Diddy League
What is the Diddy League?
The Diddy League is a club competition for 9-12 year olds (age as at 13th Sept) where the swimmers are selected to represent the club.
The country is divided into different Regional Leagues for clubs to compete in. Wellington has a team that competes in the Nuneaton & District League (3 rounds). The top 6 teams placed after these 3 rounds go through to a Final.
More information about the league and the draws can be found HERE.
When are the Diddy League Rounds?
Round 1 – 12st April 2008
Round 2 – 10th May 2008
Round 3 –28th June 2008
Nuneaton Regional Final – 13th September 2008
Which swimmers can swim?
The 9 yr olds have 25m individual races in Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke & Freestyle plus two relays.
The 10 year olds have 25m Butterfly & 50m individual races in backstroke, breaststroke & freestyle plus two relays.
The 11 & 12 year olds have 50m Individual races in the 4 strokes plus two relays.
There are also Girls & boys 8x25m freestyle relays (2 from each age group) & a 8x25m Canon freestyle relay (1 Girl/1 Boy each age group) as the last race.
The league restricts swimmers to two individual races in their own age group and one swim up, 9 year olds cannot swim up. There are no restrictions on the number of relays that can be swum. In both teams the club will select the fastest team possible therefore some swimmers may only be selected for Relay swims. The club sees this as a team competition and all swimmers are asked to swim regardless of how much or how little they will be doing on the night.
How do the swimmers get selected?
The majority of selections are taken from the Club Championship results, PB’s and the Time Trials Galas. However, other competition results are looked at e.g. the Shropshire County Championships, Open Meets, etc. The teams are selected by the Team Manager & Coaches. On the night of the leagues the selection process of swimmers to swim events is passed to the chaperones of the respective teams. Sometimes due to illnesses, no shows etc things have to be re-jigged on the night.
How do the swimmers know they have been selected?
The teams will be posted on the Club Notice Board (opposite the Boys change rooms), and on the website.
What do I do if selected?
You need to indicate if you are available to swim by ticking or crossing your name on the board. The earlier that you can do this the better as it helps to give reserve swimmers more notice that they are required to swim.
What do I do if a swimmer can not make it on the day due to illness etc?
The best thing to do is to contact the Team Manager. Team Manager is Erica Tozer (07789832423) or Kerry Barnett (07779713966).
How do I get to the Diddy Leagues?
For all the Nuneaton Diddy Leagues there is always a coach laid on to take the team to the location. Details of the travel arrangements will be on the Selection Sheet. The coaches pick up and drop off the team from outside Wellington Leisure Centre. As a club enough time is allowed for travel with a bit extra in case people are late but please try and arrive at the coach at the time requested. If you are not wishing to travel on the coach please let the coaches or Team Managers know or write next to your name on the board “own transport”. No food is allowed on the coaches going to the Leagues and on the way back all rubbish should either be taken home with you or put into the rubbish sacks provided by the team managers. All coaches should be clear of any rubbish before swimmers are let off the coaches to go home. Any swimmers that have not been collected (due to parents being late etc) will be looked after by the team staff until someone collects them. Please bear in mind that the team staff do not want to be waiting around and would appreciate people collecting the swimmers to be there on time.
Can Parents watch & travel to the Diddy league?
All parents are welcome to attend the galas and support the teams. When it comes to the Regional finals, there is a restriction on the number of tickets that the club gets allocated for supporters. These tickets are distributed out and details appear nearer to the finals once the numbers of tickets are known.
In terms of travel obviously the swimmers & team staff have priority on seats on the coaches. Next priority goes to the officials that we have to take with us (usually two time keepers & 1 judge). If there is still room on the coach then we open it up to parents with the parents of the 9 year olds getting priority. There is a cost to anyone travelling on the coach, usually £2.00. It is asked that once the venue of the league has been reached parents on the coach disembark and allow the team staff to get on with the job of leading the team through to the pool. Once the team is on the poolside no parents are allowed on the poolside as it becomes a Child Protection issue.
What do I need to bring on the night & what is expected of the swimmers?
All swimmers are advised, as a minimum, to bring with them a T-shirt, something to wear on their feet (flip flops), 2 towels (one for poolside and a spare for afterwards to get dry!), a Wellington hat if a hat is worn & two pairs of goggles (in case one pair break). It is also advisable to have plenty of fluids to drink as performances can drop if swimmers get dehydrated. If the swimmers need to leave the poolside at any time during the Diddy league they must inform the Chaperones first so that they are aware of where everyone is. The swimmers are also asked to behave on poolside and to leave the poolside tidy with no litter. It is a good idea to bring some food for the trip home as the swimmers are always hungry after a gala.
If there is any other queries please contact Erica Tozer or Kerry Barnett for further information.