Windrose Stingrays Swim Team

We are a Summer League Swim Team that was established in 2001.  The team consists of swimmers of all ages and abilities from 6 & Under to 18 years old.  Our season consists of 11 weeks of daily practices led by professional coaches, 5 regular season dual-meets competitions against local NWAL teams in our assigned division, one Divisional Meet, and several Invitational meets.
 

Our Mission: The Windrose Stingrays Swim Team exists to promote camaraderie, sportsmanship, and physical health among the youth and their families in the community through competitive swimming. 

Swimming is a lifetime sport that we hope to help instill in each and every swimmer that swims for the Stingrays. We are a non-profit 501(c)3 organization led by a Board consisting of 8 parent volunteers elected by the member families. The Swim Board hires coaches each season who are adept in training beginner and advanced swimmers on stroke technique in all 4 strokes and competitive fitness. The coaches are also passionate about the camaraderie and community aspect that defines the summer league swim season.

We are open to any swimmer and family that wants to join our team.  

If you have a NWAL team in your subdivision you will need to swim with them, but if you do not, then the Stingrays can become your home.  Registration for the season starts in March and April and we race in May and June. 

The Stingrays swim for fun, friends, and fitness!

 Below is Information on the League that we swim in called NWAL.

The Northwest Aquatic League, or NWAL, has become the second largest summer league program in the nation with almost 100 teams and over 15,000 swimmers from ages 4 to 18. The core area of the league is located in northwest Harris County from Cypress to Humble, but stretches as far west as Giddings, north to Bryan, and east to Crosby.

The NWAL season begins in early May and runs until the end of June.   Teams are divided into a division with 5 or 6 teams and those divisions are contained within one of three regions.  Some teams have as many as 350 swimmers while others only have 45 to 50 swimmers.  Normally each team has five dual meets and then a divisional meet on week 6.  The season concludes with several invitational meets. 

History

In 1970, Shell Oil transferred many families from California to the Houston area.  These families settled in the northwest part of Houston and wanted to continue the swimming experiences they had begun in California.  So five fathers, employees of Shell Oil, got together and established the NORTHWEST AQUATIC LEAGUE.  The first five teams in the league that year were Forest Oaks, River Plantation, Northampton, Ponderosa Forest, and Westador.  Governing rules were based on those that had been used in Menlo, California.

In the early days, the division line-ups were determined by a committee of five who would place teams according to what that committee believed to be the size and strength of each team.  In 1985, Pete Junkins developed what was called the ‘power-rating’ formula.  Team size, meet scores and season records were taken into account mathematically.  As the league became more computerized in the early 2000's, team management software has been used to create a Super Meet or Big Meet that uses the previous years divisional meet data to score a mock meet with aged-up swimmers in each region.

Parent volunteers have been and continue to be the key to the success of NWAL over the past 40+ years.  In most cases, the coaches are paid but there are cases in which the coaches are also volunteers.  Each division elects a representative who sits on the Board of Directors.  The Executive Board consists of a President, Vice-president of Training & Certification, Vice-president of Software, Secretary and a Treasurer.  The Board meets four times a year to set the guidelines for the season.  These meetings are open to any interested party, although, only the division reps and executive board members can vote.  Each team is then represented at the annual meeting held in January.  The major purpose of this meeting is to disseminate all of the information for the coming season.