FAQs

There are required equipments lists for each practice group. You can see the equipment lists on our website by clicking here: SWIM | WATER POLO | MASTERS.

For suits, apparel and training equipment we use Elsmore as our primary vendor. We are in the process of allowing you to purchase all apparel, suits, and equipment online.



You can visit Elsmore online by clicking here. Elsmore is the only place you can purchase team suits and logo apparel, but you may use any vendor for training equipment.

For NTA Team caps, please reach out to your swimmer's coach.

NTA only accepts credit card payments through the team website.

To sign up for Credit Card on our website you must login to your account using your email and password. Once you have logged in to the site, click the My Account button and add/edit your card.

Yes. Please view our Financial Assistance Policy here.

To see any current or existing charges on your account you must login to your account using your email and password. Once you have logged in to the site, click the All Invoices button to view your invoices and balance.

NTA bills for meets in arrears. Meet Fess will be billed upon completion of the meet. You will be billed based on your entries.

All athletes must submit a withdrawal notice in writing - 30 days prior to the last day. Refunds for Training Fees as a function of withdrawal from the team are accepted within the first week of the season. Athletes withdrawing from the season will need to try out to return to the team. The registration fee is non-refundable.

NTA will bill you for registration fees, meet fees, travel fees incurred on behalf of your swimmer and necessary fines within our Parent Volunteer Policy or Financial Policy. To view the NTA Parent Volunteer Policy, please click here.

To see any current or existing charges on your account you must login to your account using your email and password. Once you have logged in to the site, click the All Invoices button to view your invoices and balance.

NTA requires payments be made via the Online payment system via Credit Card.

Registration fees will be invoiced in full at the start of each season. Meet Fees will be billed upon completion of the event. Special fees such as team travel fees will be invoiced in the month in which they occur.

Payments are due to NTA on the 1st of the month.

NTA does not offer any kind of installment plan.

This means you have outstanding fees on your account and a payment is due.

To see any current or existing charges on your account you must login to your account using your email and password. Once you have logged in to the site, click the All Invoices button to view your invoices and balance.

The NTA Board of Directors meets once a month except for the month of August. Meeting schedules are posted on the Board of Directors page of the website here.

Each Board Member is available via email at the link on the Board of Directors page on the website, here. In addition, contact information for each Board Member is available from the team directory published once a year.

All NTA Board Meetings are open meetings and may be attended by any NTA member in good standing at the time of the meeting.

Any NTA member may bring an item to the Board of Directors during the New Business portion of the NTA Board Meeting Agenda. New Business is on the agenda for every Board Meeting.

Long Course and Short Course refer to the length of competition pool used during that part of the year. In the United States, the primary 'course' used in the fall and winter is a 25-yard pool. In the spring and summer months in the US, we use the international standard distance of 50-meters for competition. We refer to Long and Short Course to differentiate between the two.

Each practice group has an assigned Lead Coach. The Lead Coaches are identified on the website by visiting the Coaches page, here.

All group-specific questions should begin with your Lead Coach, but each respective Program Director, or the CEO are also available when you have questions and concerns. Besides the email contacts available on the coaches page, you may call the NTA Hotline at 847-386-6706 to leave a message for your coach.

NTA is a non-profit 501c(3) corporation. The club is operated by an elected Board of Directors. All families are members of the club and have a vote at the annual meeting in April.

The best time to contact your coach is outside of any practice. The best way to contact your coach is via email or phone. If you need to see your coach face to face, you can arrange this in advance or you can try to see your coach immediately prior to or after practice. Please realize that your coach will be more focused on the swimmers than on parents before, during and after practice, but will do their best to find time when you need it.

All of our practice groups are organized by ability and age. Bronze I and II, Silver I, I, and III, Gold I, II, and III, and Senior I, II, and III. Water Polo has JV and Varsity levels at 18U (by gender) and 14U.

The best way to contact your coach is via email or phone. Coaches may be reached via phone by calling the NTA Hotline at 847-386-6706. Coach emails are available on our Coaches page, here.

There are four competitive strokes for all ages of swimmers. The strokes are Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. In addition, swimmers compete in Individual Medley races that incorporate all four strokes in one race.

Generally competitions are divided in the following age groups: 8 & under, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and 15 & Over. You will also see some competitions where events are labeled 10 & under (open to any swimmers younger than 11) and also have 'Open' events which are open to all ages, but generally refer to senior swimmers 13 & Over.

Competition is an integral part of our team and what we do. We believe that swimmers need to have enough time between competitions for training so each meet will be a good opportunity to show improvement. Ideally, meets will only be scheduled every couple of weeks or twice a month. There are times when our meet schedule offers more than two meets in a month. This provides all swimmers with flexibility in scheduling, but no swimmer needs to compete more than twice a month.

Parents are strongly encouraged to watch their swimmers compete in all meets. Parents providing support and encouragement throughout competition is a vital part of the swimmers growth. You are also encouraged to volunteer at meets as a timer or official or in another capacity where available. This teaches your child that you value what they are doing as a member of the team and helps them develop the courage to succeed and fail in competition.

NTA coaches enter all swimmers in events in each meet. Decision on event choice belongs exclusively to the coaches. We believe meet entry is an integral part of the educational process for the swimmer. The coaches make the decisions as part of the overall development of the swimmer and plan entries on a season long basis rather than just meet to meet.

Meets are broken into sessions. Some meets are one day/one session, while others may go 2-3 or more days and sessions. Generally, each session of a meet is between 3-4 hours long. Dual meets may be shorter and some championship meets may be longer. Some meets offer one session per day for each age group, while others offer a prelim/final format where the fastest swimmers in preliminaries each day come back later that day to compete in finals and swim their events for a second time.

Each meet session has a listed start time for warm-up for that session. Swimmers should be on deck, ready to swim at least 15 minutes prior to the listed warm-up time.

Each NTA swimmer is required to wear an NTA team suit at all meets, so that is the first piece of equipment that is needed for any meet. You also need to pack at least two pairs of goggles (they do break at the most inconvenient times), one or more towels, sufficient clothing to keep your swimmer warm and comfortable throughout the day, 1-2 water bottles or sport drinks and appropriate snacks for your swimmer while they are at the meet.

When a meet offers relays, NTA coaches enter swimmers in relays to complete our entry. These entries do not reflect who may actually swim relays at the meet. All decisions about relay swimmers are made by the coaches the day of the meet. Any swimmer signed up to swim in a session that includes relays is expected to be available to swim on relays if asked to do so by the coaches.

A disqualification is a technical breaking of the rules for that particular event. DQs are an important part of the learning process for each swimmer. While it may seem like a tragedy in the moment to the swimmer, it is an expected part of the learning process and part of the process for every swimmer. As a parent, when talking with your child after a DQ, simply ask what they learned from that event and reinforce that this is a normal part of the learning process.

Meet Information for every meet in which we compete is posted on our website on the homepage for that meet. To view the meet information for any meet click on Events at the top of the homepage. Find the meet in which you are interested and click on the meet name. You will find all start times, event lists and information about the operation of the meet as part of this information.

As your child becomes more desirous to learn and excel at this sport, they will be telling you that they want to do this more and more. In any sport where you put more focus and energy, you will see a faster rate of improvement, but you should allow your child's level of desire to guide your decisions on their level of participation. A highly motivated swimmer can't stand to be out of the water.

Meets are organized into sessions to provide a limited time period for each athlete. Sessions are generally organized by Age Group. An example would be a meet that will have sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Each morning session may start at 8:00 am, with warm-up at 7:00 am and include events for 9-10 and 11-12 year old swimmers. The afternoon sessions may start at 1:00 pm, with warm-up at 12:00 pm and include events for 8 & under and 13 & over swimmers. Choose the session(s) that include events for the age of your swimmer.

'Invitational' meets refer to meets where the meet host invites specific teams to participate in the meet. An example of this would be the NTA Shark Frenzy held every October. We invite teams to participate and only those teams are allowed to enter swimmers in the meet.

'Championship' meets refer to meets held by a governing body (state, regional, national or international) in order to crown a champion for their members. An example is the Illinois Swimming Senior Championships. This meet is held by Illinois Swimming for any swimmers registered within the state of Illinois. Individual state champions are crowned in each event, as well as team champions.

'IM' refers to Individual Medley, which is a race that includes all four competitive strokes swum in order, Butterfly-Backstroke-Breaststroke-Freestyle. Different age groups compete at different distances ranging from 100 to 400 yards or meters.

Most meets include an announcer who will announce each event or heat as the meet progresses. In addition, the pool may have a scoreboard that will state the event or heat as it swims. Finally, many meets offer the opportunity for spectators to purchase a heat sheet or meet program that will list each heat of the session so spectators can follow along as the meet progresses.

For younger swimmers, host parents may operate a 'bullpen' which gets all swimmers lined up and ready to go to the blocks for their event. It is a way for meet hosts to efficiently serve dozens of young swimmers without delaying the meet.

Mock meets refer to practice meets held within an individual practice group to help teach swimmers how meets work and how to operate when attending a meet. Swimmers are taught the process for beginning an event, what to look for from officials during a meet, and how to prepare for competition.

Any meet that is on our schedule for your practice group is a good meet to go to. Swimmers should limit themselves to two meets per month. If you have questions about which meets are best for your swimmer, you should talk to your Lead Coach.

You sign up for meets on our website. To sign up for a meet, please click on the 'Attend this Event' button for the meet you want to sign up for. You'll be able to select the day(s) you want your swimmer(s) once there.

To cancel a meet registration you have already completed, you simply reverse the process you used to register for the meet in the first place.

Once the entry deadline for a meet has passed, you cannot withdraw from a meet. Immediately following the entry deadline, NTA coaches select events and submit the team entry including entry fees to the meet host. Once that entry is submitted, you are responsible for any entry fees incurred on behalf of your swimmer even if your swimmer does not attend the meet.

Meet entries are generally submitted 4-6 weeks prior to the meet. If you know your swimmer will not attend a meet and the entry deadline has already passed, please email your Lead Coach so he/she is aware your swimmer will not attend the meet.

Meet hosts set their own entry fees. In Illinois, some entry fees are standardized but can still vary depending on the type of meet. A typical three day meet will cost an individual swimmer $40-50 if the swimmer attends all days of the meet.

Meet information is available weeks in advance of the meet. This information includes start times for all sessions and any special rules or requirements for that meet. This information is always posted on our website on the home page for each meet. To view the home page, click on the name of the meet on our website.

Certain meets have time standards that a swimmer must have achieved in order to be entered in that meet. Time standards are published in advance with the meet information for each meet. Not all meets have time standards. You can check for time standards in the meet information available on the home page of the meet.

NTA bills for meets in arrears. We bill meets as soon as they are completed.

Your Lead Coach is the best person to ask about the most appropriate meets for your swimmer. Your Lead Coach has the sole authority to select events for your swimmer in any meet in which he/she swims. If you have questions about the events selected for your child, please contact your Lead Coach.

For young swimmers, a basic healthy diet is all that is necessary for their continued development as a swimmer and a growing child. The one area where athletes are different than non-athletes is in hydration. All swimmers, regardless of age need to hydrate continually while practicing and competing. Swimmers should have a water bottle or sports drink at every practice and competition.

Officials at USA-Swimming meets are all volunteers, generally parents or friends of swimming. Any parent can become an official. To find out more about becoming an official, please contact our Vice-President Officials by emailing officials@newtrieraquatics.org.

There are a variety of different kinds of officials required for every meet. To become an official generally requires an initial class and a required number of training sessions. In order to keep your certification once you have completed training, you must work a required number of sessions each year and attend periodic recertification clinics. For specific answers about becoming an official, please contact our Vice-President Officials by emailing officials@newtrieraquatics.org.

Officials are volunteers and do not get paid. Scholarships are available from Illinois Swimming for officials who wish to travel to and work National or International events. NTA does reimburse our officials for their USA Swimming annual registration.

In order to keep your certification once you have completed training, you must work a required number of sessions each year and attend periodic recertification clinics. For specific answers about becoming an official, please contact our Vice-President Officials by emailing officials@newtrieraquatics.org.

To find out more about becoming an official, please contact our Vice-President Officials by emailing officials@newtrieraquatics.org

At a minimum, each swimmer should attend 50-75% of all practices scheduled for your group. Except at the introductory level of our sport, if a child goes to one practice a week, they will pretty much stand still in terms of development. If they go to 2-3 per week they will consistently improve. At the upper levels, swimmers need to attend 4-6-8 practices a week to continue to improve. You can never go to too many practices if the child wants to attend. You shouldn't force your child to attend against their will, but at the same time, you shouldn't hold your child back from attending as often as they want.

Parents are welcome at all practices if the facility is allowing spectators. We ask that you only watch and refrain from communication with your swimmer or the coaches at any time during practice.

Dryland practice is comprised of on land exercises and activities which build strength, speed, coordination and conditioning in addition to the in water practice. Dryland skills are part of the total package which allow each swimmer the best opportunity for consistent improvement.

Each practice group has an individual practice calendar. Practices are held at a variety of pools in Winnetka, Wilmette and Glenview. Practices for younger swimmers are generally held in the late afternoon/early evening on weekdays and throughout the day on Saturday. Older swimmers may also have early morning practices on weekdays. To view practice schedules, please click here: SWIM TEAM | WATER POLO | MASTERS

Most coaches on our staff offer private lessons if asked, or know someone who will. This is an individual decision by each coach, and private lessons are often limited by a lack of available pool time. NTA coaches may only give private lessons to current members of NTA.

The best thing you can do for your swimmer is to be a supportive parent in all ways. This includes providing your swimmer the opportunity to attend as many practices as they desire, providing them with proper nutrition before and after practice, reinforcing your coaches messages regarding being on time, paying attention and giving their best effort, and showing them how proud you are of them every day.

Senior swimmers should let their lead coach know as soon as possible when they know they'll be missing a practice. It is not necessary for swimmers in other groups to communicate each and every day whether or not they will be at practice. However, when there are extraordinary events such as illness, family commitments or other activities that will prevent your swimmer from participating for an extended period of time, you should contact your coach as soon as possible.

Stroke clinics are extra sessions run by the coaching staff that target specific skills. Each clinic runs 30-40 minutes and is available on a first come, first served basis. Stroke clinics are an additional opportunity for a swimmer to work on specific skills, but they are not required or necessary for any swimmer on the team.

For an in-water practice, swimmers need to have a suit and goggles. NTA recommends that your swimmer not wear their competition or team suit to practice every day. You can purchase a wide variety of suits from Elsmore for practice. This is an opportunity for your swimmer to pick a suit in a style and color they like. However, swimmers should wear competition style suits. It is not appropriate for a swimmer to wear board shorts or other beach style swim suits, or bikini style suits to practice.

In addition to their suit and goggles, swimmers must bring their required equipment to every practice. For dryland practices, swimmers need to wear gym clothes (shorts, t-shirt, gym shoes and socks). On a cool day where dryland practice might be outdoors, swimmers should be prepared with a sweatshirt and/or sweatpants if needed.

All swimmers wishing to join NTA must participate in a tryout. Tryouts are scheduled in July and February of every year. Tryouts may be scheduled on multiple days, but each swimmer need only attend one day of tryouts. Notice of our tryouts is posted on our website 90 days prior to tryouts. This is the only notice of our tryouts.

Athletes must pre-register for tryouts. Simply bring your swimmer to the appropriate location on the day and time of the tryout.

Matches are made based on age and ability. All swimmers matched with each practice group are ranked based on their performance at tryouts, and any available spots in that group are offered based on those rankings. Swimmers will be notified of tryout results the day following the last tryout of the season.

You can see more information regarding tryouts by clicking here.

NTA is a parent/volunteer run organization. As part of your commitment to the team, parents are expected to volunteer when their child participates. Parents can volunteer as part of competition (timing at meets, running concessions at hosted meets, etc) or outside of competition (coordinating team parties, organizing volunteers, etc) at their choice. The NTA Parent Volunteer Policy states that any parent can be expected to volunteer at any meet in which their child is participating.

NTA holds one major fundraiser each year. This is the Ted Mullin 'Leave it in the pool' Hour of Power. This event is done in honor of former NTA coach and swimmer Ted Mullin who died of cancer. This event is traditionally held in the fall. More information is available on the Hour of Power page on our website here.

The V-P Volunteers is the Board Member responsible for our volunteers. Contact information is available on the Board of Directors page of the website here.

NTA is always looking for more parental involvement. Contact any Board member with your interest and we will be happy to have you as part of the team. For volunteering at meets, signup is done online as part of the meet registration process for your swimmer. Whenever you register your swimmer for a meet, you are encouraged to volunteer for that meet.

You can volunteer at meets by clicking on the 'Job Signup' button under the meet name on our website. When you register your child for a meet, you are prompted to choose a volunteer position by clicking on the 'Job Signup' button. To volunteer outside of competition, please contact our President-Elect at incomingpresident@newtrieraquatics.org.

The Parent Volunteer Policy requires you to find your own replacement if you cannot fulfill your volunteer commitment or assignment. In addition, you should contact the V-P Volunteers if you cannot fulfill your commitment at an NTA hosted meet, and the Timing Coordinator if you cannot fulfill your commitment at an away meet.

The Parent Volunteer Policy requires you to find your own replacement if you cannot fulfill your volunteer commitment or assignment. In addition, you should contact the V-P Volunteers if you cannot fulfill your commitment at an NTA hosted meet, and the Timing Coordinator if you cannot fulfill your commitment at an away meet.

You need two pieces of information to login to the website. The first is the email you gave as your primary email when you registered with the club. If you do not know that email address, please contact the NTA Administrator via the Contact page on the website.

The second is your password. When you registered with the club, you were sent a randomly generated password for your first login. You may have changed that password after you first logged in. You can request your existing password be sent to your primary email address by clicking on the Request Password link on the login page of the website.

Each family has a single account, and each account has a single primary email used for login.

To find your swimmer's best times you must login to the website using your email and password. Once you have logged into your account, click on the swimmer whose times you'd like to see, and click the Time link in their profile. Complete your selections of the filters available and view your swimmers best times.

You do not.

The Username/Password allows you to access information specific to your swimmer and your account. These include financial information as well as meet entry and result information.