1) By now, each club should have a Swim for Hope 2010 committee in place, and your pool and required facility rooms should be booked.

2) All clubs should start their local corporate fundraising drive as soon as possible. Many businesses have to go extra steps to get authorization for sponsorship and it all takes time.

3) Encourage 100% participation from your swimmers. Remember, your pre-competitive and younger swimmers are welcome and encouraged to participate in this great fund-raiser. They need not stay all night. Some clubs/parents have policies regarding swimmers under a certain age, and we certainly do not want to interfere.

4) Clubs will be responsible for setting up their Pledge Blitz in their own community.

5) Have a group of parents on hand the night of the swim to receive the money from each swimmer. The totals taken that night (together with the Blitz Day money) are what count for the Top Fundraising prizes.

6) Divide your registered club swimmers into relay teams. Your coaches can help with this. It is these teams who will swim together on the night of March 19th. The number of teams in your club will depend on how many swimmers you have participating.

7) Each club will be responsible for their own “Event Banner”. In the past, there were some really beautiful banners! These banners are used to display the names of the club’s corporate sponsors. The banner can be made on paper (or other appropriate material), and your participating swimmers should be responsible for the work on the banner.

8) Each club will be responsible for their own opening ceremonies. Local politicians, sponsors, community media, sports people or representatives of the Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Care Foundation’s Board of Directors in your town or city are all people who should be invited.

9) Clubs will be responsible for providing food/drink for their swimmers and volunteers for the night. Of course, if Subway is with us again, that will provide assistance in that area. For those areas where there is a Subway sponsor, you will be required to give them your numbers of swimmers.

10) Clubs will be responsible for providing entertainment for their swimmers for the night. Suggestions include: movies, board games, ping pong, setting up a big flip chart with lots of big paper, providing water colours or markers, and having the swimmers draw and set up an Art Exhibition. If there is room in your pool, there can also be diving contests or silly bathing suit contests during the night.

11) Clubs are responsible for setting up a rotation of volunteers (parents or other adult associates) to count the laps of each team so that accurate distance totals can be made. Volunteers will also be required to chaperone and feed the swimmers during the night.

12) Although the Organizing Committee will be providing the main prizes for the event, it is suggested that each club obtain prizes to give out during the evening as well. These prizes can be given to the ping pong champion, coloring contests, art exhibitions etc., or each club can put all their participating swimmers’ names in a hat and have prize draws throughout the night. If you have enough prizes, everyone can go home with something!

Good luck and have fun! If you have any questions please feel free to contact us!