Hello Everyone,
The Amateur Kiteboarders Association’s (“AKA”) 2016-2017 season is about to commence and promises to be very exciting.
Let us start by thanking everyone who was able to attend last Saturday’s parents’ meeting. For those of you who were not able to attend, we covered a lot of ground. So we will try to summarize the key points covered in the meeting. But before we do, let us start with a few important announcements and key dates to mark in your calendars:
#1 Announcement: Registration/Membership Sign Up:
You can either register with me by email or with the registration sheet that Coach Hurdman will have at Friday’s practice. I need Child’s first and last name, date of birth, age, cellphone, email address. For parents, I need the following: first and last name, cellphone, email address, street address, town, zip code. We can be reached at: 617-335-0311 or michael@amateurkiteboarders.com.
#2 Announcement: Team Practice
Our first team practice is scheduled for this Friday September 30, 2016. Practice is from 4:30pm until 6:00pm and will be led by Coach Hurdman. Please meet in front of the boat house. Each Friday afternoon until the last season practice, Friday May 19, 2017, there will be a 90 minute afternoon team practice from 4:30pm until 6:00pm. Please remember to bring and wear your helmets. You will not be allowed to participate in a Falcons practice without a helmet.
Summary of key Points Covered in 1st AKA Parents’ Meeting
1. Who Is the AKA: The Amateur Kiteboarders Association is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation with a board of directors that includes Karla Barrera-Morstad, Michael Flaherty, Emilio Fournier, Andy Hurdman, Pepi Suarez and Carlos Trapaga. With the exception of Coach Hurdman who is being compensated for coaching the Dorado Falcons, no one on the board of directors is being compensated for their activities on behalf of the AKA.
2. Season Calendar 2016-2017: (For calendar details, please see the PDF Calendar attached with the email). Calendar highlights are the following: Our season will commence with our first team practice on Friday Sept. 30. Over the course of the season, there will be 30 Friday practices and 7 monthly competitions starting in November. Our first team trip to Anegada is planned for spring vacation April 8-12. The season ending championship will be held on Sunday May 21, 2017 and the team awards dinner for Saturday May 27. Our second team trip is planned for the Triple-S Competition held up at Cape Hatteras in early June.
3. Season Tuition: The 2016-2017 season tuition is $1,200 per teammate payable in three installments: $400 by 10/15/16; $400 by 1/16/17 and $400 by 3/15/17. The final tuition installment could be reduced if the number of enrolled Dorado Falcons exceeds 15 members and/or if the average number of outside competitors per competition exceeds last year’s average of four. (For families with more than one child on the team, the tuition is reduced by 25% for the second child and 50% for the third child). Tuition covers the following Dorado Falcons Team Costs and the Costs for 7 Competitions:
Dorado Falcons Team Costs = $10,000 or $667/teammate
– 30 team practices of 1.5 hours per practice
– Team Helmet (if you already have a helmet, tuition will be reduced by $60.00)
– Team Rash Guards and Board Shorts
– Team Awards Dinner and Trophies
Costs for 7 Competitions = $9,975 or $525/competitor or $75/competitor/competition
– Ambulance
– Judges
– Food & Drink
– Trophies & Medals
The registration fee for outside competitors will be $75 per competitor per competition. Last year we averaged four outside competitors per competition.
The tuition cost does not cover any of the AKA’s operating expenses nor does the tuition subsidize anyone else’s tuition or enrollment costs.
4. Learning: This year’s team-focus will be on Freestyle, Racing and Safety. While the team will continue to work on freestyle kiteboarding, in order to develop more well-rounded kiteboarders, this year the team will begin working on racing. In fact, our first competition will be a racing competition. As an FYI, kiteboard racing was just recently added to the youth Olympics for 2018. Finally, but not least important, Coach Hurdman and Phil Morstad will be integrating into the weekly practices, a program of safety training.
5. Planned Team Trips: The AKA is planning two trips for the Dorado Falcons: one to Anegada over spring break and the other to Cape Hatteras in early June. At the Triple S we are going to try and have the Dorado Falcons team participate in an amateur competition. In addition to having fun, part of the purpose of these trips is to have our kids learn to set a goal, in this case earning the money to pay for their respective portion of each trip (airfare and hotel), and then work to achieve that goal.
6. Goodwinds Equipment Discounts: During the season, members of the Dorado Falcons team will be entitled to the following equipment purchase discounts: 15% off of kites and 10% off all boards. I also want to share with everyone that the team is also receiving a significant discount from Goodwinds on the coaching rate for Coach Hurdman’s time.
7. Kiteboarding Clinics: In late February, Goodwinds is running its Dorado Kite Experience Clinics which will be staffed with highly recognized professional kiteboarders. Our plan is to have these professionals work with the Dorado Falcons and maybe even help in judging one of our competitions held during that week.
8. Safety Matters: While kiteboarding is an extremely fun sport, as we all know it can also be extremely dangerous at times. As teachers, coaches and parents, we would be remiss not to take practical steps to minimize risk and enhance the safety of our children where and when we can. Toward this end, as mentioned above, we are incorporating safety training into the Falcons weekly practices. In addition, we are requiring all Dorado Falcons to wear helmets during Falcons practice. If a Falcon is not wearing a helmet, Coach Hurdman will not let them practice. We have built the cost of owning helmet into the tuition. So if you do not have a helmet, then prior to this Friday’s practice please go to Goodwinds to get one. If you own a helmet and wish to use it, then we will reduce your tuition by $60.00. With respect to competitions, helmets will be required at all competitions and the AKA will have an ambulance on hand for each competition.