The YMCA believes that in today's society, our essential job is to give youth and adults the experiences that help them develop a set of positive values, morals and ethics that they will live by. The YMCA has five values as a basis for all YMCA operations, staff development and program development:

• Caring (compassion, acceptance)
• Honesty (integrity, truth-telling, trustworthiness)
• Respect (honor, without prejudice)
• Responsibility (reliability, accountability, perseverance)
• Service (giving back, sharing, altruism, charity)

The Barracuda Swim Team is a competitive program offered by the YMCA. The team incorporates all YMCA philosophies promoting the core values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility while developing a healthy spirit, mind and body. The program is offered to children 5-18. Eligible swimmers must be able to swim both front and back crawl for the length of a 25-yard pool without stopping.

The Barracuda coaching staff strives to provide opportunities for young athletes to learn life skills, to develop his or her character, and to learn as much about the sport of swimming as he or she wishes. Our coaching philosophy can be summarized as follows:

We strive to:

1. Provide a fun and enjoyable environment. Demonstrate that competition and being part of a team can be fun!
2. Provide an opportunity for personal and social development
3. Teach and expect responsible behavior
4. Teach swimmers to be respectful of their coaches, teammates, other competitors, and themselves
5. Provide an opportunity for leadership
6. Meet each child at his/her level of commitment and ability
7. Be honest with our swimmers
8. Provide an opportunity for swimmers to excel in the sport
9. Properly orient young people to competition in the sport and keep winning in perspective
10. Encourage lifetime involvement in sports and physical activity