Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Coach Erin Miller Makes Waves with Positivity and Fun
In certain areas of the United States — Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, places where winter is more of a calendar designation than a meteorological occurrence — swimmers train in outdoor pools year round.
New Jersey is not one of those areas, or at least it wasn’t prior to COVID-19.
Realizing that creativity would be key when navigating the pandemic, Scarlet Aquatics-New Jersey Wave looked outside the box. With state-mandated restrictions significantly limiting the number of participants who could be in the water at one time, the club’s leadership went looking for more water.
That water was outdoors.
FYI, New Jersey experiences legit winters. Bitter cold, bitter-er cold, snowfall. The storm in early February that blasted the East Coast dropped a couple feet of white stuff on the Garden State. Holding outdoor practices provides plenty of logistical challenges.
“We’ve had several days where it snowed while we were swimming,” laughs Erin Miller, a Scarlet Aquatics coach. “It’s really crazy, but cool at the same time.”
Literally. Air temps consistently hover right around freezing during the winter months.
Getting athletes and families to accept the crazy, unconventional practice scenario as figuratively cool speaks to the enthusiasm, positivity and can-do demeanor of Miller and her fellow Wave coaches.
Moving outside was seen as an opportunity, not an obstacle. “The outdoor pool has allowed our team to offer a full program. Many teams around us haven’t been able to offer much,” Miller explains. “We’re really proud of the fact that our groups have been cranking away. In fact, the team didn’t take a break that we normally would in August because we had a long break out of the water in the spring. We kept going.
“The attitude from the start has just been, okay, we’re going to do this now,” Miller says of the team’s approach to the constant curveballs the virus has thrown. “It isn’t easy, for any of us, for our whole country, but I believe that we’re all going to be better off for having done it.”
*****
Miller swam for the club she now coaches, competing for Scarlet Aquatics from the age of seven all the way through her college years.
She had her son soon after college and moved back to the area where she’d grown up. One day she bumped in to her former club coach, who made an offer that would change her life. “He said, ‘You’d be a great coach. Do you want to try it?’” Miller explains of the encounter. “I said sure.”
That decision 30 years ago to give coaching a try has led Miller to where she is today. “It was a turning point. I never planned on being a swim coach, but I fell in love with it right away,” she says.
“I was my coach’s assistant for the last couple of years before he retired, which was extremely special to me,” shares Miller of those early days. “I learned so much from him. He was a high-level coach and coached many, many great people.”
The position provided direction and purpose for Miller. “I didn’t know what I was going to be after having a son, but coaching immediately fit my needs. I’d be a mom during the day then go be a coach in the afternoon and evening. My husband was a police officer, so he’d take over when I would leave and vice-versa. We were ships in the night passing.”
*****
When life as the world knew it ground to a halt in early 2020, Miller understood that keeping her athletes engaged with the team and connected with their coaches and teammates would be vital, but it wouldn’t be easy. “Three months out of water is the longest I’ve ever been away from swimming in my life!” says Miller, looking back to March, April and May of last year, a period when most people’s existence became virtual. “I wondered what we were going to do. We were just trying our very best to keep everyone motivated during a crazy time.”
Zoom dryland sessions were one way to keep in contact. “They couldn’t be boring,” Miller explains of the gatherings, particularly with her group, which consists of athletes ages 9-13. In addition to Zooms, the app Endomondo was used to track results of weekly fitness challenges. “One week the goal might be to run or bike a certain amount, then the next we’d create an exercise challenge for those kids who aren’t good at running. It might be basketball, aerobics, anything. Every week the challenge was different, trying to let every kid shine.”
Miller sent Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards and other prizes to her swimmers. “Mailing items to kids was important so they would be getting things at home,” she says, “just so they’d know I was thinking about them.”
In June, Wave swimmers were able to return to the pool. There were limitations, but Miller didn’t care.
“I missed them so much! You’re used to seeing them everyday. They looked different after three months! I’d say, ‘Who are you? You grew five inches!’”
The swimmers needed in-the-flesh interactions, as well, with coaches and teammates. “Teammates are everything,” Miller says. “It was hard not to be together, for everyone.”
New Jersey Wave ran practices for all of its athletes out of a 50-meter heated pool from June through October. In November, some groups transitioned inside, but Miller’s group remained outdoors.
The month of December brought new restrictions. Only lap swimming was permitted, and that was limited to 10 kids in the pool. Again, the coaches, athletes and families stepped up to the challenge, determined to push through.
“We shifted to block coaching,” explains Miller. “One coach would work with a group of 10 kids for 45 minutes, then another group would come in.”
Coaches were working three times more hours than they typically would during non-COVID times. “It was definitely more time and organization for us as coaches, but we were willing to do it,” Miller says. “We didn’t want to give up. We didn’t want to just keep our team afloat, we wanted to keep our team really competitive.”
They have. At the beginning of the year, the team began to hold official time trials. According to Miller, the results have been incredible. “A few of my boys have broken state records, kids are making Sectionals. It has been really amazing.”
The Wave participated in its first sanctioned meet in late January. “It was a small meet. Of course, there were COVID guidelines to adhere to,” Miller says. “Mandatory masks, the swims were live streamed to parents, only a few volunteers were allowed on deck. But we were happy to do it.”
The swimmers blew their coaches away with their performances once again. “A girl who just turned 13 made Futures, one girl made the US Open, another kid broke a state record. It’s unbelievable to watch our kids swim so well despite COVID,” Miller beams. “We’re so proud of them.”
*****
Simply put, good coaching is good coaching. Done well, it is impactful and meaningful regardless of the setting and circumstances, including but not limited to outdoor winter practices in New Jersey during global pandemics.
Erin Miller is a good coach. A really good coach. She was long before the virus cannonballed into our lives.
Swimming demands commitment, hard work and discipline. It’s really pretty thankless, and it certainly isn’t glamorous. Miller feels that swimming can be and should be fun, as well, though. And she knows that a positive tone and supportive environment brings out the best in people.
When speaking with Miller — even via phone from a couple thousand miles away — it’s clear that she is an enthusiastic, passionate, optimistic person. Those qualities combined with technical expertise go a long ways with kids.
Miller’s creativity, commitment to connectivity and sense of fun keep her swimmers engaged. Practice record boards, blaring music and a variety of different contests amp up the competitiveness and camaraderie.
Theme days are a big hit. Crazy 8's means all sets during practice are repeats of eight. Arms of Steel, Fly Day Friday and Safari Jungle Sets are phrases familiar to the kids. Harry Potter Day? Magically-fast sets. Deck O’Cards Day? Kids pick cards to determine distances.
Swimmer of the day, swimmer of the week and swimmer of the month are selected, then Miller sends notes home explaining to the athletes and their families why they were chosen. Along those lines, Miller composes meet report cards for each swimmer, as well.
Another popular tradition involves the group’s whiteboard. “I call it Wall of Fame or Wall of Shame,” Miller says. “When a kid is doing something great — and it’s not necessarily about being the fastest, it’s doing something they’ve never done before like making an interval — they go on the Wall of Fame.”
On the flip side, “I try not give too much attention to negativity, but if somebody did an open turn or pulled on the lane line, they’re on the Wall of Shame. Every day the kids run over to see who’s on the board. They love that.”
Miller believes that these small acts (handwriting hundreds of personalized notes to her kids is hardly a small act) have made a big impact throughout her 28 years of coaching, and especially now. “I know I’m not the only person who does a lot of stuff like this,” she says, “but I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to keep the kids excited about coming to practice.”
*****
Swimmers in Miller’s group even compete to see who can get dressed quickest after practice. Seems reasonable with that whole New-Jersey-winter thing.
Miller is grateful for the outdoor option. When outside, the 25 athletes in her group can swim together.
But how does an 11-year-old react to backstroking in 30 degree weather?
“At first the kids were like, ‘Coach Erin, you’re crazy!’ At the end of practice, I thought they might all get out of the pool crying,” Miller laughs, “but we have a tent set up where they can change, and honestly, they kind of love it. The parents have a hot chocolate station set up outside, so that helps!”
Thankfully, everyone has stayed healthy, even the coach. “I’m the coldest one by far! It’s 82 degrees in the water!” Miller jokes. “I walk laps around the pool to keep warm.”
Families have been consistently supportive and appreciative of the opportunity to continue swimming. Miller wasn’t sure that would be the case, but she’s been pleasantly surprised.
“I have a couple of 9-year-olds, my youngest swimmers, and they’re little. I thought, their parents aren’t going to bring them,” she says.
“But one of them — her parents are both physicians — her dad came in on her birthday and said, ‘I’m so proud of you and all the kids. Maybe there’ll be an Olympian in this pool because of all of this!’ That little girl has a smile on her face. It’s snowing, but she has a smile on her face. It’s a testament to how much they all love the sport of swimming.”
That optimistic attitude has made the difference between simply surviving the era of COVID versus thriving in spite of it. “I have the support of the families,” Miller says. “We have one hundred percent attendance almost every day because these kids bought in to it and the parents bought in to it.”
For her part, Miller chooses to focus on what has been gained from this experience rather than what has been lost. “You can overcome things, tough things, and it’s important to learn that,” she says. “I’m just so proud of my kids and our team.”
Erin Miller is a good coach. A really good coach. Indoors or out.
New Jersey is not one of those areas, or at least it wasn’t prior to COVID-19.
Realizing that creativity would be key when navigating the pandemic, Scarlet Aquatics-New Jersey Wave looked outside the box. With state-mandated restrictions significantly limiting the number of participants who could be in the water at one time, the club’s leadership went looking for more water.
That water was outdoors.
FYI, New Jersey experiences legit winters. Bitter cold, bitter-er cold, snowfall. The storm in early February that blasted the East Coast dropped a couple feet of white stuff on the Garden State. Holding outdoor practices provides plenty of logistical challenges.
“We’ve had several days where it snowed while we were swimming,” laughs Erin Miller, a Scarlet Aquatics coach. “It’s really crazy, but cool at the same time.”
Literally. Air temps consistently hover right around freezing during the winter months.
Getting athletes and families to accept the crazy, unconventional practice scenario as figuratively cool speaks to the enthusiasm, positivity and can-do demeanor of Miller and her fellow Wave coaches.
Moving outside was seen as an opportunity, not an obstacle. “The outdoor pool has allowed our team to offer a full program. Many teams around us haven’t been able to offer much,” Miller explains. “We’re really proud of the fact that our groups have been cranking away. In fact, the team didn’t take a break that we normally would in August because we had a long break out of the water in the spring. We kept going.
“The attitude from the start has just been, okay, we’re going to do this now,” Miller says of the team’s approach to the constant curveballs the virus has thrown. “It isn’t easy, for any of us, for our whole country, but I believe that we’re all going to be better off for having done it.”
*****
Miller swam for the club she now coaches, competing for Scarlet Aquatics from the age of seven all the way through her college years.
She had her son soon after college and moved back to the area where she’d grown up. One day she bumped in to her former club coach, who made an offer that would change her life. “He said, ‘You’d be a great coach. Do you want to try it?’” Miller explains of the encounter. “I said sure.”
That decision 30 years ago to give coaching a try has led Miller to where she is today. “It was a turning point. I never planned on being a swim coach, but I fell in love with it right away,” she says.
“I was my coach’s assistant for the last couple of years before he retired, which was extremely special to me,” shares Miller of those early days. “I learned so much from him. He was a high-level coach and coached many, many great people.”
The position provided direction and purpose for Miller. “I didn’t know what I was going to be after having a son, but coaching immediately fit my needs. I’d be a mom during the day then go be a coach in the afternoon and evening. My husband was a police officer, so he’d take over when I would leave and vice-versa. We were ships in the night passing.”
*****
When life as the world knew it ground to a halt in early 2020, Miller understood that keeping her athletes engaged with the team and connected with their coaches and teammates would be vital, but it wouldn’t be easy. “Three months out of water is the longest I’ve ever been away from swimming in my life!” says Miller, looking back to March, April and May of last year, a period when most people’s existence became virtual. “I wondered what we were going to do. We were just trying our very best to keep everyone motivated during a crazy time.”
Zoom dryland sessions were one way to keep in contact. “They couldn’t be boring,” Miller explains of the gatherings, particularly with her group, which consists of athletes ages 9-13. In addition to Zooms, the app Endomondo was used to track results of weekly fitness challenges. “One week the goal might be to run or bike a certain amount, then the next we’d create an exercise challenge for those kids who aren’t good at running. It might be basketball, aerobics, anything. Every week the challenge was different, trying to let every kid shine.”
Miller sent Dunkin’ Donuts gift cards and other prizes to her swimmers. “Mailing items to kids was important so they would be getting things at home,” she says, “just so they’d know I was thinking about them.”
In June, Wave swimmers were able to return to the pool. There were limitations, but Miller didn’t care.
“I missed them so much! You’re used to seeing them everyday. They looked different after three months! I’d say, ‘Who are you? You grew five inches!’”
The swimmers needed in-the-flesh interactions, as well, with coaches and teammates. “Teammates are everything,” Miller says. “It was hard not to be together, for everyone.”
New Jersey Wave ran practices for all of its athletes out of a 50-meter heated pool from June through October. In November, some groups transitioned inside, but Miller’s group remained outdoors.
The month of December brought new restrictions. Only lap swimming was permitted, and that was limited to 10 kids in the pool. Again, the coaches, athletes and families stepped up to the challenge, determined to push through.
“We shifted to block coaching,” explains Miller. “One coach would work with a group of 10 kids for 45 minutes, then another group would come in.”
Coaches were working three times more hours than they typically would during non-COVID times. “It was definitely more time and organization for us as coaches, but we were willing to do it,” Miller says. “We didn’t want to give up. We didn’t want to just keep our team afloat, we wanted to keep our team really competitive.”
They have. At the beginning of the year, the team began to hold official time trials. According to Miller, the results have been incredible. “A few of my boys have broken state records, kids are making Sectionals. It has been really amazing.”
The Wave participated in its first sanctioned meet in late January. “It was a small meet. Of course, there were COVID guidelines to adhere to,” Miller says. “Mandatory masks, the swims were live streamed to parents, only a few volunteers were allowed on deck. But we were happy to do it.”
The swimmers blew their coaches away with their performances once again. “A girl who just turned 13 made Futures, one girl made the US Open, another kid broke a state record. It’s unbelievable to watch our kids swim so well despite COVID,” Miller beams. “We’re so proud of them.”
*****
Simply put, good coaching is good coaching. Done well, it is impactful and meaningful regardless of the setting and circumstances, including but not limited to outdoor winter practices in New Jersey during global pandemics.
Erin Miller is a good coach. A really good coach. She was long before the virus cannonballed into our lives.
Swimming demands commitment, hard work and discipline. It’s really pretty thankless, and it certainly isn’t glamorous. Miller feels that swimming can be and should be fun, as well, though. And she knows that a positive tone and supportive environment brings out the best in people.
When speaking with Miller — even via phone from a couple thousand miles away — it’s clear that she is an enthusiastic, passionate, optimistic person. Those qualities combined with technical expertise go a long ways with kids.
Miller’s creativity, commitment to connectivity and sense of fun keep her swimmers engaged. Practice record boards, blaring music and a variety of different contests amp up the competitiveness and camaraderie.
Theme days are a big hit. Crazy 8's means all sets during practice are repeats of eight. Arms of Steel, Fly Day Friday and Safari Jungle Sets are phrases familiar to the kids. Harry Potter Day? Magically-fast sets. Deck O’Cards Day? Kids pick cards to determine distances.
Swimmer of the day, swimmer of the week and swimmer of the month are selected, then Miller sends notes home explaining to the athletes and their families why they were chosen. Along those lines, Miller composes meet report cards for each swimmer, as well.
Another popular tradition involves the group’s whiteboard. “I call it Wall of Fame or Wall of Shame,” Miller says. “When a kid is doing something great — and it’s not necessarily about being the fastest, it’s doing something they’ve never done before like making an interval — they go on the Wall of Fame.”
On the flip side, “I try not give too much attention to negativity, but if somebody did an open turn or pulled on the lane line, they’re on the Wall of Shame. Every day the kids run over to see who’s on the board. They love that.”
Miller believes that these small acts (handwriting hundreds of personalized notes to her kids is hardly a small act) have made a big impact throughout her 28 years of coaching, and especially now. “I know I’m not the only person who does a lot of stuff like this,” she says, “but I’m very proud of the fact that we’ve been able to keep the kids excited about coming to practice.”
*****
Swimmers in Miller’s group even compete to see who can get dressed quickest after practice. Seems reasonable with that whole New-Jersey-winter thing.
Miller is grateful for the outdoor option. When outside, the 25 athletes in her group can swim together.
But how does an 11-year-old react to backstroking in 30 degree weather?
“At first the kids were like, ‘Coach Erin, you’re crazy!’ At the end of practice, I thought they might all get out of the pool crying,” Miller laughs, “but we have a tent set up where they can change, and honestly, they kind of love it. The parents have a hot chocolate station set up outside, so that helps!”
Thankfully, everyone has stayed healthy, even the coach. “I’m the coldest one by far! It’s 82 degrees in the water!” Miller jokes. “I walk laps around the pool to keep warm.”
Families have been consistently supportive and appreciative of the opportunity to continue swimming. Miller wasn’t sure that would be the case, but she’s been pleasantly surprised.
“I have a couple of 9-year-olds, my youngest swimmers, and they’re little. I thought, their parents aren’t going to bring them,” she says.
“But one of them — her parents are both physicians — her dad came in on her birthday and said, ‘I’m so proud of you and all the kids. Maybe there’ll be an Olympian in this pool because of all of this!’ That little girl has a smile on her face. It’s snowing, but she has a smile on her face. It’s a testament to how much they all love the sport of swimming.”
That optimistic attitude has made the difference between simply surviving the era of COVID versus thriving in spite of it. “I have the support of the families,” Miller says. “We have one hundred percent attendance almost every day because these kids bought in to it and the parents bought in to it.”
For her part, Miller chooses to focus on what has been gained from this experience rather than what has been lost. “You can overcome things, tough things, and it’s important to learn that,” she says. “I’m just so proud of my kids and our team.”
Erin Miller is a good coach. A really good coach. Indoors or out.