Coaches and Team Reps,

Three weeks to City Meet. Below is some key information, timelines, scholarships, and other information as we move closer to City Meet 2022.

CITY MEET UPDATE

The GKAISA Championship Meet will be held July 21-23 at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center on the University of Tennessee campus. The format will be as follows:

Thursday, July 21: Preliminaries

Afternoon Session: Ages 10-Under

Friday, July 22: Preliminaries

Morning Session: 11-Up

Saturday, July 23

Finals Session: All Ages

USA Swimming Rules regarding Technical Suits will be in effect. A list of approved swimsuits is posted on the GKAISA website.

Entry Fees

Entry fees will be $20 per swimmer this year and must be paid through the GKAISA website with Team City Meet Registration.

Tent Rentals

Teams will rent tents through the GKAISA website with Meet Registration. Because of increased labor costs for set up and removal (Sunday due to scouts) and the inclusion of weight packages to secure the tents, tent prices have increased slightly.

20x40 is $560

20x30 is $430

20x20 is $300

Please be sure that you include your tent size and tent payment in your team registration.

The deadline for ordering or changing your tent order is Tuesday, July 12^th. Payment will be made with City Meet Registration.

If you are requesting a different size than your team has had in the past or if you are requesting a different location, please call or text Harry Whiteside at 865.936.5454 or Ben Duby at 423.231.2982.

Parking Passes

Parking will be available in the garage across from Allan Jones at the cost of $10 per day.

Please have your parents order passes through your team and submit the number and payment when you register for City Meet. Be sure you specify the day for each of the passes. For Finals Saturday: If you reasonably believe that a swimmer will qualify for Finals, please encourage that swimmer's parent to purchase a Saturday pass. We will have a very limited number available for purchase on Friday for Saturday finals.

If you have parents who do not want to purchase parking, parking will be available at the Metron Center lot off Kingston Pike (approximately 1 mile away near Tyson Park). No shuttle service will be provided.

GKAISA T-Shirts

T-shirts will be ordered when your team registers for City Meet and available for pick-up at City Meet.

Please take orders from your parents and submit one order for your team. Cost for shirts is $15. Sizes are Youth S, M, L and Adult S, M, L, XL, XXL and XXXL. Be sure you specify the day for each of the shirts since there is a different shirt for swimmers 10-Under and 11-Up.

Heat Sheets

Heat sheets will be sold on each day of the Meet. Information on Heat Sheet Ad Sales was sent out Tuesday, June 28^th. Please be sure to encourage Heat Sheet Ad Sales with your parents who have businesses or who want to recognize their swimmers. Heat Sheet Ad Sales help us defray costs of City Meet and help provide funds for scholarships.

Hospitality

We are asking teams to help with hospitality costs. When registering, we are asking that teams pay $10 per coach who is planning to be on deck for the weekend. The parents at KRC graciously provide meals and snacks for our coaches and officials each day. As food costs have increased and as restaurants are less willing to donate, we are asking teams to help with these costs.

Also, on Wednesday between noon and 3:00 pm or Thursday morning, we are asking each team to please bring 3 boxes of 12-count cans of soft drinks to Allan Jones. If your team does not wish to bring drinks, you can pay $25 with your team registration so that they can be purchased.

Scholarships

We have four competitive scholarships this year. In addition to the Tom Schumann Service Award, the Bill Lauer Service Award, James Rich Courage-in-the-Face-of-Adversity Award and there is now a Terry Gardner Memorial Scholarship to honor his dedication and achievement in the aquatic community.

Recipients will be recognized at City Meet. The Head Coach of a team may nominate one girl and one boy from their team for the Tom Schumann and Bill Lauer Service awards. Nominees are asked to write an essay regarding the meaning of summer swim to them and how it has benefitted them.

The James Rich Courage Award, the funds for which have been donated by friends of James Rich, will be presented to a swimmer in the 15-18 age group who has either demonstrated great courage in the face of adversity or who has shown leadership in a difficult situation. The nomination must be made by the head coach.

These applications are due via email submission by noon on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 to GKAISA President Breckenridge Morgan at [email protected]. Please include a photo (head shot) of the nominee.

The Terry Gardner Memorial Award has been established by the family of Terry Gardner, and the recipient will be selected by Terry’s Family and awarded at City Meet.

Selection Process for the Terry Gardner Memorial Award:

A screener will be appointed by the Gardner Family. The screener’s primary responsibility is to ensure that the identity of applicants remain unknown to the family so that the selection process for the scholarship is “blind”. The screener will receive applications and make copies of each, assigning an ID code to both the copy and original application. Each page of the copied application will then be made “blind” by blacking out names, teams, and other identifying information. The family will then receive the “blind” applications to make their decision. After the recipient is chosen, the family will notify the screener of their ID code and the screener will use the original copy to determine the name of the recipient.

Application Process for the Terry Gardner Memorial Award:

The deadline for scholarship applications is Friday, July 15, 2022, at 12:00 PM. Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered. Complete applications must be returned to Tracy Long via email: [email protected] or mail to physical address: 9133 Carlton Circle, Knoxville, TN 37922.

Meet Invitation

Attached is the Meet Invitation.

Please keep on the lookout for additional details regarding this year’s Championship Meet as we start to update the 2022 City Meet page on the GKAISA website.

IMPORTANT DATES

Smoky Mountain Invitational: July 9-10, 2022 (Springbrook Park)

Scholarship nominations due: 

  July 13, 2022 Tom Schumann and Bill Lauer Service Awards and James Rich Courage Award.

  July 15 for Terry Gardner Memorial Award

Pre-Meet Deadlines (see Meet Invitation for greater details)

  Entry Meeting: July 13, 2022 @ 6:00 PM

  Entries due: July 13, 2022 @ 9:00 PM

  Entry changes deadline: July 16, 2022 @ 6:00 PM

Coaches Check-in for City Meet: July 21^st at Noon (building opens at this time)

GKAISA Championship Meet: July 21, 22 and 23, 2022

Fall General Membership Meeting: Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 7:00 pm (Location TBD)

Thank you for leading our swimmers – see you poolside soon.

Breckenridge S. Morgan

GKAISA President