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Hi there Elite Otters Family and Extended Family,

 

As you all know it’s been a very unpredictable time, but in spite of not ever knowing what’s to come, we have all found a way to carry on. We live our lives and make plans and hope for the best. Our team does seem to have a distinctly better ability to roll with the punches and have faith that things happen for a reason (a true blessing in these times). HOWEVER, regardless of the most positive attitudes and the strongest faith, sometimes we get blindsided with some unexpected circumstances that hit us hard enough to affect our daily lives and our productive contribution to our communities. This is when we must come together for each other.

 

Coaches Laura and Josh (and all of the Ottesons for that matter) have willingly sacrificed time, money, energy, and probably some family fun, consistently for the Otter family. We all know the commitment it takes just to have a swimmer on the team, let alone to run a team?! But the love and dedication of the Ottesons is OBVIOUS. We see it every day at practice, we see it at every meet, we see it in the texts and emails, and equipment orders. They give it their all and it shows.

 

So here was our chance to come together and help out our team, put in our own time, hard work and effort to assist in putting on the first Otterfest swim meet! Coach Laura was planning and organizing, spreadsheets were flying, people were volunteering and training for new tasks and assignments, donations were generously made and gathered, organizing, CREATING FROM SCRATCH items needed for the meet was taking place, new timing/recording/scoring systems and licenses were required, we all jumped in! It was a ton of hard work just PREPARING for this meet. And throughout all of it, the financial commitment required behind the scenes was shouldered by the Ottesons. Just under $20,000 has ALREADY been extended to make this meet happen. Again, it was gladly, willingly, excitedly even, they took this on because it was all for the benefit of the TEAM and this was going to pave the way for many meets to come! And BOOM! COVID-19-CANCELED the literal night before, at the last possible moment ensuring that everything had already been purchased and scheduled; and any money coming in to offset this major financial burden was long gone. JUST LIKE THAT.

 

So how did our leaders respond to this awful nausea-inducing cruel twist of circumstances? Well, since they knew the caterer (hired for a required hospitality room for visiting coaches) had already purchased supplies and they didn't want to deflect any financial burden onto another business, THEY THREW A CATERED LUNCH PARTY FOR THE TEAM AND THEIR FAMILIES!!!! Not a party just for the half a dozen volunteers who REALLY gave their blood, sweat, and tears to the last minute preparations before the rug got swept out. NO, this party was for the whole team, and their families, come on down and swim and enjoy each other. Meanwhile, their family is out $20,000 with no indication of IF or when they will be able to recoup that. There's no rescheduled date, there's no alternative meet assigned, it's all up in the air!!

 

So once again, here's our chance! Let's show the Ottesons that we're committed to the team too! Our monthly fees are nominal when you think about the quality of coaching our kids receive! There's real camaraderie, there's love and dedication, there's fun and memories being made! Look at the talent on our team!! We all might be bragging at Olympics viewing parties some day that our kids swam with that kid, or heck, our own kids might be out there competing themselves someday! This team might be paving the way for a fully funded college tuition for more than a few of our kids! Let's help mitigate the financial clobbering our beloved coaches took so they can focus on what they love, making the Elite Otters the greatest swim team in the whole world.