Volunteer Policy

Parent volunteers are vital to the success of the Conejo Simi Aquatics Swim Club. CSA relies heavily on parent volunteers to perform many of the organizational and administrative tasks that are necessary to run the club and provide your child with a great swimming experience. Without a strong parent volunteer base, your monthly dues would be significantly higher and programs and opportunities would be more limited.

In addition to the minimum requirements in this policy, you are encouraged to get involved with assisting the swim club in some way. There are many types of jobs and positions that will match with your talents, interests, and available time. Many parent members have formed lifelong friendships and memories by volunteering for CSA. You will find a list of volunteer opportunities available for you to consider on the CSA website. Alternatively, please contact any Board Member or Committee Chair Person to find out more about how you can get involved.

Minimum Volunteer Requirements

The following are minimum volunteer requirements that are required by each parent member

1. Timing at All Swim Meets

A parent (or designee) is required to time at each swim meet in which their child is swimming. At the beginning of each session of every swim meet (including CSA hosted meets), a CSA parent volunteer will create a list of timing responsibilities and will post this list in a visible place in the pool area. For a preferred time, please make a point to contact the parent volunteer prior to when the list is prepared.

It is up to each parent to check the schedule and to show up at the required time. If you are not able to work that particular time slot, you will be responsible for finding a substitute timer. Typical timing requirement are 45 -90 minutes during each session that your child is swimming.

A designee can be any person over 16 years of age that is capable of fulfilling the job requirement.

2. Working at CSA Hosted Swim Meets

A parent (or designee) is required to work at each CSA hosted swim meet for a 1-2 hour time slot at each session that their child is swimming. (Note: timing is a separate requirement at hosted swim meets and does not count towards fulfilling this volunteer requirement)

A sign-up sheet will be made available 3 or 4 weeks prior to each meet so that you can select which time slot and job you would like to do. Two weeks prior to the meet, the Meet Director, or another designated volunteer, will assign unfilled jobs to the parents that have not signed up. Every effort will be made to assign time slots during the times that your child will be swimming.

A designee can be any person over 16 years of age that is capable of fulfilling the job requirement.

Why do we have this policy?

Because of the enormous amount of manpower and effort that is required to run a swim meet, CSA needs all parents to volunteer at each meet. Swim meets are a critical aspect of amateur swimming in southern California and in the United States.Swim Meets provide a venue for your children to improve their skills and compete against other local and regional swimmers.

Virtually all of the manpower required to run a swim meet comes from the membership of the swim club that is hosting the meet. This manpower is provided on a volunteer (unpaid) basis. The only personnel that are paid at swim meets are the meet officials and referees (about 6 people).

The host swim club relies on its membership to handle most of the tasks involved in running the swim meet but it also must enlist the help from participating clubs to handle timing duties. (At a typical swim meet with 7 or 8 competition lanes, a host club would need approximately 100 persons for 2 or more hours each day just to handle timing duties.

A swim club chooses to host a swim meet – it is not a requirement for it to do so. Swim Meets are bid on or requested by a club at the beginning of each year. Usually, the same clubs host the same meets each year. A swim club hosts a swim meet so that it can ensure that some of the meets are held at its home pool and to generate income. This income helps to reduce monthly swimmer dues or is used to enhance its swimming programs.

CSA hosts 4 or 5 swim meets each year. During the 2006/07 season approximately 10% of our annual operating budget was covered by the profit earned from hosting these swim meets. These profits come from meet entry fees, apparel and equipment sales, and snack bar sales.

With the continued support of the membership, CSA will continue to grow and develop as one of the premier swim clubs in the region. Please feel free to contact a CSA board member if you have any questions regarding the volunteer policy.

A parent of each CSA swimmer must agree to comply with this policy before your child can begin swimming. Non-compliance with this policy without prior approval from the board of directors may result in termination of membership with CSA.