2024 ASA Season Update and Upcoming Swimtopia Webinar Reminder

January 25, 2024

This is a follow up to my e mail from last week. Our first Swimtopia Webinar is next Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 pm. Hope you can take part. Links to the Zoom meeting are:

As was the case last year, we have arranged for Swimtopia to offer several training webinars prior to the season. The first one in the series will help your team get registration open and update your team page for the coming season. The meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 pm. A link to the Zoom meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84943797019pwd=N1J5ZWwva2t4aGNQcEo5OUdoNXB6dz09

Also I have some updated info in regard to coaching certifications, please see that info below as well. Included below is the info I sent about the upcoming season, I can't wait for summer.

From my Jan. 16 e mail:

Happy 2024 to all of you out in swim land, I hope everyone had a terrific holiday and are doing well. I always seem to write this e mail on a cold and miserable day in the dead of winter in the hopes that the thought of another summer season will brighten the day. We are eagerly anticipating a great 2024 season. To get the ball rolling on the upcoming season we need to get a few bits of info from each team, namely your team status for 2024, any meet date/opponent requests, preferred date to swim in the ASA Championship, and your current ribbon inventory. Please visit 2024 ASA Team Status Survey to provide that information for us as soon as you can. If your team will not be swimming with us in 2024, please let us know, so we don't put you on the schedule. If you have not done so already please get the ball rolling with your HOA and neighborhoods so you can come up with the best way to make your 2024 season a reality.

Dates for 2024 are set and listed below. Meets will fire up in late May, with the ASA Championship being held June 26 – 28. We will have timed final sessions, unlike last year we will have a schedule of who swims on what days/times will be sent to teams by March. We will use the 2 pool format for the Championship. Teams that normally swim on Tuesday nights will have their championship session on June 26 or 27 (Wednesday or Thursday); teams that swim on Thursday nights will have their championship session on June 27 or 28 (Thursday or Friday). If you have specific scheduling requests for your dual meets, please put those requests in the Google doc referenced above. The deadline for schedule requests will be Wednesday, March 20.

As always, our league website https://asa.swimtopia.com/ has a wealth of information on the league and the coming season. You can always find resources like team contacts, league rules, recaps and recordings of league meetings, league news, championship meet information and results as well as training resources.

We have some exciting developments for the 2024 season. Swimtopia continues to upgrade and enhanced their Team Management and Meet Management (Meet Maestro) platforms. As is the case each season, we will offer a number of training webinars to get teams up to speed on using those products to make their teams operate more efficiently, and take some of the busy work off of coordinator’s plates. I will follow up in the soon with a rundown of remaining training webinars to get teams up to speed on all of the functionality of their platform. As we did last year, ASA partnered with Summer League Swimming (SLS) to conduct background checks and training for all coaches in the league. This is an important step to help ensure the safest environment for the swimmers and families in the league and something that is a part of all youth sports. Once again, ASA has arranged for SLS to set up a process where all teams can undertake this check before coaches begin work with their teams and that cost will be covered as part of the ASA fee swimmers pay each year. This will prevent teams from having to reimburse coaches for that process or coaches having to pay that fee themselves. Additionally, we have arranged for an online coaches' education and certification course that will serve as a valuable resource for every coach in the league. These are all tools that will create a safer, more positive environment for your team. Details on background checks and the coaches' certification course can be found at ASA Background Check and Certification Info

Swimtopia Training/Webinars

As was the case last year, we have arranged for Swimtopia to offer several training webinars prior to the season. The first one in the series will help your team get registration open and update your team page for the coming season. The meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 pm. A link to the Zoom meeting is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84943797019pwd=N1J5ZWwva2t4aGNQcEo5OUdoNXB6dz09

Registration/Team Page Setup

Tuesday, January 30, 6:30pm - 7:30pm EST

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84943797019pwd=N1J5ZWwva2t4aGNQcEo5OUdoNXB6dz09

Volunteer Management

Wednesday, March 13, 6:30pm - 7:30pm EDT

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89428464926pwd=UzNRN0JybU9kSXZiNE5aaVZpZjZqdz09

Meet Entry/Roster Management and Reporting

Wednesday, April 19, 6:30pm - 7:30pm EDT

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85081698726pwd=Tjl5NlJmMWg0dnZoY0RTcWgxNFB6dz09

Meet Maestro Training

Saturday, May 4, 10:00am - 12:00pm EDT

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85994461359pwd=NjV2blVLYktudnJhOEZFREJKRjBKdz09

2024 Season Dates

Intown/DeKalb Teams

Tuesday Nights - May 28, June 4, 11, 18, Monday, June 24 (as most teams in this category will have their divisional session on Wednesday or Thursday, your last dual meet will be Monday, June 24 to allow a day off before your divisional session).

Northern Teams

Thursday Nights May 30, June 6, 13, 20, Tuesday June 25 (as most teams in this category will have their divisional session on Friday or Saturday, your last dual meet will be Tuesday, June 25 to allow a day off before your divisional session).

We will have full schedules (who you are swimming and when you are swimming them) completed by April 7.

Organizational Preseason Meetings

As was the case for most of our meetings last year, we will go the Zoom route to allow for convenience for everyone. We will forward the details of those meetings once we set the dates. Our first organizational meeting dates are set a list of dates, locations and times are as follows:

Opening Organizational Meeting – Late February/Early March TBD

April Rules Meetings - Late April TBD

May Ribbon Distribution and Meet Procedure Review - Weds. May 8 at 7 pm at Marist

Update Team Contact Info

Please make sure to update your team contact info for the 2024 season. This is how the league and other teams communicate with one another, and accurate information is crucial. Adding your contact info, your e mail address automatically puts you in the communication loop for all league correspondences. It is crucial that all team reps and coaches are listed, as they all benefit from the periodic e mails that are sent leading up to and during the season.

The first step in this process involves designating your key people, team reps, caoches and computer people to one of the linked ASA roles (team rep, coach, or computer person. Steps on how to do this can be found at Designating Key People to ASA Linked Roles

Instructions on how to update your team page can be found in the following attachment ASA Team Page Setup and Editing Instructions . The new link to all of our teams can be found at ASA Team Page Link . Please update your team's information, as this will be our destination for teams to get in touch with one another throughout the season, as well as allow your officials to find your facilities each week.

2024 Season Update

2024 ASA Fees, Waivers, Concussion Waiver/Information, Etc...

Registration fees for 2024 will $40.00 per swimmer this includes a $2.00 convenience/transaction charge. Late fees apply on two dates. The first late fee begins April 15, the fee for registrations after April 15 will be $60.00 per swimmer (a $20 late fee). Registrations after June 1 will be $65.00 per swimmer (at $25 late fee). Also of note, the Swimtopia fee of $3.30 per swimmer is a separate line item and will be paid directly to Swimtopia, instead of ASA as was the case in the past. Fees for the 2024 ASA Championship are TBD as Georgia Tech is in the process of increasing their rental fees for the facility, we will set entry fees for that meet once we have a better picture of those costs.

As was the case last year is that all swimmers who are part of your junior teams (guppies, mini-cudas, minnows, etc…) are subject to an ASA fee of $20 per swimmer plus Swimtopia and transactional costs (about $23.50 per swimmer). We have been advised by our risk management advisors that these swimmers are part of your programs and therefore part of yours an ASA’s liability responsibility. Teams that chose to opt out of this responsibility were not covered by the league liability coverage for those swimmers, this change avoids that issue. Many teams already were having their swimmers pay the full ASA fee at the full cost, so this will reflect a savings for those swimmers. Additionally, these athletes receive many of the same benefits of league membership as your competitive team swimmers receive. Instructions on how to include this as part of your registration are included in the registration instructions for 2024.

We have already uploaded the 2024 ASA waiver and fee schedules (including all fee schedules) to Swimtopia, so when you open your registration for this season, you can hit the ground running.

What do teams need to do NOW

Talk to Your HOA

Start the conversation with your HOA and neighborhood to let them know you plan to swim this summer. Many teams were blindsided last summer and had limits on the ability to use their pools. Get the conversation going, to make sure you have a plan for this summer.

Add Your Key People in Swimtopia

We continue to use Swimtopia to communicate with team coordinators, coaches and other key people like your computer people. In order to be included in this communication look you MUST designate those people to one of 3 linked roles in Swimtopia (Team Rep, Coach, or Computer Person). This designation is reset each season, so teams must do the following to ensure you are included in league communications. To complete this step do the following Designating Key People to ASA Linked Roles. A picture of those roles in Swimtopia look like.

Please update your team website to get registration open for the 2024 season. Resources on how to do this can be found at

For a full to-do list, pleaseview our complete checklist. Instructions for setting up regstrationASA Swimtopia Registration Setup Instructions for 2024 . Please be sure to include the appropriate 2024 ASA waiver in your registration before you open your registration.

Need a Coach?

If you are looking for a coach, visit https://asa.swimtopia.com/jobs . It includes current coaches looking for work, as well as provides you with an opportunity to post your job. It is a valuable tool for teams and potential coaches to connect. Some other suggested resources are as follows:

1. In house, hire an assistant coach from prior years.

2. Contact your pool management company for recommendations.

3. Contact local club teams (Swim Atlanta, Dynamo, Gold, etc...) Contact nearby high schools (a good resource for this is https://www.ghssca.org/team-contacts)

4. Contact college programs (GT, Emory, Agnes Scott, UGA, Georgia Southern, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Berry College, SCAD, FSU, Brenau)

Background Checks and Coach Certification?

Plan on completing background checks and coaches certification for your potential coaches. We will provide details on the ASA provided resource to do so shortly. This cost will be covered by the league. IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR 2024!!!! COACH CERTIFICATIONS ARE NOW GOOD FOR 3 SEASONS! If you are a coach and have taken the course in 2022 or 2023 you do NOT need to take the course or exam in 2024.

IF YOU ARE A NEW COACH FOR 2024, you must take and pass the coach certification course.

All coaches 18 and older must still take the background check. All adults having direct, regular contact with the swimmers must take the background check.

Just to be clear, ALL coaches MUST complete a background check and provide the results to their team each season. Details on these programs can be found at ASA Background Check and Certification Info

I cannot wait for warmer temps and another great swim season. As always, we will be there for each and every team to help you make your season go as smoothly as possible. We all know how important these teams are to your communities and hope to see you all on a pool deck this summer.