OJRAC Volunteer Dual Meet Positions

50/50 Ticket Sales - Usually 1 person will be needed for this position. This person will walk around throughout the first half of the meet trying to sell as many 50/50 raffle tickets as possible. This position is important to raise funds to support the swim team. The winning ticket is typically drawn about halfway through the meet (after the completion of the backstroke events), and then this job is complete. The most successful raffle ticket sales person is typically an outgoing person that doesn't mind talking to everyone and anyone, and has a loud voice that can be heard over the crowd.

Apparel Table - Several volunteers are needed for this position. These volunteers will work at the apparel sales table selling things like shirts, googles, caps, etc. These volunteers will be handling money and interacting with customers from both our team and the opposing teams. 

Balcony Monitor - Usually 1 person will be needed for this position. This person will be positioned in the balcony area over the pool ensuring that everyone in that area is safe and following all school rules. For example, if you would see someone leaning over the side railing or throwing anything off the balcony onto the pool deck, you would need to appropriately address that situation and make the person violating the rules aware that they need to stop what they are doing, for their own safety and the safety of those around them. Remind guests that the balcony is for those watching their swimmers race, and encourage them to please move on once that race is over so everyone has a chance to see their swimmer’s races. Also, remind spectators of the OJR mask policy if/when applicable.

Food Court Volunteer - Many volunteers are needed for these positions. This position is typically broken up into 2 hour time slots that you can sign up for individually. These volunteers will work in the cafeteria where all the team donated food is sold. Some volunteers will work the cash register, and others will assist customers with their food purchases. The first shift of the day will also assist in setting everything up, and the last shift will also help to clean up at the conclusion of the meet.

Cafeteria Monitor – Usually 1-2 volunteers will be needed for this position, for each half of the meet. This person(s) will be positioned by the cafeteria doorway area.This position involves ensuring that everyone in that area is acting in a safe and responsible manner to both themselves and others around them, and is respectful of school property. If you witness any inappropriate behavior you would then appropriately address that situation and make the person violating the rules aware that they need to stop what they are doing, for their safety and the safety of those around them. Remind spectators and swimmers that absolutely NO FOOD is allowed to leave the Cafeteria, all food must be eaten inside cafeteria. 

Gym Monitor – Usually 1-2 volunteers will be needed for this position, for each half of the meet. This person(s) will be positioned in the gymnasium area where waiting spectators will be seated. As the parents and swimmers enter the gym please direct them towards their team’s sitting area. This position involves ensuring that everyone in that area is acting in a safe and responsible manner to both themselves and others around them, and is respectful of school property. If you witness any inappropriate behavior you would then appropriately address that situation and make the person violating the rules aware that they need to stop what they are doing, for their safety and the safety of those around them. Remind spectators and swimmers that absolutely NO FOOD is permitted in the Gymnasium, all food must be eaten in the cafeteria. Also, remind spectators of the OJR mask policy if/when applicable.

Hallway & Lobby Monitor – Usually 1-2 volunteers will be needed for this position, for each half of the meet. This person(s) will be positioned in the Hallway area between the cafeteria and the end of the pool viewing area. Please walk back and forth through the hallway picking up trash if necessary, and reminding spectators and swimmers of school rules when applicable. This position involves ensuring that everyone in that area is acting in a safe and responsible manner to both themselves and others around them, and is respectful of school property. If you witness any inappropriate behavior (like running in hallways) you would then appropriately address that situation and make the person violating the rules aware that they need to stop what they are doing, for their safety and the safety of those around them. Remind spectators and swimmers that absolutely NO FOOD is permitted in the Gymnasium, all food must be eaten in the cafeteria. Also, remind spectators of the OJR mask policy if/when applicable.

Meet Marshals - YOU MUST HAVE YOUR CLEARANCES ON FILES TO VOLUNTEER FOR THIS POSITION. You can find the links for your clearnaces under the Swim Team Tab. Usually 2 volunteers per gendered age group are needed for these positions. These positions can only be filled by a person who has their volunteer clearances on file with the team (clearances need to be sent to Renae Houck or Jaclyn Randolph, we cannot access the clearances on file with the school district).

  Before the meet begins, these volunteers will be given a list of swimmers in their group with all the events each swimmer will swim that day. When the swimmers arrive to the swim meet they will check in with the meet marshal who will inform the swimmer what events they will swim that day. At that point we like to write the swimmers' events on their hands using sharpie markers so they don’t lose track of what they are swimming. The swimmers will sit together by age groups with the meet marshals helping them to remember when their next event is coming up. A few events before your age group swims, the meet marshal will round up all swimmers in that particular event and guide them to the area behind the starting blocks.

Meet Set Up & Clean up - Several volunteers are needed for these positions. These volunteers will arrive either before the start of the meet (set up volunteers) to help set everything up, or stay after the meet ends (clean up volunteers) to help clean up everything at the conclusion of the meet. 

Scorer’s Table - Usually 1-2 volunteers are needed to assist the scorer’s table. These volunteers only work half (either the first or second half) of each meet.   

  These volunteers will assist in running the scorer's table under the IT Coordinator’s direction. These volunteers will check-in with the IT Coordinator upon arriving for the meet, and will then be directed in how you can best assist them. This person is also in charge of turning on the speakers in the gym, hallway and pool deck. These speakers must be set to the same channel as the microphone that the announcer is using. As a bonus you have a great front row seat to the meet, as the scorer's table is positioned on the pool deck right beside the pool. 

Timer Coordinator - Attend all home dual meets as well as Silvers, time trials, and the Red & White meet. Gather supplies from storage closet for timers and meet officials (clipboards, stopwatches, pencils, DQ sheets, and scrap paper/clipboard for scorer's table) Check in with volunteer coordinator to confirm all timer volunteers are checked in and get copy of volunteer list so you know who should be at the meeting and in each lane for each half. Prior to meet starting, make sure stopwatches for each lane and backup timer are in working order. Ensure the meet lineups are posted in the hallway outside of the gym before the start of the meet. Obtain lane lineup sheets from scorer's table and place on each lane's clipboard. Conduct timer's meeting about 15-30 minutes before the meet starts Ensure meet officials have DQ sheets and volunteers for scorers table know they are to watch meet officials during each event and retrieve DQ slips as necessary and obtain back-up times when directed by scorer's table. Ensure sure timer's are in place at beginning of meet, when changing sides for events, and timer's from first half are relieved by 2nd half timers after backstroke. Check to make sure all timers understand how to use equipment, especially plungers. Serve as resource for scorer's table - assist with obtaining back-up times, going to timers when there are issues with equipment, etc. Offer water to timers, officials, and volunteers at timer's table. Step in to relieve timers if needed and notify coaches when food is brought to back room from the food court so they can rotate to grab a bite to eat At conclusion of meet gather all equipment from timers (making sure all stopwatches are returned and not running) and place neatly back in storage box, returned to closet, and placed on appropriate shelf. Discard all papers in trash.

Timer & Backup Timer - 1-2 volunteers are needed per lane, with one additional person acting as a backup timer who stands off to the side of the pool, for each half of the swim meet. These volunteers work half (either the first or second half) of each meet, switching after the completion of the backstroke events.

  The timers will each be given a stopwatch and a lineup to track which swimmer should be in your assigned lane for each race throughout the meet. One timer per lane will have a stopwatch and the lineup, and the other timer will have a stopwatch and a plunger (the button attached to each touchpad that will act as a backup if the swimmer does not stop their race by making contact with the touchpad). The timer with the stopwatch and plunger will start their stopwatch at the start of every race, and then stop it at the end of the race, while at the same time press the button on the plunger with their other hand.

  The timer that has the stopwatch and the lineup will confirm the racing swimmer's name and event before the race, and then start and stop their stopwatch at the beginning and the end of the race as previously explained. At the conclusion of each race the volunteer timer with the lineup will write down the times that each timer has on their stopwatch on the lineup next to that swimmer's name. 

  The backup timer will have only a stopwatch, and their job is to start their stopwatch at the beginning of every race. If a timer in any lane missed the start of their race on their own stopwatch, that timer will immediately raise their hand and attempt to get the backup timer's attention. The backup timer will keep an eye on the timers, and if anyone signals that they are having a problem with their stopwatch during the race you would quickly bring them your stopwatch that they can use to get an accurate time for that race. This occurs while the race is ongoing.

  There will be a timer's meeting roughly 20-30 minutes before the swim meet begins. All timers (first and second half) typically meet near the scorer’s table at that time. Please listen for announcements before the start of the swim meet for the specific meeting times and location.

Additional Volunteer Positions For Championship Meets

Pool Deck Safety Monitor - Usually 1 volunteer will be needed for this position. This person will be positioned on the pool deck in the area between the stairs and the office. This person will make sure only DRY swimmers use these stairs, wet swimmers will use the back stairway behind the scorer’s table. Also, ensure that everyone knows that absolutely no glass or ceramic bottles can be on the deck at any time. Any glass or ceramic items can be left on the table at the bottom of the stairs.

  This position also involves ensuring that everyone in that area is acting in a safe and responsible manner to both themselves and others around them, and is respectful of school property. If you witness any inappropriate behavior you would then appropriately address that situation and make the person violating the rules aware that they need to stop what they are doing, for their safety and the safety of those around them. Also, remind spectators of the OJR mask policy if/when applicable.

Runners - Several volunteers are needed for this position. This position involves escorting the dry swimmers from the heat benches in the gym, down the front stairs to the heat benches by the pool. Other runners will escort the wet swimmers up the back stairs, after their races, to the gym. The gym is located on the upper level and the pool is located on the lower level, so please keep in mind that a main part of this position involves walking up and down the stairs for several hours. It's a great volunteer job for our older swimmers and other volunteering teens.

Heat Winner Award - About 3 volunteers are needed in this position. This job is for older swimmers or teens. These volunteers will be positioned on the pool deck, watching every race. The winning swimmer of every heat wins a prize (a swim sticker). These volunteers will approach the winning swimmer and distribute the winning swimmer's award after every race. One heat in every event will be chosen randomly to be the “hot heat”. The winner of this race will get an extra prize as well.

Entry Table – Usually 2 volunteers will be needed for this position. These people will work the entry table collecting admission fees as spectators enter the meet. These volunteers will be handling money and interacting with customers from both our team and all other teams. The entry fee for guests at Silvers is $5.00 per person & $3 per child ages 4-12. Children ages 3 & under are free. Swimmers (home or away) and all OJRAC volunteers do NOT have to pay an entry fee.

Award Trophy Room - Several volunteers are needed for this position. These volunteers will work in the trophy room sorting awards as race results come in. Volunteers will place stickers with the winning swimmer's name, event, times, etc. on the back of all ribbons, medals, or trophies won. Then all awards will be sorted into boxes for each team. Coaches will collect and distribute awards to their swimmers at some point after the meet. 

Heat Staging – Usually 3 volunteers are needed in this position in the gym and another 3 volunteers are needed on the deck. Before the start of the meet the heat stagers will be given a meet printout listing each event broken into several heats with each swimmer's team & name for each race. Some heat stagers will be positioned in the gym, and some on the pool deck. They will be responsible for getting all swimmers in place before each race. During the meet the gym heat stagers will loudly announce the event and the age group you are currently lining up, and swimmers participating in that event will begin walking over to the heat staging area. These volunteers will then direct the swimmers to sit the correct order on the waiting heat benches. Each bench will represent a race, with each swimmer sitting in order based on their event, heat and lane positioning. If any swimmer has not made it to the heat benches while the swimmers are lining up, you would then loudly call out that swimmers name, or team name. Hopefully at that time, the swimmer would then head over to the heat benches, or a coach or parent from that team would go looking for the swimmer you need. Once lined up, the swimmers would stay together while escorted by the heat runners to the waiting benches by the pool. The pool heat stagers would then check to see that all swimmers for each race are accounted for and in the correct order for their race. The swimmers will stay on these benches until shortly before the start of their race, when they will be directed to stand behind the lane they will be racing in.