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    www.nwalcertified.com website is OPEN + information update

    March 29th

    The 2022 NWAL Swim Season is here! Are you busy yet? We hope your registrations are going well and you are looking forward to a return to a normal season. We have some exciting things going on with NWAL and cannot wait to see kids in the water. Tonight 3/29/2022 the NWAL Board is meeting to sanction a slate of mid-season and post-season invitationals. Invitational information will be posted shortly after.

    Your 2022 NWAL contacts to help with questions and concerns are:

    President - Jason Green

    1st Vice President / Officials- Olen Walton

    2nd Vice President/ Computers - Gina Hall

    Treasurer - Karen Benefield

    Secretary - Suzy Nauert

    Compliance - Lester Novak

    Eligibility - Jonathan Armstrong

    The NWAL Certified site is now up and running! www.nwalcertified.org We are still working through some bugs, so please be patient and send any issues to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. We will resolve the issue if we can or escalate it to our programmers if we can't fix it right away.

    Reactivate your account by logging in

    Please notify your returning personnel to log into www.nwalcertified.com for the 2022 season. Referees, Starters and returning Coaches only need to log in to re-activate their accounts. Stroke and Turn officials will need to login and take a recertification test.

    New officials, coaches and volunteers - create an account on www.nwalcertified.com or we will not know who you are and cannot clear your background check.  Their account type will be General. They will then sign up for classes under the tab Class Sign Up.

    Get your background check done through Sterling Volunteers

    Please note that all coaches and officials, and all parent volunteers that will be in the water with the kids are required to have a background check prior to getting in the water with the kids. You can use the link on Swimtopia or in Certified to use our system ($18.00 paid to Sterling Volunteers) or we will accept current background checks from ISD's, Municipalities and other third part providers directly. We also accept current, unexpired USA Swimming deck passes. 

    Training classes 

    New officials start with Stroke and Turn SNT training

    There are both online SNT classes and in-person classes on Saturdays. Please note that we will not have on-deck trainings for the SNT class. We have found that new officials learn more from the videos and on-deck with a mentor helping them than the hour or so they get as a group with a trainer. We are counting on our returning officials to train the new officials as one on one guidance is much more effective. 

    Existing officials - SNT/STR

    For returning officials looking to move up in certification, please log in to your account, then go to Class Sign Up. The classes you are eligible for will appear under this tab. SNT officials moving up to Starter do NOT need to take the SNT recertification test. Please note that the Starter class will require you to attend both a lecture and an on-deck session before you can take you test. Please attend the lecture class before you attend the on-deck class. Classes for SNT, STR and REF during the week will be online. There will be in person classes on Saturdays. The SNT class is 2-1/2 hours, the STR class is 1-1/2 hours and the REF class is 2 hours. We allow about an hour for the STR on deck portion. All lengths of classes are approximate. If you have any questions about these classes or your certification, please email [email protected]. He will respond as soon as he is able.

    Computer Training
    Those taking the Computer class, please note that we will have 2 types of classes this year. There will be 2 classes for new users and 2 refresher classes for returning users.
    NEW to the Computer Role:  April 4 and April 14 both from 7:00pm-8:30pm
    Returning Computer Personnel Refresher:  April 21 and April 26 both from 7:00pm-8:00pm
    The class schedule on www.nwalcertified.com will not show a difference in the signups with all four classes listed as COM, so keep this e-mail to know the difference.
    Team Representatives Training
    Anyone serving as a Team Representative needs to take the COC/Team Rep class and take the Team Rep test to be certified. It's a good idea to send Assistant Team Representatives and anyone who will be serving as an alternate Team Representative during meets to this class and get them to take the certification test.  Without a Team Representative your team cannot access the Team Rep panel on nwalcertified to print badges, approve waivers, etc.  You need a certifed Team Representative.
    Clerk of Course Training
    New Clerks of Course will need to take the COC/Team Rep class and take the COC test to be certified. 
    Coaches
    Coaches are required to take a background check and pass the coaches test.  Coaches are expected to read and know the rule book available on nwal.org.  We want them to know the material before they take the test so they only get five (5) tries.  They must ask for a reset each time they fail - [email protected].
    Class Schedule/Cancellations
    Please note that classes that only have 1 or 2 people signed up may be cancelled. If this happens, either the trainer or the officials chair will notify those that are signed up and ask them to move their signup to another class. 
    WAIVERS
    Waivers will open on April 1st and will close on April 30th. Team reps need to monitor the open waivers on a daily basis. Kids cannot get in the water for a new team until the waiver has been approved. Do not sell them merchandise or allow them to participate until the waiver is approved. If the waiver is denied, NWAL is not responsible for reimbursing parents that bought team apparel from the team they were trying to swim for. Also, insurance will not cover them until the waiver is approved and they are fully registered. 
    As a reminder, the reason listed for waivers should be one of the approved waivers reasons in our rule book.  If a swimmer lives in a neighborhood that is not zoned for a swim team they do not need a waiver.  NWAL reserves the right to approve or deny a waiver, even if the other teams in the Divisions have approved/denied the waiver.
    Best Regards, 
    Olen Walton 
    1st Vice President Officials Chair

    Jason Green

    President


    Northwest Aquatic League
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