Meet Support Commitments

What is meet support?

Meet support is helping during a swim meet. It can take over 850 person-hours to put on a swim meet, and swim meets are a major source of revenue for swim teams. FAST-sponsored swim meets provide additional income needed for general operating expenses that provides our swimmers with a high level of professional coaching and keeps monthly dues as affordable as possible. 

What is a session of meet support?

• A session is a set of swim events as defined in the meet information. One session usually averages 4-6 hours. Weekend meets normally include 5 sessions (1 on Friday evening, 1 on Saturday morning, 1 on Saturday afternoon, 1 on Sunday morning, and 1 on Sunday afternoon). 

What kind of jobs are there?

• Programs, hospitality, lane timer, backup timer, and runner are all good jobs for a first-time swim parent. Runner can be done by a child 10 years of age or older. Lane timers must be 12 years or older.

• Clerk of course and awards are good jobs to learn once you have worked at a meet and understand how the meet operates.

• Head timer, timing console, meet computer and announcing require more training (usually several sessions). There are computer and timing console trainee slots available at every meet.

• See meet support job descriptions for more details.

How do I sign up?

• When the meet support schedule is available, an email will be sent out to all active FAST families currently registered to receive emails. At this point, you may email the meet support coordinator to sign up for that particular meet.

• Please be specific about what job you want to work, during what session and who will be working.

• You will receive an email back to confirm that you are signed up to work.

• The meet support schedule (intrasquad meet example) for each meet is updated periodically on the FAST website.

How many sessions does our family need to work?

• The number of sessions each family must work is detailed in the terms and conditions.

• For 2009-2010 Senior, Pre-Senior, Blue, White, and Platinum groups: accrue 1 per month, max 11 sessions

• For 2009-2010 Gold and Silver groups: accrue 1 per month, max 8 sessions
• For 2009-2010 Pre-Competitive group: None
• For 2009-2010 High School Prep group, sessions are accured if the swimmer participates in USA Swimming-sponsored meets. For details, see the High School Prep Terms and Conditions.

How can we complete the sessions?

• Multiple family members can signup for the same session, including siblings, parents, grandparents, etc. For example, if 3 family members work the Saturday morning and Sunday morning sessions of a weekend meet, the family has completed 6 meet support sessions over one weekend.

• Swimmers can work sessions that they are not eligible to swim in. Swimmers should not complete meet support in lieu of swimming. 

• You must provide 72 hours notice prior to the start of a meet for any session you have committed to work but cannot attend by declining the position on the FAST web site volunteer sign up page.

• If you cannot provide 72 hours notice, failure to show or find a replacement will result in a $50 charge to your account and you will remain accountable for the missed session.

How can we check our meet support balance?

• To see how many hours of meet support you have, login to your FAST account on the FAST web site. Click the My Invoice/Payment link on the left, the click the Volunteer Hours tab. Your balance should be listed.

What if our swimmer only swims for a few months?

• Meet support sessions are accrued at 1 meet support session per month until the maximum number of sessions for the swimmer’s group has been reached.

• Normally, you will have until mid-July of the current swim season to complete your meet support commitment, even if your swimmer stops swimming before that time.

What if we don’t complete our meet support sessions?

• If your child stops swimming after a few months and you still owe meet support sessions, you may complete these sessions at any of the FAST- sponsored meets during the remainder of the 2009-2010 season.

• Remember, if you quit the team and remove yourself from the email list, it will be your responsibility to contact the meet support coordinator  to arrange to work your meet support commitment.

• In the unlikely situation that you have not completed your meet support commitment by the last swim meet of the 2009-2010 season in mid-July, your family will be billed $80 for each session not yet worked, as described in the terms and conditions. 

What if I have more questions about meet support?
Please email the meet support coordinator with any questions. See the meet support page for more information.