Could I just ask for some common courtesy from those who do swim team in the Kingwood Villages?

1. I understand there isn't enough parking at the pools, so when you have to park in front of houses around the pool at the butt crack of dawn, PLEASE be quiet!

2. Not everyone's kids are on swim team and we like to sleep in on Saturday morning. Please make sure not to slam your doors 500 times or let your kids run down the street screaming, while you scream back at them.

3. Honking your horn that early in the morning is not cool either!!

4. If you have to park in front of houses, please make sure not to park in front of driveways, or directly in front of them on the other side of the street when their are other cars on each side of the driveways, we get blocked in by your cars.

5. Please don't let your kids play by the streets, I know your village of tents sometimes reach out to the road, but please make sure your kids are a good distance away from the roads while rough housing with their friends. I have seen several times kids getting pushed into the street or running across and almost getting hit.

6. Please don't give homeowners trying to get to their houses the stink eye... we live here and we have lives that don't include swim team.

7. The rest of the homeowners would like to use our own pools that we pay HOA fees to maintain. Can you please be done by the time our pool is suppose to be opened for the public??? It's annoying when we can't use our own pool because your swim team runs past it's scheduled time.

Also, what's the deal that Woodstream uses our pool for swim team, and we can't use their pool while they are using ours for swimteam??? NOT COOL WOODSTREAM!!!

OK rant over... thanks! 

I've been on both sides of the fence, lol. That being said I love swim team for kids. But the way KW does it, does cause inconvenience for home owners by the pools. No parking or side walks makes it hard. They should consider using the HS and the Y maybe. Residential areas just aren't made for that kind of activity.

I don't mind it but it is an inconvenience for a few hours, one of those things worthwhile anyway IMO. 

Lol..brings back good memories for me. I was on Atascocita Forest Dolphins back in the day..Just wait until the mock meet and following meets lol. Do they hold their swim meets at the WoodStream pool too? When I was on BTA we only used the River Chase pool for practices. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to be on swim team lol. Go ask the coach to tell the parents to chill out on the honking..other than that there's nothing you can do about them using the pool. 

To the OP. Wow, I can't believe you exist. You know, the person that looks through the blinds and tells the kids to get off the yard.

To answer your list of grievances:
1. Ask the swim team for one of those "do not park here" signs. Even though you don't own the street in front of your house, most swim teams provide the signs as a courtesy.

2. You are kidding right. Sorry you don't have kids that participate on the swim team. I am sure that your kids (if you have some) are annoying to others.

3. I am sure it's a one time occurrence

4. See #1

5. Be careful driving. Were you ever a kid?

6. What?

7. First, your village will host, at most, 3 events. One or two of which occur before the pools are officially opened after memorial day. These events are run by volunteers, mostly your neighbors. We try to finish a soon as we can, but things happen. By the way, the swim teams pay for the pool use too.

Lastly, maybe if you looked at the good the swim team does for the kids and the community you might be less annoyed. For 6-8 weeks 100-200 children from your village practice swimming (best exercise ever) every day, compete at all levels, socialize, make friends. For all the b#thcing and moaning about kids not getting enough exercise, I am surprised someone gets upset with the swim team.

If you are still annoyed, then you only have yourself, or maybe your realtor, to blame. You bought a home near the village pool. It's like the person who moved near the airport complaining about the noise from the airplanes.

Rant over. 

I think using the high school or Y pool is a great idea! The neighborhood pools aren't big enough to accommodate the amount of people and cars that participate. It is an inconvenience for the folks living by the pool and it's an unnecessary one. People aren't courteous to the homeowners. They block driveways, walk on lawns, disturb people trying to sleep. It's rude.

You aren't entitled to have a swim team...the homeowners are entitled to expecting common courtesy where they pay to live. 

The HS or Y is a bad idea. An 8 lane pool couldn't accommodate all the swimmers in the league.

This is life in a suburb that attracts families. Go move to a patio home community, apartment complex or downtown. Save yourself the aggravation. 

Call lifetime fitness, the Y, and all the high schools in Humble ISD and reserve those pools simultaneously. More than big enough to accommodate all the area swim teams.

Problem solved. 

That does seem like a really good proposal. All of those places have pools and lots of parking. I'm wondering if it is due to them being used by their own students/members during that time? 

That would be very expensive! 

I do feel the OP is only asking for some courtesy, nothing wrong with that...we all hate the ones who start mowing before eight on the weekends. 

I doubt it's ever been looked into because of the assumed cost.

We have never participated in swim team because of the hours and the cluster it creates in the neighborhoods.

I pay for my kids to be in activities that don't inconvenience or affect folks in their homes. The neighborhood swim teams should do the same. 

Bad idea. There are 12 swim teams. each swim team has between 100-300 swimmers.

No way you could get it done on a Saturday.

Then you would have the people that use the HS and the Y on the weekend complaining. So maybe we should shut the whole program down. Because a couple of people are upset. I think not. 

That would be very expensive!?



So is dance, gymnastics, football, cheer and any other activity. Why should swim team be any different? 

"I pay for my kids to be in activities that don't inconvenience or affect folks in their homes. The neighborhood swim teams should do the same."

I am sure your kids have inconvenienced someone. Maybe at a restraint, on an airplane, at the movies, in the grocery store.

Your kids don't ride their bikes in the streets? Run through neighbors lawns?

Glad I'm not your kid. 

So, for 6-8 weeks, you have 100-300 kids practicing at each neighborhood pool daily from 6:45 am until whenever you're finished?

And you feel you are entitled to this regardless of how it affects the homeowners in those areas? They should have to move because your right to be on a swim team, supersedes their rights as homeowners?

Wow. 

The issue doesn't seem to be the kids, it seems to be a lack of parenting skills and respect towards others. That is not unique to swim team.

And how many Saturdays a year are we talking about? Three? 

I don't have 100-300 kids, so no, my children have never impacted anyone's ability to sleep, leave their home or ruin their yard/landscaping.

I am also glad you are not my kid...you are spoiled and entitled...not good attributes. 

No, practices are from 4pm-7pm, daily.
Obviously you don't live near a village pool or you would know that.

You just don't like other people having fun (unless you determine their fun). 

Aren't the practices staggered? The meets should be the only issue.
I avoided the problem by not buying a home near the pool. You sound like the people who yell at the kids who walk in their yards. In a neighborhood with no sidewalks. 

This has gone beyond the comments made by the original poster.

The original poster made valid requests that are reasonable.

Honking isn't necessary. Parking such that driveways aren't blocked is common courtesy. Watching kids so they don't get run over is a good idea.

I agree with his/her comments and I'm a swim team parent.

Making adjustments to accommodate those near pools is good for all involved. 

I don't care about swim team at all, just making suggestions that might solve the issue completely. 

I agree with the OP AND I like to have fun. I also agree with snow princess - this is a parenting problem. Ive travelled and stayed at hotels during Soccor, cheer,baseball tournaments. Many kids are well mannered as are their parents - bit I've also observed some very bad behavoir from kids AND their parents just do nothing . I'm not above asking the parents step up to THEIR responsibilities. The generation behind me seems to be rude and entitled and are raising some very self entitled kids.
I do cycling and running events and when we gather to start - there's no screaming and carrying on- we try to respect the neighborhoods around us.
Plenty of fun to be had without ruining EVERONE else's day 

I agree with the OP. We live on a cul de sac behind a pool. There are "no parking" signs on one side but even with that it is hard to get out of driveways. This has gone on for the last 2 weekends. Why do these swim teams represent 2 villages but only use one pool? Why don't they alternate pools for practice and competitions?

I was lucky enough to have to drive by the actual pool twice today. Tents and kids everywhere and cars in the MIDDLE of the street loading and unloading and blocking the entire street for passers by. All those of us that live nearby ask for is common courtesy. 

I have been on both side of this fence. When my DD did swim I would get there early enough so I didn't ever have to be a pain, I never had to park by peoples homes always in front of pool. And then there was a meet a few years back that had people parked throughout many streets in this neighborhood ,including my house which is 3 blocks from pool. I needed to do lawn work that day and had 2 cars parked right in front of my house (DD wasn't on team that year) So I had a great time trying not to scrape my mower on their cars when I needed to mow the edge by street. The blower was even more fun. 

Have to say, these sound a little too much like first world problems to me. A few hundred of your neighbors kids, and a bunch of your neighbors are having fun doing something wholesome and healthy. This will at most inconvenience you for 6 or so hours 3 or for Saturdays.

Yes, drive safe, yes get them to but up the no parking signs, safety first and all that, but come on - really isn't this the kind of stuff folks with kids move to Kingwood for? 

I won't be signing my kids up on WoodStream's team..too many disgruntled neighbors. Lol 

The parking needs to be restricted to one side of the street only. This a safety issue for all, especially emergency vehicles.
When people park on both sides, a fire truck or ambulance would have a tough time getting down the street.

Parents should keep their kids off the lawns of the homeowners, this is called common sense.

Common sense is also not parking partially blocking another driveway. Or parking where it is difficult for someone to back out of their driveway.

Yes the streets are public streets. but a little common sense and courtesy goes a long ways. 

and remember, it is a sideWALK not a sidePUTYOURCHAIRORBLANKETONIT 

The parking needs to be restricted to one side of the street only.

My biggest gripe.

Parking on both sides of the street made for just 2 cars creates a problem for everyone. Especially firetrucks.

The swim team organizers need someone to coordinate parking in the neighborhoods. 

Have to say, these sound a little too much like first world problems to me.

I really hate that saying... It always comes up when someone is trying to justify being inconsiderate by stating that other people have it harder. I mean, just because Somalia doesn't have these problems doesn't mean they are not real issues and do not create real dangers for children and emergency vehicles. The safety of a child is an all-world issue, not just a first-world issue.
In this case... the third world equivalent would be, "Yes, I shot your camel because you parked it in front of my hut and I couldn't back my camel out to go to the market". or "Yes, I blew up your truck with an RPG because I asked you twice not to park it in front of my driveway". We of course don't do that here, because we still do have at least a sliver of consideration for others (though that seems to be fading fast).
Yesterday in Mills Branch, there were cars parked all the way down MillBridge Dr and then down both directions on Echo Mountain (almost halfway down to the MillsBranch Dr/Ford Rd). That was a bit much. We're talking nearly 1/2 mile from the pool.
And while parking on the side of the road is both dangerous and annoying, parking in such a way as to block a driveway or too close to an intersection is illegal. Next time call the police or a tow truck maybe. Having everyone at the pool see your vehicle being towed could help to make a serious point to a large group of people. 

Yep same thing at greentree. I DO applaud the people who parked @ the elementary school and walked over!
So I have a question- what teams participate in these meets? Is it neighboring teams like Greentree vs Sand Creek or even adjacent neighborhoods like Foster Miis and Kingspoint? Or are the teams from outside Kingwood???
If the teams are all within Kingwood- why not ride bikes or walk to the pool? I can reach both pools in Sand Creek and Greentree within a 7 minute bike ride. Heck I can get to North/south Woodland Hills within 20 minutes using nothing but green belts. Make it a family exercise day out of it. A mile or 3 bike ride should not make a difference in performance- it'd be like a warm up 

I have been a swim team parent for more than 10 years. We always park where the other team tells us to park and when we have a home meet we put out signs and people only park on one side of the street. We are as quiet as we can be when there are 2 or 3 hundred people around. Even if you are the home team, you can't really ride a bike to these things because of all the stuff you have to take along for use during the meets. Chairs, pop-ups etc. You certainly can't ride if you are from another neighborhood. I have never, ever seen people parking on both sides of the street,in 10 years, where is this happening?

I do think it should be mandatory that realtors tell people about swim team activities before selling them a house close to the pool. If I were wanting to sleep in on Saturday it would bug me if there was a loud speaker blaring and a buzzer going off every few minutes starting at 7:30.

The reason we start so early is so that we can get out of there as soon as possible and to interfere the least we can with regular pool hours. The pool we use normally opens at 11:00 and during swim team opens around 2:00. This is just for part of the month of May and June, people, less than 2 months so we are talking about 6 or 7 Saturday mornings, not the whole year nor even the whole summer. Practice times are after school while school is still in session and the pool is not even open yet. After school is out and the pool is open, practices are staggered by age group so there will only be about 50 people around at a time starting around 7:00 in the morning so that it doesn't interfere with regular pool hours.

If you are having real problems in your neighborhood, take it up with your HOA. They are the ones that work with your neighborhood team to coordinate these details. Half of the kids that are swimming are from your neighborhood, the other team may come in from out of Kingwood but usually they too are local. If just depends on the division your home team is in, this year. 

I guess I can see that- I was a mean Mom- when my kids did soccer- we walked to home games and hauled chairs or stood or sat on the ground. It was just a suggestion.
As far as parking on both sides of the street- happened yesterday at the Sand Creek Pool- on Timber Shade and Maple Terrace 

As far as parking on both sides of the street- happened yesterday at the Sand Creek Pool- on Timber Shade and Maple Terrace?


Then your HOA needs to speak to the team and make it clear that THEY are to make sure people do not do that. I know that some people are asses and won't conform no matter what but the team needs to announce it on the loud speaker that their cars will be towed if they park like that! 

Have to say, these sound a little too much like first world problems to me
It is not as big a first world problem as complaining about other peoples problems on the internet. 

I was a "do not park" sign volunteer one year. I was told that the signs have absolutely zero legal value. I think the confusion is that most people think these signs are law. Another problem is the sign placers are given a map on where to put the signs but a lot of signs have been lost over the years and the volunteers just kind of place them where they can.
I did find several signs tossed in the drainage canal last year. Seems like it was a teenage prank or something. 

Have to say, these sound a little too much like first world problems to me
It is not as big a first world problem as complaining about other peoples problems on the internet.

Or about complaining about someone complaining about someone complaining. Your turn.

Other than the real safety issues raised, every other complaint is just an inconvenience, take a deep breath, let it be about the 200 or so of your neighbors for a few hours a few times a year instead of what it means to you.

You could even make the best of it, walk over, cheer for your neighbors kids, enjoy watching a bunch of good kids having fun, have a hot dog, smile at the little ones trying to make it across the pool. 

Mills Branch homeowners can use the Woodstream Pool, during swim meets, if you are being turned away, contact the President of the Swim Team and the pool company running the lifeguards. If that doesn't get you anywhere contact Woodstream HOA. there has been an agreement in place for the last 15 years!! 

Thnx Watchamacallit.
I try to avoid subdivisions during swim team season but forgot and had to manuver coming back from a ride. The worst is Greentree along Brook Shadow 

Get an air horn and blow it at them every 5 minutes. That would be funny.