Board Meeting - October 15th

Surfside Coordinator

Oct 15, 2025

Surfside Board Meeting - Oct

Attendees John York Elisa Nye Surfside Swim Coordinator Ramya Sivasubramanian Rich Fernandez Kayo Libiano Jered Lindsay

  • Minutes Approval Board approved the June, July, and September board meeting minutes. 

  • New Member Tryouts Elisa reported that Romi offered pool lanes on Saturday, October 25th, for stroke and turn clinics and potential tryouts.  John indicated that multiple coaches can be available for tryouts. Kayo expressed that she could help manage the number of participants based on eligibility criteria (sibling preference, club transfer / prior experience, 12u).

  • Swimmers Promotion Process Elisa proposed a new process for coaches to communicate to Kayo when a child is ready to move up to the next group, so Kayo can formally notify parents. This aims to formalize the process and help parents move to new group practice times. Rich suggested having a standard schedule for promotions, such as the last week of every quarter, to make it more organized and give kids clear goals.

  • Pumpkin Races Elisa asked John about holding pumpkin races at the end of the month. The board responded enthusiastically and affirmatively, as it is a fun and well attended event. 

  • Dry Land Training in the Spring.  John suggested gauging interest from the kids, particularly the younger ones, to see if it would be of interest, noting the current conditions of cold and dark outdoor sessions. Rich suggested a spring start for such a program.

  • Swim Meets.  Ramya confirmed the next meet would be back at South Gate, which had recently undergone maintenance.  Ramya also highlighted the need for more people to sign up for Meet Marshal training. John York confirmed that Beth, Lelei, and Mary would be overseeing the November meet.

  • Member Policy and Waiver Signatures Yvonne shared updates re member waivers, noting they were closer to completion.  Elisa expressed a desire to track Waiver completion within TeamUnify.  Yvonne suggested that this be a function built into the new Member registration moving forward, but could look into a way to transpose waiver completion for current members.   (Kayo confirmed that they already added a note to each member's profile indicating waiver completion.)  Finally,  Elisa requested the board's help to enforce final waiver completions from non-compliant families.  

  • Holiday Party Planning Elisa suggested planning the annual holiday party for early December at Begg Pool, noting that the timing had worked well in previous years.

  • Social Media Strategy Yvonne presented a social media plan, including boosting engagement among current members, communicating important updates and swimmer achievements, and showcasing the team's culture to raise its profile within the South Bay. She proposed focusing on Facebook for informative updates due to its reach among parents, and Instagram for swimmer members, with a more visual, energetic tone. Yvonne outlined content ideas for both Facebook and Instagram, suggesting event amplification, local event participation, and post-event recaps for Facebook, while emphasizing the use of approved photos and encouraging photo sharing from team members. For Instagram, ideas included "swimmer of the month" features with Q&A sessions, quick tips from coaches, and "fun facts".  Rich suggested creating an alumni section on the social media platforms to spotlight former swimmers who have gone on to good colleges or careers. Elisa also proposed using social media as a way to facilitate future alumni events, such as meetups for current and former swimmers.

  • Member Survey Elisa proposed sending out the team survey in November, specifically around November 1st, with the goal of sharing the results at the holiday party in early December.