes their way," Mateer said. "We don't build simply great swimmers, we build great young adults, and hopefully, great adults."
City of Plano Quick Facts:
Location: Plano, Texas
Head Coach: Steve Mateer
Assistant Coaches: Ted Carson, Craig Harris, Liz Kershaw
Number of Swimmers: 400
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