Meet Volunteer Descriptions
Our summer swim season can not run without volunteers. And swim meets are no different. The success of our meets relies heavily on filling each of the volunteer slots for each meet. To run as smoothly as possible, we will have at least 30 specific positions to fill. For the Woodridge Classic, we ask every family to help. Over the course of the season, we will literally need all hands on deck at one point or another.
Job assignments are listed below. Parents will have the opportunity to be “trained” on various jobs early in the season. If there’s something you’d like to learn more about, please ask. There are always folks willing to let you shadow them and help you learn, or, if necessary, point you in the direction of those able to get you started.
VOLUNTEER EXPECTATIONS
- Sign up to volunteer for each meet on SignUp Calendar page
- Check in near the scorers table when you arrive at the meet.
- Arrive early - Different roles require different arrival times. Be aware of when you need to be there so we are able to start our meets on time.
- If you are a timer, finish judge, or stroke-&-turn judge, you will need to attend a timers meeting about 30 minutes before the meet starts.
VOLUNTEER POSITIONS & DESCRIPTIONS
Set up - Home meets only; Arrives early and helps with setting up for the meet. Coordinators will be there to provide direction for setting up both the racing pool and meet administration areas. Even if you’re not formally signed up for “set-up”, we always need some strong individuals standing by to help move the bleachers into place.
Clean up - Home meets only; This is an “all-hands” task. Everyone is asked to help with something – anything – related to tearing down and putting things away.and stays to clean up after a meet. The “big lift” is helping to put the bleachers away.
Tent Transport - Away meets; Pick up the tents from the pool shed and transport them to the away meet site. Arrival at the site should be just prior to the scheduled swimmer arrival so the tents are up and swimmers can “move in” when they arrive at the meet. At the end of the meet, take the tents and return them to the pool shed the following day.
Concession Stand - Woodridge Classic - Assist in staffing the concession stand. Help customers, handling food and money. Help with set up and tear down are involved. Parents who volunteer for this “job” will be able to leave and see their swimmer swim. (Home Meet)
Concessions: Home Meets - Assist with selling quick-serve items sold in addition to snack bar offerings (i.e. soft pretzels, subs). Parents who volunteer for this will be able to step aside and see their swimmer’s races. (Home Meets)
Staging - Woodridge Classic only; Responsible for assembling and lining up the swimmers in preparation for their events. As long as you can read names from the list provided, you’re qualified for this position.
Timers - All meets; Uses a stopwatch provided by the team to record a swimmers’ time for each heat. Need 1 timer for each lane for both home and away meets (work only half the meet). If your stopwatch malfunctions, raise your hand and the Back-Up Timer will bring a replacement watch to you. NEVER BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR A BACK-UP TIMER. Accurate times are important and watch errors happen to everyone.
Recorder/Scribe - Home meets only; Records times from each timer in each lane. (Home Meets)
Back-Up Timer - Home meets only; Times each heat and provides a back up watch for any timer that might miss timing an event.
Runner - Home meets only; Picks up finish times and results from each lane and Finish Judge and reports to the scorers table. (Home Meets); For the Woodridge Classic, runners also hang results on the board and deliver results to both the announcer and awards tables.
Finish Judge - Home and away meets; Records the order of finish for each lane.
Finish Judge Shadow - Home AND away meets; We offer this position to help train new finish judge candidates to make sure you feel comfortable before “flying solo” during any meet.
Computer Set-Up - Home meets only; Arrival at 5:00. Sets up the computer and printer at the scoring table. Visiting coach will arrive at 5:00 with their lineup. Import opposing team’s lineup into the meet software and set up the meet.
Computer Data Entry/Scoring Operator - Home meets only; Work at the scorer’s table entering times for each race into the computer.
Computer Scoring Assistant - Home meets only; Work at the scorer’s table helping the computer operator. This involves reading times to be entered and distributing event results to scoring, announcer and awards workers.
Scorer - Home AND away meets; Work at the scorer’s table to maintain a handwritten record of finishes and tracking the team cumulative score for all dual meets. This is our back-up system in case the computers go down. (It’s technology. It happens!)
Ribbons/Awards - Home meets only; Prepare ribbons during home meets for both teams. Receives labels from scoring table and attaches them to the appropriate ribbons.
Floater - Goes where needed during home meets, helps with breaks. (Home Meets)
Announcer - Home meets only; Uses the microphone to announce each event and the names of the swimmers in each heat. Also, announces the score and makes other public announcements as needed. (Home Meets)
Stroke and Turn Judge - Home AND away meets; Watches assigned lanes to ensure that correct strokes are being swam and proper turns are being made by the swimmers. A Stroke-&-Turn clinic is held each year before the season starts to train all new judges and serve as a refresher for those returning to the position. If necessary, a recording of the clinic can be viewed online at your convenience before working your first meet of the season.
Stroke-&-Turn Shadow - Home AND away meets; We offer this position to help train new stroke-&-turn candidates to make sure you feel comfortable before “flying solo” during any meet.
