Volunteer Position Info
Our swim team is 100% run by parent volunteers, and we ask that every family pitch in to help our meets run smoothly and to ensure our swimmers have the support they need to swim their best.
Meet Volunteer Positions
There are numerous opportunities to help out. We need tent parents, timers, head timers, starters, referees, and stroke and turn judges. See the descriptions below. Parents are also asked to help set-up and clean-up after home meets.
Each position is pretty simple once you’ve tried it. If you’re new to the team or would like to try a new position this summer, talk to one of the Board members or the volunteer coordinator and we can help walk you through it.
- Parking Attendants: Starting 1 hour before warm-ups, you will arrive to help with parking. This volunteer helps to keep cars from parking the pool parking lot and off of the grass. The parking lot is for handicap, swimmer drop off, and reserved spots for the team officials only. You will direct visitors to the street on the clubhouse side of street. Your position ends at the beginning of the meet.
- Tent Parents: These parents sit in the tent area with the swimmers during the meet and help to check swimmers in when they arrive to the meet. Also, with the use of a heat sheet, tent parents gather swimmers for upcoming heats and send them to the clerk of course area. Since there is usually more than one tent parent, parents can go up on deck during their swimmers event to watch them swim. Swimmers are stay under the tents unless they tell you where they are going.
- Clerk of Course: These volunteers line kids up on benches by event and heat during the meet. Clerk of course may also work prior to the start of the meet to combine events to make the meet run more smoothly.
- Timers: Each lane during a swim meet will have three timers. Timers will use a stopwatch to time their swimmer based on the strobe light start and their swimmer touching the wall.
- Recording Timers: Each lane will have a recorder. You will most likely be sitting at a small table behind the blocks writing down all of the times from the stopwatches on a timer sheet. Occasionally a "Runner" will come by and collect the timer sheets from you.
- Head Timer: This person will stand behind the timers and signal to the starter/referee when the timers are ready for the next heat to start. This position will also start a stopwatch in case a timer’s watch does not start. At away meets, our team’s head timer will serve as assistant head timer, working in conjunction with the hosting team’s head timer.
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Stroke and Turn Judges: This position will use official rules learned during certification to ensure a swimmer’s stroke is legal. If a swimmer’s stroke in found to be non-legal, the stroke and turn judge will raise their hand and communicate with the referee regarding the possible disqualification of the swimmer.
- Referee: This person will oversee home meets and serve as assistant referee of away meets. This role has the responsibility of seeing that the meet is properly conducted and that rules are fairly enforced for all swimmers.
- Starter: This person will be “the voice” of the meet and start each heat using an electronic starting system when they assistant referee and head timer signal that swimmers are ready.
- Computer Software: Enters swimmers' names/events into computer program each week. Records all swimmers' times during meets. Submit results weekly.
- Concessions: Assists in ordering, setting up and selling of concessions during home meets. Also may be needed to assist with cleanup duties from concessions as well.
- Hospitality: Checks with volunteers to make sure they don't need anything. Usually carries and offers water to those that are volunteering for the swim meet.
- Runner: Collects timer sheets from recording timers and DQs from refs and delivers them to the computer software area. May also be asked to post updates or run other short errands.
- Ribbons: Place result stickers on the back of appropriate place ribbon and file into folder of specific swimmer.
Most positions require taking a short certification and test online prior to the season. ALL training and tests will be on-line. Training will be posted on the team website. We ALWAYS need help in these certified positions so please consider signing up to be trained in one of them.
Team Positions
To have a successful season we need help in lots of other areas. Let us know what area you would like to help us with!
