Not sure who actually said it, but the idea that you really get an idea of who your friends are when the going gets tough is a classic indication of concluding just that: knowing exactly who your friends are!
We all know the road for start-ups isn't all poops and giggles, right? Anyone who has read the book, Start Up, a story about an electronic tablet developed by Go Corp's Jerry Kaplan and friends way before the iPad was ever conceived... well, it was a great idea with a fair share of obstacles to overcome. In the end, Jer and Co just couldn't get the darn thing off the ground. There are a number of theories or reasonable explanations as to why—not enough start up capital, not enough engineers to work the various bugs out, not enough connections in the highest of places, etc. etc.—but in the end, after I read this crash and burn tale, I came to the simplistic, perhaps naive idea that it was simply a condition that Go didn't have enough "real" friends that were ready to stand and deliver with Jerry and his inner circle when the poop hit the fan. They all jumped off the bus before the thing had a chance to fly or crash. Of course they were doomed!
I know a similar story... one that involves my dad, Bob, who started a company in a then infant Silicon Valley in 1967. He had a very similar story to Jerry's. A fledging young company with a great product and a lot of brilliant people. They faced their fair share of adversity and in so many ways, could have gone under in an instant, especially when they hit the slumping early '70's and '80's... However, in the end, in understanding my dad's story vs the one I read about Go, I understood just how important these inner circle of "friends" were. When my dad and his group sold the company, Finnigan, to Thermo Electron (based in Boston) in 1991, the most fascinating part of the story to me wasn't how much they were ultimately able to settle on with the sale to Thermo, but the fact that every one of the original members of the original team that started the company back in 1967... were still there! How many times does that happen?
Of course Finnigan was going to make it. These founders were bound and determined to see this thing through, no matter what. True friends, through thick and thin.
Race Swami seems to have a good core of people, both inside and outside the "inner circle." One can only hope as we traverse these sticky situations, our friends both near and far will bear with us and realize that if we simply problem solve our way through these trying times, that we will all be the better for it and our bond will grow stronger. Working together. Listening. Considering other alternatives. Thinking outside the box. Having the capacity to laugh even through the most adverse of times. It's a must for a fledging young up and comer. There are few stories of the easy road because rare are these times when one just waltzes through life... life tends to get it's sausage-like fingers into everything eventually.
Some stories end so awesome-like. Others, maybe not so much... But the biggest difference between the two just might be the friends who either decide to stay aboard to ride out the storm (damn the consequences!) or jump off to save one's own hyde. I'd like to think Race Swami's got the lifers on board.
Race Swami is certainly determined to fight our next fight(s)(s)(s)... as they will all surely present themselves to us as we move forward, month to month—and day to day. And we'll do it together! We love our team... we love it's understated, underdog-like demeanor. We've got scrappers who will go the distance. And who knows... maybe we'll even be the next great story! Little swim club out of Rose Park... delivers on it's mission to serve the community.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Great Week for Race Swami!
Well Swami Fan(s), it's been quite some time since our last entry. Lots has been going on and the bloggers of Race Swami Central apologize!
Top of the order should be the fact our kids had some great days of training this past week. Junior Swami looked tough and they took everything the coaches threw at 'em. Be it coach Mark or coach Erika, they were ready for anything. Senior Swami numbers continue to grow as more kids come back to the pool. They have big goals and aspirations set for the summer meets and they showed it by working through some challenging stuff.
We also wanted to say goodbye and good luck to coach Sam, who took a summer job in California as a river rafting guide. We wish Sam all the best and look forward to his possible return in the fall.
Truth be told, all kinds of stuff has been happening, least of which the fact that we finally completed the tedious task of preparing paperwork for the IRS. With the help of our awesome attorney, we sent forth our application for the 501(c)k nonprofit status approval and now it's "just" a 90 day wait until we find out what the deal is. If we make it to the Pile 1 we're good to go. If we go to the Pile 2 or, worse—the Pile 3, it means a red flag and we're likely waiting for 6 to 9 months more. From what we've been counseled, no one ever wants to go to Pile 3 because Pile 3 essentially means you are screwed.
On another front, USA Swimming blessed us with becoming one of their latest officially sanctioned clubs in the annals of USA Swimming! Translation: Race Swami (club code: RACE) is official! If you have been following us on Twitter (twitter.com/raceswami) then you'd know we were busy the last coupla weekends... First, there was a local clinic at the U. It was general stuff covering stroke techniques/drills/trends. It also covered nutrition, dryland and sharing ideas. The day prior, we met with USA Western States rep Bill Krumm at Red Iguana near Rose Park and covered a number of topics having to do with being a new club with no money, being a new club with very few members, being a new club with a dumpster full of pool rental costs, and a new club with a pretty groovy business model. Bill had some great ideas, but it was unfortunate he didn't give us an envelope full of Benjamins, which would have helped pay for said pool rental costs, but not really. We also saw Bill a week later in Twin Falls, Idaho, as we took the club leadership and business course to make the club sanctioning complete. It was a terrific course and we took a lot home... reenergized with an ever-growing "to do" list.
Here's another point of contention, with apologies to the reader(s) for going off on another tangent: Salt Lake County pool rental fees. The question? Why so high? Though we haven't undergone an extensive Google search on the average pool rental means nationwide, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Salt Lake County is charging far too much and is making off like a bandit. In contrast, having talked to a few coaches and club administrators in other markets—Park City, the Bay Area, DC—they are reaping the luxury of much better hourly rental costs—or at least, fair rental costs.
In a nutshell, we're trying to deal with these costs while balancing the need to make swimming affordable to west side residents. So far, neither has been an easy task. On the one hand, the rental costs aren't going anywhere any time soon. Until county rec officials come to their senses and figure out this is growth-binding shackles their bestowing on fledging new businesses, they'll keep those costs high and smile while they happily take our $$. We'll see how Plan B plays out... Don't wait here because things are still in the infancy stage, but let's just say the little guys around the county have a plan...
As for garnering more kids from the communities of Rose Park, Glendale and Fairpark, it's been slow going. The Race Swami Clinic afforded the chance for some great kids come out and give swimming a try. However, out of the 11 kids we hosted for three days, not one has signed up to become a Rising Swami. Again, we have a plethora of ideas and hope to implement all as we move forward with the club.
In the meantime, our current Swamis are swimming well. The last meet (OTAC) was not huge by any means, but it was good for our kids to get back into racing, long course, no less. Now we set our sights on the summer training in June. Our next meet is the SYAC meet at the Steiner East pool. Then it's on to the Florida Keys for many of our kids, along with the head coach Matt for a Race Club camp. After that, Amelia and Autumn head to the Bay Area for the Santa Clara International Meet, now part of the Grand Prix series sponsored by USA Swimming and Speedo. Autumn will swim at the DACA Open meet in nearby Cupertino while Amelia competes with the fastest swimmers in the world at the legendary George Haines pool.
All the while, we'll be training hard and getting many of our Swamis back into shape after brief hiatus' of various spring sporting adventures. We hope we can connect with our Rose Park roots during these summer months—service projects, clinics, mentoring and just becoming a larger component to the communities west of I-15 in Salt Lake City.
More to come! Stay tuned. Smile!
Top of the order should be the fact our kids had some great days of training this past week. Junior Swami looked tough and they took everything the coaches threw at 'em. Be it coach Mark or coach Erika, they were ready for anything. Senior Swami numbers continue to grow as more kids come back to the pool. They have big goals and aspirations set for the summer meets and they showed it by working through some challenging stuff.
We also wanted to say goodbye and good luck to coach Sam, who took a summer job in California as a river rafting guide. We wish Sam all the best and look forward to his possible return in the fall.
Truth be told, all kinds of stuff has been happening, least of which the fact that we finally completed the tedious task of preparing paperwork for the IRS. With the help of our awesome attorney, we sent forth our application for the 501(c)k nonprofit status approval and now it's "just" a 90 day wait until we find out what the deal is. If we make it to the Pile 1 we're good to go. If we go to the Pile 2 or, worse—the Pile 3, it means a red flag and we're likely waiting for 6 to 9 months more. From what we've been counseled, no one ever wants to go to Pile 3 because Pile 3 essentially means you are screwed.
On another front, USA Swimming blessed us with becoming one of their latest officially sanctioned clubs in the annals of USA Swimming! Translation: Race Swami (club code: RACE) is official! If you have been following us on Twitter (twitter.com/raceswami) then you'd know we were busy the last coupla weekends... First, there was a local clinic at the U. It was general stuff covering stroke techniques/drills/trends. It also covered nutrition, dryland and sharing ideas. The day prior, we met with USA Western States rep Bill Krumm at Red Iguana near Rose Park and covered a number of topics having to do with being a new club with no money, being a new club with very few members, being a new club with a dumpster full of pool rental costs, and a new club with a pretty groovy business model. Bill had some great ideas, but it was unfortunate he didn't give us an envelope full of Benjamins, which would have helped pay for said pool rental costs, but not really. We also saw Bill a week later in Twin Falls, Idaho, as we took the club leadership and business course to make the club sanctioning complete. It was a terrific course and we took a lot home... reenergized with an ever-growing "to do" list.
Here's another point of contention, with apologies to the reader(s) for going off on another tangent: Salt Lake County pool rental fees. The question? Why so high? Though we haven't undergone an extensive Google search on the average pool rental means nationwide, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Salt Lake County is charging far too much and is making off like a bandit. In contrast, having talked to a few coaches and club administrators in other markets—Park City, the Bay Area, DC—they are reaping the luxury of much better hourly rental costs—or at least, fair rental costs.
In a nutshell, we're trying to deal with these costs while balancing the need to make swimming affordable to west side residents. So far, neither has been an easy task. On the one hand, the rental costs aren't going anywhere any time soon. Until county rec officials come to their senses and figure out this is growth-binding shackles their bestowing on fledging new businesses, they'll keep those costs high and smile while they happily take our $$. We'll see how Plan B plays out... Don't wait here because things are still in the infancy stage, but let's just say the little guys around the county have a plan...
As for garnering more kids from the communities of Rose Park, Glendale and Fairpark, it's been slow going. The Race Swami Clinic afforded the chance for some great kids come out and give swimming a try. However, out of the 11 kids we hosted for three days, not one has signed up to become a Rising Swami. Again, we have a plethora of ideas and hope to implement all as we move forward with the club.
In the meantime, our current Swamis are swimming well. The last meet (OTAC) was not huge by any means, but it was good for our kids to get back into racing, long course, no less. Now we set our sights on the summer training in June. Our next meet is the SYAC meet at the Steiner East pool. Then it's on to the Florida Keys for many of our kids, along with the head coach Matt for a Race Club camp. After that, Amelia and Autumn head to the Bay Area for the Santa Clara International Meet, now part of the Grand Prix series sponsored by USA Swimming and Speedo. Autumn will swim at the DACA Open meet in nearby Cupertino while Amelia competes with the fastest swimmers in the world at the legendary George Haines pool.
All the while, we'll be training hard and getting many of our Swamis back into shape after brief hiatus' of various spring sporting adventures. We hope we can connect with our Rose Park roots during these summer months—service projects, clinics, mentoring and just becoming a larger component to the communities west of I-15 in Salt Lake City.
More to come! Stay tuned. Smile!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Perseverance
Inevitably, every fledging entity has its ample share of hardships. Race Swami is no different in that respect. People will hopefully come, and surely, many will move on. But whatever the case may be, we must not forget our mission here. The west side needs hope. We feel confident we can serve... it will surely be a difficult task, but we shall never waver... Our fleur pays an ode to our fair lady, Lily. The logo symbolizes perseverance. It harbors hope against the odds... it provides us solace that regardless of how tough life gets, that we "reboot," for tomorrow is a new day.
We'll ride this storm and though it may get dicey, we're ready for whatever it tosses our way. Whatever our fans can do to help... please do. We could use your support!
We'll ride this storm and though it may get dicey, we're ready for whatever it tosses our way. Whatever our fans can do to help... please do. We could use your support!
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