Apology

I want to apologise to the people who were put off by what I said to them this morning.

It was not mean't to be a challenge or in any way something to make life more difficult for parents. On the contrary, it was something intended to make things better for the swimming team.

If I have not thought this out enough and it impacts on peoples lives to an extent of being intrusive and inconvenient, I am sorry and it was not my original intention.

The basis for my statement was fairly simple. If we have less people on the deck and around the pool, it is less of a distraction for both swimmers and coaches. And yes, coaches can feel intimidated at times. It is a fairly common principle throughout swim clubs, especially in Australia, that training sessions for squad swimmers are closed. More than once I have sat in instructional lectures and been told about the clarity a squad gets when the distractions have been removed.
This standard has been the case at all the clubs I have coached at and I never had any response that it was an inconvenience. I never looked at it as potentially being an inconvenience for people. Going back to the days that I swam, my parents were told to wait at the door too.

I also encourage anyone that feels like I need to hear something, to please call me. Irrespective of whom else you call, I will have to deal with it eventually. One parent came straight to me this morning and I appreciate the honesty and forthrightness. If thats a word.

Once again, my apologgies and I hope I have not upset too many people,

Gus