Please direct all questions about volunteering to the volunteer coordinators. They can be reached at [email protected].
Volunteering 101 - Please read though this document...it hopefully answers all questions!
SPRING/SUMMER 2023 VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS
SWAT will be hosting the following meets during the Spring/Summer sessions. These meets are great events for our club and help to keep our costs down. Please plan accordingly and if you have an extreme conflict, please reach out to [email protected] and let us know.
MEET MANAGEMENT AND OFFICIALS NEEDED
We are looking for people to step up and learn what it takes to fill these positions. Not only are you fulfilling your volunteer sessions, but you can earn credit for registration fees and learn valuable skills that can be used throughout the time your athletes are swimming.
How to become an Official:
1. Visit the Wisconsin Swimming site and register for a training session. CLICK HERE for a direct link to the page. All fees are covered by SWAT.
2. Attend a training session. These are currently being offered via Zoom. If you are lucky, our own Mike Mellock may be teaching the class.
3. Work as an "apprentice" at upcoming meets.
How to become a timing system operator or Hy-Tek operator:
Contact Brian Temke ([email protected] or 414.688.3475) to set up a time for training.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
SWAT is a non-profit organization and receives no outside revenue. Training fees only cover 68% of the revenue needed to fund our program. Hosting Meets is an important part of club revenue, second only to actual registration fees. As such, every registered family is required to work at SWAT-hosted meets regardless of the number of children in the family. The number of required sessions may vary each season depending on the number of meets hosted and membership numbers for each session.
New families generally are opted out during their first session (not season) with the team. Families unable to fulfill their session requirements will be billed $100 per missed session. Families that "no-show" for a session will be billed $150.
Families must fulfill the meet worker requirement EVEN if their swimmer is not swimming in the meet that SWAT is hosting.
A team email blast will be sent by the meet worker volunteer coordinators announcing when the online signup is ready. All job signups are done online. Jobs are filled on a first-come basis. We send a blast 24 hours advising what time the signup will go live so that every family has a fair chance when signup opens to declare for time slots/jobs best suited to your needs.
Don’t delay if a time slot/job preference is needed as spots fill quickly upon opening.
Volunteering/Meet Worker Requirements
Hosting Meets is an important part of club revenue, second only to actual registration fees.
Since all swimmers benefit from revenue raised, every registered family is required to work at SWAT-hosted meets regardless of how many swimmers they have participated.
Family, friends, and siblings over age 15 are welcome to help fulfill your requirements. We are happy to provide documentation for your teens
that need to meet “volunteer requirements” through school and other organizations.
A team email blast will be sent by the meet worker volunteer coordinators announcing when the online signup is ready.
Details of Volunteer Jobs and the contact info for the Volunteer Coordinators can be found on our SWAT website homepage by choosing "Volunteering Opportunities" from the "Parents" tab on the top menu.
A Note Regarding "Hospitality Food" Positions
In order to stay within our budget but maintain the high quality of food at our meets for officials and coaches, we've been utilizing the job sign-up list so families can purchase and bring food to the meet (for coach/official hospitality), and then apply that as a volunteer commitment. Each family will be allowed a MAXIMUM of one food preparation/delivery job per season...not per meet. We'd much rather have your time on deck supporting the meet. If you have any questions regarding this change, please contact your Volunteer Coordinators.
Failure to provide the correct designated item(s) in the amount requested AND at the correct time or session WILL result in your family being charged the $100 buyout. Please do not sign up for the food item if you are unsure about what to bring or unable to get to the facility on time. Many times the hospitality coordinators will ask for side dishes meant to go with a planned main dish.
Ways To Complete Your Commitment
1. One family member can be the hero and fulfill all the required sessions.
2. Two family members can work at one session together (fulfills 2 spots) and then one member works one more session to complete the 3rd session. Timers can generally work together if you wish to work with your family members.
3. Convince your family/friends/neighbors to work with you at one session and complete that meets requirements for that meet in one session!
It is not up to the coordinators to find replacements or workers for your requirements. Siblings over age 14 can help and if you know of anyone who needs to fulfill Volunteer Credits for a non-profit for school, or community service our meet director can fill out any paperwork needed if they work our meets and fulfill the session requirement.
Please be kind to our VOLUNTEERS who are working hard to staff 40-60 positions daily at meets. It is not their fault if your work/vacation/family plans interfere with your needed requirement. In fairness to every member that makes changes and sacrifices to their family schedules to fulfill their requirements, buyouts will not be waived.
How to Sign Up
SWAT uses the web-based Team Unify program to organize volunteers. You will receive an email informing you when the Volunteer Sign-Up page will go “live”. Once the Volunteer Sign-Up page is “live”, choose the job(s) you want to volunteer for. All job descriptions are below. Please sign up quickly, as jobs fill up fast!. As a reminder, you will not receive a confirmation once you sign up. To ensure that you were added to the job sign up, please go back in to verify you are listed next to the job you signed up for.
Families who must cancel their meet shift(s) during the week prior to that meet must make their own arrangements for someone else to cover those shifts and to notify the Volunteer Coordinators of your replacement. If you are a no-show on the day of a meet that you signed up to work for, your account will be billed a $150 per missed session meet volunteer fee.
Other Ways to Fulfill Work Requirements
There are other ways to receive volunteer work credit.
Working or apprenticing as an official at any home meet will count toward fulfilling your family volunteer obligation. If your son/daughter is a certified lifeguard and they work the meet, that can also fulfill your family obligation. There may be some shifts available for the pickup/preparation of food for concessions (food sold at meets) or for hospitality (food served during the meet to coaches and officials). In addition, there are other meet-support positions, such as Head Timer, Awards Chairperson, Hospitality Coordinator, and others which can be filled. All of these positions require more of a time commitment. If you would like to explore any of these additional jobs or want to devote more time to help out at SWAT hosted meets, please contact the Volunteer Coordinators.
Descriptions of Volunteer Positions (Please note that some positions may require additional training)
50/50 Raffle Sales – Sales of 50/50 raffle tickets to raise funds for SWAT. Work with and near the admissions table at the beginning of each session, and then walk throughout the facility to sell raffle tickets.
Admissions – You will arrive before the scheduled start of warm-ups to sell entrance admission wrist bands (either with cash or online tickets). Must be older than 18 years of age, as you will be handling money for the club. Requires two people each session. It is extremely important to arrive on time! Swim parents notoriously get to the pool WAY too early!!
Admissions Marshals – You will check for wristbands at all entrances to the pool deck to ensure we have paid attendance only in the stands. You will also check to make sure coaches/swimmers/officials are only allowed on the pool deck. You must be at least 18 years old for this position and you must arrive on time for your shift start.
Announcer – Provides the voice of the meet. You will announce the events and the participants in each heat, along with any other pertinent information. An announcer is needed for each session, and sometimes an assistant Announcer may be required. Please arrive one hour prior to the start of the session.
Awards Table Assistants – Depending on the size of the meet, you will take results from the Computer Operator or Results Runner, and organize ribbons and awards for distribution.
Clean-up Crew – At the conclusion of sessions and meets, we need volunteers to assist with returning the facility to its pre-meet condition. The AM Clean-Up Crew cleans up after the first session. The PM Clean-Up Crew begins towards the end of the meet. There are usually more PM full-shift positions each day as we need extra assistance in the final takedown at the end of the meet day for final clean-up. You will pick up trash under bleachers, check the locker-rooms, the spectator areas and around the deck. We will need male and female workers for each session.
Clerk of Course - Handles administrative tasks such as positive checks, time trial sign-up, deck entries, and scratches at Prelim/Final events. General knowledge of how swim meets operate is preferred.
Colorado Timing Operator (NEEDS TRAINING) – This position is usually called the "Colorado Operator" because Colorado Timing is one of the main timing computer manufacturers...some pools use other systems. This person will operate (under instruction) the timing console at SWAT meets to make sure touchpads are working and the scoreboard accurately shows who is racing in the proper event and heat. Training sessions are usually available at all non-Regional or non-State meets for anyone who would like to learn the timing system. We can also train you during a local High School meet if you wish.
Concessions – This involves selling and/or preparing food. Please observe the start and end times of these work sessions as they may be different from the beginning and end times of the actual meet sessions. There is a Concessions Chairperson who will dictate the need for number of positions and kind of help (preparing, picking-up, and/or selling food) needed. Please check the Volunteer Sign-Up page for specifics.
Hospitality – You will work with our Hospitality Chairperson in providing food for coaches and officials in the Coach/Official Hospitality Room. This position involves food/beverage preparation, distribution, and clean-up. You will also deliver water/snacks to coaches, officials, and timers during each session.
Hy-Tek Meet Manager Operator (NEEDS TRAINING) – Hy-Tek Meet Manager is the "the brains" of the meet. This is the program that assigns times to names and ranks all events. Don't be fooled by name...it is a somewhat user-friendly program and we will train you! These volunteers double check times (in case pads aren't working properly), DQ athletes if needed (sometimes you have to DQ your own kid!), and generate the official results. Training sessions are usually available at all non-Regional or non-State meets for anyone who would like to learn the timing system. We can also train you during a local High School meet if you wish.
Meet Marshal – USAS regulations require at least two male and two female Meet Marshals to be on-site during a sanctioned meet – depending on the meet size we may need more Meet Marshals each session. We require at least two male and two female volunteer as you also walk through and monitor the locker-room facilities. From warm-ups, until the session ends, you will be ensuring that the swimmers, coaches, and spectators adhere to certain standards of safe behavior.
Officials (NEEDS TRAINING) – If you are interested in becoming an official, this will fulfill your volunteer requirement. Please scroll down for more information about becoming an official. Let the Volunteer Coordinators know and we will get you the information you need. If you are a qualified official, there will be opportunities to sign up when the Volunteer Sign-Up page goes “live”.
Runner and Results Runners – You will pick up Timer sheets and deliver them to the computer office, post results outside the pool deck, distribute to and from the awards table and meet announcer, and carry out other duties as needed. This is a great job for a responsible young person.
Set-Up and Decorations – Volunteers here will work with the Set-Up and Decorations Chairperson to assist with set-up on the evening before or on the early morning prior to the meet—decorating, setting up the lobby, hospitality area, concessions area, and pool and testing the equipment so that all will be ready when the meet begins the next day. If help is needed, the Volunteer Sign-up page will have specific time and number requirements. Additionally, we may need some people to set up equipment on each morning of the meet, prior to warm-ups.
Staging – When meet sessions include younger swimmers (8 & Under’s), oftentimes an adult volunteer or two is needed to line up the swimmers and assist them with getting into the proper lanes.
Team Gear Sales – Based on guidance from the SWAT board and the Team Gear Chairperson, there may be opportunities to sell SWAT gear (towels, caps, shirts, warm-ups, etc.) during the meet.
Timers & Back-Up Timers – We require two timers per swim lane, plus an additional two back-up timers per shift. Your primary duty is to operate a stopwatch and electronic back-up button. Timers serve as the secondary and tertiary back up to the primary (electronic pad) timing system. At our home meets, we will supply all of the timers! Timers need to be at least 15 years old. The Timers meeting usually takes place about 30 minutes before the session starts. New timers don’t need to shy away from this commitment as we will combine a more experienced timer with a new timer. There is a Head Timer Chairperson who organizes this commitment and runs the Timers meeting.
Volunteer Check-In Table – The Volunteer Coordinators need a responsible person each session to check-in volunteers at the check-in table, distribute marshal vests and/or t-shirts and assist in the organization of all the volunteer positions each session. One person required for each session.
