Family Volunteer Policy 

Swim meets are the opportunity for our swimmers to show what they have learned and let their abilities and achievements SHINE, through friendly competition!  At Rockford Riptide, we want the swim meets that we host to be conducted in a way that allows our swimmers and the guest teams to have a fun, positive, and memorable time.  Swim meets are also an Essential way for our swim club to raise money, so that we can keep the overall costs of participation at a reasonable level in our club.  In order to do that, we need the help and involvement of all of our swim families. 

Riptide hosts several swim meets each year, during which we need our swim families to staff all of the positions to ensure that they run smoothly and according to the rules of the governing bodies to which we are responsible (USA Swimming, Michigan Swimming, West Michigan Swim League).  We typically host 3 USA meets per year (see list below) and these are larger 1-2 day meets that are held on weekends.  WMSL meets are spread throughout the year.  These are shorter meets, usually held on an evening or afternoon, and we typically host an average of 1-2 per season.  The WMSL meets provide a nice opportunity for our swimmers AND our volunteer staffers to learn in a lower pressure environment. 

Service Requirements for families of USA swimmers:

Normal Season Dates                                                    Riptide Meets                         # of required shifts 

Fall Season - September through November                        “Fall Fiesta”                                   1 shift

Winter Season – December through March                         “Super Splash”                                2 shifts

Spring Season – April through May                                    “Rock the Rogue”                              1 shift

Summer Season – June through August

In order to adequately staff all of our hosted meets, each family is required to volunteer for at least two shifts during the Fall and Winter seasons, and one shift during the Spring season. (see chart)  Shifts are typically 3-4 hours.  These can be done in the same day (one morning, one afternoon), worked one session Sat/one Sunday, or fill two spots in same session with 2 people.   A reminder of the shift requirements along with meet dates, will be emailed out to all those registered on Team Unify by the Meet Director approximately 1 week after the start of the season. 

Approximately 1-2 months prior to each of these meets, the meet information and volunteer signups for that meet will be posted on our website under Events / Meet & Event Signup and the individual event will have a “Job Signup” button in addition to the standard “Attend/Decline” button. Posting of that information on the website will also be announced via email to all those registered on our website.

THANKS for going Above and Beyond!

A family who goes Above and Beyond the required number of shifts will receive a credit of $10 per additional shift worked towards their Riptide account to be used toward meet fees.  

Non Fulfillment

If you know in advance that you cannot volunteer and cannot find a family member or friend to cover the required shift, please email [email protected], so that we can record your fees appropriately and not continue to pester you to volunteer throughout the entire session.  Those who have not fulfilled their requirements AND have not communicated will be charged an additional $25 admin. fee to compensate for the additional work that other volunteers will have to do to track their missed time and find replacement coverage.

Non fulfillment = a fee of $100 per shift

Non fulfillment + a failure to communicate = $100 per shift plus additional admin fee of $25.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can fulfill the volunteer requirements? 

Any family member or friend can fulfill the shift requirements, but we track everything through our Team Unify website, so in order to get the credit you will need to log into the website and sign up for the shift and then specify the individual’s name as the person working the shift.   All of the reminders for that shift will then come to you, and you will need to pass those on to the appropriate person. 

What if I have multiple swimmers in Riptide, from the same family?

The volunteer requirements are Per Family, so the requirement does not change for families with multiple swimmers.

Why did the volunteer requirement change?

Running successful meets play a crucial role in our success, and over the last couple years we have had great difficulty filling our available volunteer slots. This created undue stress in finding people at the last minute to fill available spots to run a successful meet.   The only change to the requirement was the addition of one shift per family in the Fall and Winter seasons.