Colorado high school swimming coaches and athletes will be the first in the country to dip their feet in the MaxPreps pool, so to speak.
When the Colorado winter sports season begins Nov. 30, it will mark the first time swimming is among the MaxPreps offerings on a state - or national - level. The new system was previewed for Colorado swimming coaches during a Colorado High School Coaches Association clinic on Nov. 4.
"I think it's going to be great," said Ron Johns, the president of Colorado's swimming and diving coaches association. "What I see and I like about it is that it's very intuitive and very simple for the coaches to get their data in and use. I can now collect my data, show my data and maintain my data all in one place."
As it does for several other sports on a national and state basis, MaxPreps now will provide state swimming and diving coaches with a team page and database access to display and maintain all their team information for a respective season.
Coaches will not only be able to enter their team schedule and roster, but they also will be able to automatically import meet results from the Hy-Tek scoring system or input the results manually, if they choose. (MaxPreps will post a tutorial video on the site to help coaches, as the season approaches).
"I think this is going to be so cool for the coaches," said Monica Abelein, the former head of the state's swimming officials and the current meet director for Jefferson County. "The first thing is that it's so user-friendly, not like the old system. VarVee was just like pulling teeth.
"From a meet director standpoint, this is going to make it so much easier not only for me, but for the coaches. It's very exciting."
The statistical database application was built by MaxPreps with direct input from Colorado coaches, including Johns, and representatives from the Colorado High School Activities Association. MaxPreps and the CHSAA entered into a multi-year agreement this school year, which designated MaxPreps as the official scores and statistics provider for the CHSAA.
The primary goal was to develop a system that would allow coaches the ability to easily record meet results, as well as provide a state qualifying results database for the CHSAA. A searchable and sortable state leader board will be posted at MaxPreps. Results entered in MaxPreps also will be provided to The Denver Post through an automatic data feed.
One of the most important features for Johns, also the head coach at Chatfield, is that MaxPreps allows coaches to manually input meet results.
"Not every program has access to automatic systems, so this will be a welcome program for them," Johns said. "The ease of the manual input is terrific."
Within the MaxPreps system, coaches also have the ability to maintain a Team Wall, where they can post and display pertinent program information, such as practice times and team events. Coaches can upload team and individual photos, as well as utilize MaxPreps' team communications tool MaxMessenger, among other web site utilities.
"You could see some of the coaches here, their eyes lit up, and you could tell they were thinking, 'I can do all that,'" Johns said. "It definitely will give us a source for sharing data with our athletes and our parents. That's a key. Parents are always asking how their kids are doing and where they stand, and this is an easy, direct avenue to make it happen."
Added Abelein, "The coaches are going to be more interactive overall with the site. They have their school web sites, but not many people get on those. This is coach and player interactive."
The swimming site is now live, so coaches are able to input schedules and rosters leading up to the start of the season. To log in to their team pages, coaches must use the Coach Login button at the top of the MaxPreps home page. Coaches will be provided an access code to their team page after they create their account.
For questions, contact MaxPreps coach support at coachsupport@maxpreps.com.
