Parent involvement is vital to the success of our swim program.

Like most summer swim programs in the area, South Riding Stingrays is run by member volunteers who elect a Board of Directors to oversee the administrative functions of the club. The team relies on member volunteers to help out with day-to-day operations and run successful swim meets for the swimmer athletes participating in our programs. In order to fulfill the need for volunteers at swim meets, our volunteer requirements are listed below.

Each stingray family is required to submit a separate $200.00 volunteer deposit prior to the season start. 

This deposit must be made in the form of a separate check payable to the South Riding Stingrays submitted to the Director of Operations prior to Time Trials. The volunteer deposit will not be cashed unless you do not fulfill your volunteer obligations.

South Riding Stingrays CSL and ODSL programs require families to volunteer at a minimum of 4 swim team events per swimmer participating in the Stingrays programs (max of 10 for families with multiple swimmers). Anyone who does not complete their volunteer requirements in full by the end of the season will forfeit their volunteer deposit to South Riding Stingrays.

Most parents find that meets go faster and are more enjoyable when they are busy volunteering. It is assumed that volunteering will be at meets your child is attending. (If you only have a swimmer who does not swim on Saturdays you will not be required to wake up Saturday morning to work a meet with other people's children)

  • Most Wednesdays and Saturdays, SRST will have both a home and away meet running simultaneously (CSL & ODSL).
  • It takes up to 83 parent volunteers to run a successful combined meet day.
    • 52 for home meets
    • 31 for away meets

Volunteer Positions Requiring Training

  • Referee – Provided by the home team - Requires league training - Makes sure that the league rules are followed in running the meet
  • Administrative Referee – Optional: Provided by either team - Requires league training - Helps with the processing of DQ slips from the stroke and turn judges
  • Starter – Provided by visiting team - Requires league training - Starts the heats after making sure that everybody is ready.
  • Stroke & Turn Officials – 4 from each team - Requires league training - Verifies that the swimmers are swimming legal strokes including turns and relay starts.
  • Data Entry – 2 from each team - This job requires entering times into the meet database. These folks get to sit in the shade (for the computer's sake, of course).

Volunteer Positions Requiring NO Training

  • Timers – 10 from each team. Includes a head timer and an assistant head timer.  - Requires that you have the ability to hit a button when a light goes off to start the race and then hit it again when the swimmer from your lane touches the wall - thats it!  There are normally 3 timers per lane.
  • Runners – Provided by the home team - Brings time sheets to the timers then takes the completed sheets to the Data Entry. Also may take DQ slips to the Data Entry.
  • Clerk of Course – 4 home team , 2 visiting - In charge of getting kids into the right lane/heat before each race.
  • Ribbons – 3 home team, 2 visiting - After the meet these are the people who make sure that the ribbons get printed and then distributed to the family folders.
  • Announcer – Provided by the home team - Lets everybody know what is going on.
  • Concessions – Provided by the home team - Done in pairs so that you can watch your child swim their heats.