About Cullman Swim Team
Cullman Swim Team
2009 TVC Champions
Cullman Swim Team first developed in the 1960's with Mayor Donald Green coaching. Many families contributed to the success and the growth of the team, including the Richters, Lovelaces, Hamners, Buettners, Werners, Morrises, Clemmons, Willifords, Dillehays, Teeters, and Turners. Other families added to this foundation. Even in its early stages, CST produced quite a few outstanding swimmers. Now, in 2009, many of our CST parents are former swimmers for Cullman.
We are a summer recreation league team under District II of the Alabama Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA). While Cullman Parks and Recreation provides primary funding and use of facilities, the parents organization provides the necessary voluntary manpower to provide resource management, ensures effective planning, and supports the coach in furthering the goals of the team. Parents also serve as officials, timers, and the many other jobs needed to host swim meets, host the swim team party and banquet, and generally add as much as possible to the Park and Rec program. It is the cooperation between these two different entities that provides the swimmers with many benefits that would otherwise be unavailable.
CST competes in two leagues during the summer months. The ARPA league, District II, consists of teams from Albertville, Arab, Boaz, Decatur/Hartselle, Ft. Payne, Guntersville, Madison, and Scottsboro. The Tennessee Valley Conference (TVC) includes Sheffield, Jasper, Florence, and Oneonta. North Alabama has some great competition and lots of fun with other teams and swim families.
To swim on the Cullman Swim Team, each swimmer must first qualify. Tryouts for the 2010 summer season will be held in May in the indoor pool. Please see the details posted on the home page. Eligible ages are 6-18 years old. During tryouts, the coaches will evaluate the swimmers in freestyle and backstroke to determine readiness. Swimmers should be able to swim without hanging onto the lane ropes/side or bouncing off the bottom of the pool at least 25 yards (one lap) for ages 8 and under, and 50 yards (2 laps) for 9 and up. Some swimmers may be ready for swim lessons rather than swim team.
All fees are collected by CST. These fees cover our registration fee to Park and Rec, meet supplies such as ribbons, cards, labels, etc, trophies, printing, directories, computers and software, entry fees, and a tee shirt for each swimmer. We do not require any fundraising events! Costs for families other than the registration fees include suits, goggles, and fins as well as other optional purchases such as team pictures, banquet tickets, extra tee shirts, and more. We have an annual CST Family Pool Party in July that is always a blast!
After many years of planning, the city of Cullman now has a state-of-the-art facility, Cullman Wellness and Aquatic Center, located at 1636 Field of Miracles Drive. This amazing facility includes an 8 lane outdoor pool where we host 5-6 home meets each summer, outdoor waterpark area, a 6 lane indoor pool, indoor play area, giant hot tub, large workout room (home of OneFitness), double wide gym, locker rooms, massage therapy, and a meeting room with a caterer's kitchen. While most of our CST families are members of CWAC, it is not a requirement. In our first year at the CWAC, our team burst at the seams with 126 swimmers, we hosted the ARPA State Meet in conjunction with Cullman Park and Rec, and added a Dive Team that competed very well at the District and State level.
