By Grant Playter
As summer dawns, so do the preparations for the North Shore Swim League, a four-week round-robin tournament featuring youth swimmers from across the state that began July 9. The league is comprised of seven teams representing the Chapel, Monmouth Beach Bath and Tennis, Monmouth Beach Bathing Pavilion, Seabright, Ship Ahoy, Sands and Surfrider beach clubs, in addition to a team representing Seashore Day Camp.
Each team will face every other team once over the course of seven meets, held Tuesdays and Thursdays at a chosen host club, until a winner is ultimately crowned.
These teams vary dramatically in size, from the 60 kids competing for Seashore Day Camp to the team of over 200 at Surfrider, but all come with the same goal in mind: winning. And the competition is as fierce as it is storied.
“(The league) is exceptionally old,” said Danny Ascensio, head coach of the Seashore team. “It’s probably one of the oldest leagues when it comes to summer competition leagues in New Jersey.”
Exceptionally old, as it turns out, goes back over 50 years. Kyle Williams, Seabright’s head coach, noted that the tradition of the program was a big part of what drove him to the job.
“What attracted me right away was the family feel and the tradition that surrounds the program,” says Kyle Williams, who’s coached Seabright for four years. “You can feel the aura, and as a competitive swimmer and coach that’s what you look for.”
With time, however, comes change, some of it more familiar than others. Two of the head coaches, Kimberly Lagrotteria of Ship Ahoy and Kristyn Wikof of Sands, competed in the league as children, an activity that left its mark on the women.
“Being a part of the Ship Ahoy swim team as a kid taught me to overcome fears, create lasting relationships and to never give up on your passions,” said Lagrotteria. “It gave me the gift of swimming.”
Lagrotteria’s own son, Joey, is only four years old. However, just like mom, he too is discovering a love for the water and will be participating in 6 & Under meets. She gushes with excitement when discussing his participation, remarking with pride on how he became just as dedicated to the team as his older peers.
For all the coaches, former competitors or not, a shared love for what the North Shore Swim League offers has brought them to the sport. Ascensio has been working with Seashore for four years and still finds it to be an “absolute blast” to come to work everyday.
“Being able to work with young kids, even as young as five or six, getting them used to be in the water, having fun, being safe – it really does, in my opinion, make a difference,” said Ascensio.
Lagrotteria, who has been with the league for most of her life, concurred.
“I am fulfilled every day as I get to watch our athletes transform as they reach their goals in the pool while becoming a par t of a team,“ said Lagrotteria. “I am so proud to say that I can give back to my community the same positive and fun experience that I got as a kid.”
