Penguins Families,

It was wonderful to see so many familiar and new faces at the Kick-off Meeting last week! This communication contains a lot of important information and deadlines—please read it thoroughly.

NEW Penguins Website

Our new website continues to be built, but it is getting close to being complete! The new website is NOT at the web address previously communicated. It is:

https://newportpenguins.swimtopia.com

In addition, you can Google “Newport Penguins Swimtopia” and it will pop up.

We also encourage everyone on the Team to get the Swimtopia app. This will make all communication, meet opt in/out, volunteer sign ups, etc. so much easier!

Thanks for your patience as we continue to navigate this important upgrade.

Dive and/or Swim Team Registration and Payment

If you have not yet registered for the Dive and/or Swim Team, please do so at your earliest convenience by visiting https://newportpenguins.swimtopia.com, clicking on the registration icon, and following the prompts. Please fill out the registration completely. In addition, for all athletes, please:

• complete the medical section with any health matters or special needs so we can safely support all athletes to the best of our ability;
• include at least one cell phone number with your registration to use in case of an emergency and so your family receives important Team alerts (like changes to practices due to weather); and,
• make sure you include t-shirt sizes for each athlete to receive this year’s Team t-shirt (see below for more info about this year’s t-shirts for athletes).

If you missed any of the above, please log back into the NEW website and update your registration.

All payments are due by the end of the first week of practice (June 1^st) and should be made by PayPal to the Penguins account- the QR Code is on the Homepage of the website. Requests for financial support can be made by sending an email at “Contact Us” on the website.

NOTE: The only required payments for the season are the Pool Fee and Team Fee(s) collected through the registration process. We do ask all athletes to support our one annual fundraiser, the Palooza, which is on June 14^th this year. Information about the Palooza will be shared in late May. We will also request donations to the 3 Team Breakfasts and to the Coaches Gifts at the end of the season for those who are able.

2025 Team Policies and Summer Calendar

The 2025 summer calendar and the 2025 Team Policies can be accessed under the tabs on the homepage of the website. Everyone is encouraged to read the Team Policies thoroughly, and to respond to this email with questions.

NOTE: Regular season dive and swim meets start at 6:00 pm, with warm-ups for athletes 60-90 minutes prior to the start of the meet. The Senior Night and Welcome Back Alumni Meet on July 17^th may start at 5:30 pm, and we will confirm the exact start time in the near future.

Every Athlete Receives a Team T-Shirt and Cap!

ALL athletes will receive a Penguins Team t-shirt and latex swim cap this season!!! When you register for the Team, you must include t-shirt size for each athlete. No size exchanges will be allowed because we are ordering an exact number of shirts based on the sizes includes in the registration process.

NOTE- We are only doing one Team t-shirt order for athletes this year. Each athlete who has registered WITH their t-shirt size by May 23^rd will be included in the order. Athletes who miss this deadline will not get Team t-shirts this season.

Please see below on how to purchase additional Penguins spirit wear for families and athletes.

Required Team Equipment

Athletes are not required to purchase Team suits or spirit wear, but they are offered. The NKSL requires all athletes to wear competition swim suits—one-piece suit (no two-piece suits) for girls and either a brief or jammer (no board shorts) for boys.

In addition, all swimmers must have a pair of competition goggles (not snorkel or other types).

At practices and meets, all athletes should also have at least one dry towel, a sweatshirt, and sweatpants. Even though this is a summer league, it is chilly when you are wet on deck.

Team Swim Suits and Spirit Wear

On the website, there is a Team Store tab at the top. The Team Store includes:

• SwimOutlet for Team swim suits, which follow TYR swim suit sizes, and will be sent directly to you after ordering; and,
• Rokkitwear for t-shirts, tanks, polos, sweatshirts, baseball caps…and the list goes on and on. You can visit the Newport Penguins shop on Rokkitwear anytime of year, order anything you like in the color and/or design that you like, and have it sent directly to you after ordering.

The Team does not handle returns/exchanges of Team swim suits from SwimOutlet or Team spirit wear purchased through Rokkitwear. Please contact the vendors directly with issues.

Silicone Cap Orders

All athletes will receive a latex cap from the Team. If your child is allergic to latex or simply prefers silicone caps, we will be placing one silicone cap order through SwimOutlet this summer.

We must have 26 caps requested to place the order and orders must be placed in sets of two. All ordered can be personalized with last names. The cost for two personalized silicone caps is $40.

To place a silicone cap order by the May 23^rd at 5 pm deadline:

• Email [email protected] with
• The number of caps you want to order (minimum of 2) and
• The name personalization you would like,
• And then send the cost for your order ($40 per two caps) to the Team’s PayPal account with a note that the payment is for silicone camps.

Again, orders are due by 5 pm on Wednesday, May 23^rd—this includes payment through PayPal—and we must get a minimum of 26 cap orders (13 orders of 2) to be able to submit the order.

2025 Penguins Seniors!!!!

We have a lot of fun planned to celebrate our 2025 Senior Penguins! We need to know who is a senior this summer as soon as possible.

If this is the summer after you graduate from high school, this will be your senior year as a Penguin per the NKSL rules. If this is not the summer after your high school graduation, but you would like to declare this as your last year as a Penguin, this can be your senior year as a Penguin as well. If you declare this as your final year as a Penguin with the NKSL, there is no way to reverse that decision next summer.

Please respond to this email by Friday, May 16^th if your family has a senior this year. We need to know as soon as possible to execute on some fun plans.

Senior Pictures will be taken at the Vet’s Pool on Wednesday, May 28^th at 6:30 pm.

2025 Penguins Booster Volunteer Needs

The Team’s operations are run by a committee of parents called the “Boosters.” We have had multiple parents—seasoned and new—volunteer for Booster roles this summer. Thank you! However, we still have some volunteer needs on the Boosters:

• Senior and Alumni Event Coordinator- senior gifts, senior banner, senior spotlights, alumni/senior night promotion, etc.
• Dive Meet Volunteer Coordinator- make sure that all volunteer roles at dive meets are filled prior to the meets and check in all volunteers at meets
• Dive Meet eDive Coordinator- get trained on eDive and run eDive at home meets

Beyond these three positions, we have many opportunities for anyone interested in joining the Boosters as we engage in succession planning for the future- just respond to this email to find out more!

Penguins Regular Season Family Volunteer Requirements

The Penguins and all teams and meets of the Northern Kentucky Swim League (NKSL) are volunteer run. This means that all families must be involved in the execution of dive and swim meets for the meets to happen and to run smoothly. In addition, for every swim practice, we need help setting up the pool (lane lines, backstroke flags, blocks), and putting those items away. There are open sign ups on the new website for all dive meet, swim meet, and swim practice help volunteer positions. Positions are filled on a first-come basis.

For the regular season, all Penguins families are required to work a minimum of 3 volunteer shifts at meets per sport. If you have children who swim and dive, this means that you are required to work a minimum of 3 volunteer shifts at swim meets and a minimum of 3 volunteer shifts at dive meets. Depending on the number of families on the team and the NKSL’s volunteer needs for meets, this number could increase—the Penguins volunteer requirement is simply a minimum.

Penguins Championship Season Family Volunteer Requirements

For all other NKSL Championship Week meets, if you have a child diving or swimming at any meet, you are required to be available to volunteer at the meet. The NKSL provides teams with the volunteer shifts they must fill at each meet a few days in advance. We will send out the volunteer signups for the various meets as soon as possible.

Signing Up for Volunteer Shifts to Meet the Volunteer Requirement

2025 VOLUNTEER JOBS ARE NOW OPEN ON THE WEBSITE, AND THEY FILL ON A FIRST COME BASIS.

To sign up for volunteer shifts, please:

• visit the website
• on the home page, click on “Events and Meets”
• scroll to the dates of the dive and/or swim meets or swim practices you would like to work
• click on the “Job Signup” icon
• sign up for the volunteer shift you would like to work
• scroll to the bottom and click “save”

The job times are noted and are approximate.

Experience Required for Volunteer Jobs

The majority of volunteer jobs at dive and swim meets require no prior experience and very little knowledge of the sports. Any jobs requiring advance training or experience are noted as such, and you should only sign up for those jobs if you have completed the associated training.

Training for eDive and MeetManager System Software, Dive Judges, Swim Officials

The NKSL requires that each team has volunteers trained on eDive and MeetManager, which are the computer programs used for meet entries, entry of scores/times, awards, and computation of results. In addition, each team is required to have multiple people trained as dive judges and swim officials.

We need multiple parents to attend the NKSL eDive Training Session, MeetManager Training Session, Dive Judge Training, and Swim Official Training. No prior experience needed. Dates for league training are:

• May 28^th at 6:00 pm Meet Manager Computer Training at the Florence City Building
• May 29^th at 6:00 pm Edive Computer Training at the Florence City Building
• June 3^rd at 6:30 pm Dive Judge Training at Beechwood
• June 5^th at 6:30 pm Swim Official Training at Five Seasons

Please email the Team’s NKSL Delegate, Chris Boyd, at C[email protected], if you are interested and/or available to attend any session.

Thanks,

The Boosters