Stingrays Newsletter
August Edition - 8/22
A new season is upon us!
Welcome Coach Ron!
Stingrays are excited to welcome back Coach Ron Turner! Coach Ron takes over as our new LAPS Director among other coaching duties. Please see Coach Ron's biography below as he brings extensive coaching experience to Stingrays Swimming. Coach Ron's leadership and knowledge will help 2019-2020 be among our best years ever.
Ron Turner serves the RAYS program as LAPS Director and Coach. Ron is an ASCA Level 5 Coach and has over 33 years of coaching experience at all levels: from teaching water babies to coaching Olympic medalists; coaching Masters to teaching classes to the elderly, Ron has experienced every level of water education!
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Ron has been a USA National Team Coach, was a coach for the 2007 USA Pan-American Games Team, and has coached numerous world-class swimmers and Olympic medalists. Ron has been a 2-time Coach of the Year in North Carolina as well as YMCA National Coach of the Year. Ron received the ASCA Certificate of Excellence in 2006 and has been a keynote speaker and consultant at numerous clinics all over the world.
Ron resides in Woodstock with his wife Amanda and their two dogs, River and Lucy. His passions are traveling, live music, and getting away to the North Georgia Mountains!
Motivation with Coach Pike
Are you ready to be Extraordinary?
Extraordinary simply means outside the ordinary. It doesn't necessarily mean good or bad. But, in common usage, we tend to use it in the same way we use the word "Awesome". For this topic, let's compare Extraordinary to getting A+ in school and ordinary to getting B-/C.
A team that is Extraordinary in their character and performance, will be a team willing to do things that are not ordinary. When your teacher assigns homework, it would be ordinary and normal to put it off or not do it well because you don't want to. Totally normal for most kids to choose anything over homework if given the chance. But, it is truly extraordinary to not only do the homework but to do it with great effort and desire to learn. This explains why there are many more C's given than there are A's. In large settings, like a school, there is very little pressure (except from the teachers and parents) to study hard, manage time and become excellent students. If there was, A's would eventually become, well, ordinary. I know none of this is a big secret...but, now...let's change the landscape and talk about swimming only.
Do you desire to swim really fast?
Do you desire to be on a team that can help make that happen?
Do you desire that your teammates swim fast, too?
If you answered "Yes" to these questions, then you are on your way to extraordinary results. But, you are just on your way. Wanting to get A's on the report card is not the same thing as willing to achieve them. We MUST do the things necessary to achieve them...the extraordinary things. And in the process, what was once extraordinary becomes ordinary.
That is the team I am on right now! GO RAYS!
RAYS Culture with Coach Larry
During Boot Camp we "reboot" the importance of our Stingrays' core values, starting with the example set by our coaches, then how these values can be reflected by our swimmers.
Dedication: Regularly and repeatedly committing to the team and its structure. Give yourself all the time to a worthy purpose.
Discipline: Doing something correctly, every time, regardless of how you feel. Go from coach-discipline to self-discipline; from coach on the outside to coach on the inside.
Honesty: Speaking the truth first to yourself and then to others. No need to be afraid, hide, then be untruthful; there is freedom and peace in transparency.
Loyalty: The adherence to the Team and what it stands for. Care for, cheer for, be for your team, always.
Respect: The acknowledgment that one person is no more important or privileged than another. Teammates, coaches, competitors, officials, my sport--all are highly valued.
Team Store is Open NOW!
The store will close Monday, August 26th.
Summertime LAPS Opportunity!
Would your Summer League/ Neighborhood Pool like to host LAPS? We did it this summer at the Pines in Marietta and it was a great success!
If this sounds intriguing, please contact Coach Pike for Cobb County area (coachpike@stingraysswimming.com) or
Coach Ron for Cherokee County (coachron@stingraysswimming.com)
Upcoming Events & Deadlines
September 14th, 2019
*For ALL RAYS swimmers*
RAYS DEADLINE September 5th, 2019
September 21st, 2019
Age Group Bowling Outing
*For all Age Group Swimmers!*
To RSVP, please contact Coach Mark