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To Our Valued Parents and Swimmers:
As many of you know, our Mariska is married to Navy LT Pete Field,
who has been stationed for school at NPS and now DLI for the past
three years. As happens frequently with our military
families, we are nearing the occasion when it will be time
(tear-in-eye) to say goodbye to another cherished and respected
member of our coaching staff and swim team family. Some of
you may not know that this is Mariska’s second tour of duty
with our team. She was the first assistant coach that I hired
to take over the fledgling “developmental group” for
three-plus years over ten years ago. I remember being
introduced to this youngish, bubbly teenager (a student at CSUMB)
and staff lifeguard at Pattullo Swim Center (where she met her
future husband), and knew after our first interview that she
“Got the Seaside Way” of doing things
immediately.
Those first years witnessed our greatest growth spurt, having
grown from a team of about 25 dedicated swimmers to over fifty
swimmers and their families in a very short time, thanks greatly to
the enthusiasm and competence that Mariska brought to the team
every day.
Our team has always sustained its growth primarily by word of
mouth and when mothers and fathers heard about the exceptional
progress that Mariska was making with her new swimmers through
recognizing and appreciating the individual developmental needs of
each of her swimmers was an absolute key to her successes. New
swimmers and their families flocked to the team. During this
time we hired two new coaches to handle the growth of the team and
Mariska was able to successfully pass on the skills-drills
development, the training components, and the team-as-family
concept that we have worked so hard to establish. But the
passion that she brought to the team then as she has brought to us
now was not as easily reproduced. For many years after
she left, the team was a little stagnant, but still growing
slightly over time. We were fortunate to again benefit from the
arrival of another Smiling, passionate, energized, and experienced
coach with the arrival of Coach Lorna who was nearly able to stay
until Mariska was to return to our team for her second
go-around.
Of course Mariska and I stayed in contact for the ten years and
two children(now three) and several stations-of-duty between her
first foray into the coaching life. And of course Mariska
stayed close to the pool and coaching; working in San Diego for an
elite team and coach for a number of years and then in Japan with
the Seahawks (the Marshburns’ former team) for a similar
assignment. In our e-mails we compared notes as parent and
coach, and I witnessed the teenage coaching phenom grow-up in front
of my internet eyes. Her enthusiasm remained and her coaching
skills continued to develop and improve. And we both waited
(impatiently) for her to return home to her first team. As
fate would have it, her arrival coincided with another coach
departing and we were grateful to fill the position
immediately.
Now, here we are, in the middle of our greatest growth ever, our
grandest success ever, and our shining hour as a team and community
presence. With our strongest families, coaches and swimmers ever,
we are faced with another of life’s passages. It is not
going to be easy, but we must begin to plan for Mariska’s and
her families’ transition. And it appears that once
again we are blessed with good fortune and timing. During a
time when our team is expanding, another local coach has become
available. Johanna Brown; Army brat, born in Germany and
parents retired here, reared in the Aquatics programs of the
Valley, an ex-teammate of Coach Kristi, Pacific Swimming All-Star
Team Head Coach, Western Zones Head Coach, 10-un Camp Staff member,
11-12 Camp Staff Member, and Pacific Swimming Leadership Camp Staff
Member, has agreed to join our elite staff. I have personally
told her that she has big shoes to fill upon Mariska’s
transition. Nevertheless, she is willing for the challenge
and we are able to bring her into the team early enough for her to
observe, take notes, acclimate, and slowly become part of our
winning ways. Johanna will embark on this challenge on
Thursday, April 1st. In the beginning she will shadow
Mariska at practice and with the guidance of Mariska and Kristi
begin to take on new responsibilities to bring-about a smooth,
seamless transition that will keep us moving forward in the
direction that the staff and Board of Directors have mapped out for
our future.
Please join me in thanking Mariska for her dedication and
assistance to our children and our community for the last three
years and the previous three years. Recognize also, that this
transition, thanks to your support, kindness, and companionship to
Mariska and her family, will make this the most difficult
transition of her young career, this is a testament to how strong
the ties are that bind our families to each other and the
staff.
At the same time, please Welcome Johanna Brown to her new swim
team family and appreciate that she too will be feeling loss from
leaving a number of swimmers and supportive parents behind.
Ultimately, this transition will benefit us all immediately.
Thank you
Coach Ken & The Board of Directors
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