Welcome to all returning and new swimmers and their families! This year promises to be a fantastic one. We continue to have excellent leadership from Head Coach, Murray Drudge, who has surrounded himself with a knowledgeable and motivated team. We also have a dedicated group of volunteers on the Board of Diectors who care about NYAC and will be accessible to our members. Email addresses and roles for all of the Directors are posted on the website. We welcome all NYAC parents to become involved.

As you will have noticed, the NYAC website has undergone some changes over the summer. William Williams is our new “webmaster” extraordinaire. He, too, is volunteering his time to ensure that NYAC members have access to as much information as the club can provide. Please take a few minutes to navigate the site and familiarize yourself with it. Pool Reps will continue to be an excellent resource for parents for club events and specific group concerns. The website will have all the details. This year, there will be regular input from the coaches in the Group News section and I will commit to write updates of Board activities after our monthly meetings.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Olga Macel over the summer, the NYAC office has moved to another space at the same location. Olga can usually be reached there between 1 and 4 from Monday through Thursday. Thanks, Olga!

Our first and I hope annual Welcome BBQ will be held on Monday, September 19th. What a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends, meet new members, and say “hello” to your coaches. I hope to see everyone there.

Early registration, a new endeavour this year, has proved very effective. Groups are filling and coaches are ready for their swimmers. Murray, Diego, and Mischa travelled to the American Swimming Coaches Association World Clinic in Ft. Lauderdale recently and have come back with a wealth of information to share with all of the NYAC coaches. Our swimmers will benefit from their knowledge and enthusiasm.

Preparations are under way for the NYAC Annual Banquet. Anyone interested to help out may contact the Lui family. As always, every member is encouraged to attend. This night is both an opportunity to celebrate our swimmer’s achievements and an opportunity for new members to familiarize themselves with the club. Every swimmer has one ticket as part of their registration fee. The more families that attend, the more team building and fun we all have!

Last year NYAC applied for a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Thanks to our Treasurer John Young’s tireless efforts, we were lucky to be approved. With this grant, programs such as NYAC Waves and our new 2005 triathlete Tri-Swim program will continue to expand and develop as we move forward this year. Please refer to the Ontario Trillium Foundation information on our website for further details about both the foundation and NYAC’s benefits from it.

Just a reminder…NYAC’s biggest source of income is still the charity Bingos we work on Saturday afternoons. There are a few members who work the Bingos regularly, but we need to get more of our members involved. Presently, members receive financial reimbursements for their time. Please contact Olga at the office if you are interested in helping out or require more information.

I am really excited about this year. I believe that we have a fabulous, motivated coaching team, wonderful programs, a dedicated Board, and a supportive membership aside from our amazing swimmers. Together we can enjoy a great year. Please feel free to contact me any time.

Happy swimming!

Marjie Chud
September 2005