The West Chicago Sharks FAQ
Thanks for your interest in the West Chicago Sharks (WCS). This site answers our parents' most frequently asked questions
What are the fees? Here is our current dues schedule. When he or she swims in Illinois Swimming, Inc. (ISI) meets, your account will be billed for meet fees (usually $20-$50 per weekend, depending on the number of swims and level of meet). If you are not a District 94 taxpayer, we also collect $10.00 per swimmer for facility usage.
When are the practices? Our practice schedule is listed on the Schedules page.
What group would my swimmer be in? Click here to see the descriptions for each practice groups.
Are practices mandatory? Perfect attendance is not required, we offer multiple practices across each week so that you can find several to attend each week.
How long is the season? Our Fall-Winter season runs early September to mid/late February with Championship (qualifier meets) to extend the season into early March for select swimmers. Our Spring-Summer season runs early April to late/end of July.
Can we make payments? Our season dues are broken into monthly payments - the first payment is due at the time of registration and the rest billed on the 1st of October, November, December, January, and February. HS team swimmers that have an overlapping season with ours will pay for the months they are in the water for any practices or meets on the club level (basically 4 monthly payments instead of 6). Meet fees are billed as your swimmers are signed up for meets and due the next month. Our season fees and payment plan are fully described here here.
Do all swimmers swim in meets? You bet! We have many meets for all our swimmers. We have Time Trials (only WCS swimmers), dual meets (with one other team), and weekend invitationals. All of our meets are designed to meet the competitive needs for swimmers of all abilities. Click here for the team calendar and all the meets we have to offer.
What is expected of the parents? WCS is a parent-operated team that is super successful in running swimming invitationals that bring in a great deal of revenue for our club. This revenue keeps our fees low and allows us to hire the appropriate coaching staff to keep our group sizes at a small, teachable level. We expect all swimmers to participate in all these meets (as well as other team events) and require that the parents to work at the meet as officials, timers, concessions workers, admissions, awards, etc. You will find it to be a fun time and the best way for you to meet the other WCS parents. Our "Parent Manual is being updated', expected competion date is TBD- This will include more information regarding your required volunteerism as a Shark.
USA Swimming (USA-S) is authorized to set regulations all clubs must follow. USA-S adopted regulations on bullying prevention and electronic communications which we have added to our by-laws. WCS welcomes these directives and clarifications. Our primary goal has always been to create a safe, friendly, and encouraging environment for our swimmers and families. Below are definitions and guidelines WCS and all USA-S clubs will follow. The complete listing of all the USA-S Safe Sport policies can be found on the USA-S website.
If you have any further questions, please contact :
COACH DAN at danfors44@gmail.com
