The Forth Valley Junior League is an annual junior league which provides our swimmers with a great introduction to competitive swimming. It is a great environment for swimmers to go along to their first event and find out how to take part in competitions and it allows them to compete together as a club in individual swims and relays. 12 clubs compete to gain points at each of the 6 heats held throughout the year, then at the end of the year the top 6 clubs compete in the A final and the remaining 6 clubs compete in the B final.
The FVJL is held in Grangemouth Sports Complex (except the final in December which is at Bathgate Excite) and the events are always held on a Sunday afternoon. The start time and dates of each of the heats and the final can be found in our Calendar, this will be updated at the start of each year.
How does it work?
Prior to each event our coaches will determine which swimmers will compete in each swim. This will be communicated to the swimmers poolside on the day and is subject to change based on which swimmers attend. At the start of each heat, the swimmers will get time for a warm up in their allocated lane. Swimmers should be poolside at least 15 minutes prior to the warm up so they can stretch before swimming.
At each heat, swimmers will be allocated for individual swims, covering butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. These are either 25m or 50m swims. The age groups for swimmers are 9 years & under, 10-11 years and 12 year & over.
At the start and end of each session there are a number of relay events where teams of swimmers are selected to swim for the club. Swimmers will be told prior to the relay the stroke they are swimming and the number of lengths. For all swims, individual or relay, we always have pool helpers at either end of the pool to ensure the swimmers know what and when they are swimming.
The races in the Forth Valley Junior League are “time-banded”. This means that swimmers are selected to swim the race and will win points for the club based on their finish position in the race such, however, if they swim faster than the time allocated for the event they will lose points. This means that Forth Valley Junior League is open to all swimmers and not just the fastest swimmers in the participating clubs, giving opportunity to all our swimmers.
Each swimmer will be poolside for a while during the event, a drink and snack is provided at the end of the event for each swimmer but swimmers should also take their own and should also have an extra towel, t-shirt or hoodie to keep warm while they are sitting with the squad poolside waiting on their swim.
Swimmers will need:- goggles, swimwear, Fauldhouse Penguins swimming cap, 2 towels, Fauldhouse Penguins t-shirt, drink & snack.
In order for our coaches to plan for each event, please complete the following form to let us know which FVJL sessions swimmers can attend.