Thunder Coast Aquatics

2023-2024 Handbook

 

Parent Obligations

A successful swim team is reliant on active parent involvement. The three main ways we rely on our parents are through Meet Support, Team Events Support, Financial Support & Safe Sport Compliance. When a team has a body of involved parents everyone benefits, home swim meets run smoothly, more fun events can be planned and when everyone is sharing the workload everyone can enjoy the team.

 

Please join us in creating a culture of volunteerism!

 

Meet Support

 

Home Meets

Why do we host meets?

1. They provide an essential source of revenue for our team.
2. They give our swimmers the opportunity to compete with a “home pool” advantage, no travel, a known pool, and less stress.
3. In order to have opportunities to swim against other teams in Pacific Swimming teams must host meets and provide those opportunities to the swimming community.

 

2023-24 Home Meet Schedule

    September 23 & 24 - TCA Senior Open

    November 3rd - 5th - TCA C/B/A+ Meet

    February 29th - March 3rd - CA/NV Speedo Spring Sectionals

    June 23rd - TCA Invite 1-Day LCM Meet

 

Parent Support Required for Home Meets

• Participation Requirement: All families are required to cover at least 1 shift over the meet weekend regardless of participation in the meet, travel, injury or other activities.

    Exceptions must be approved in advance by the head coach.

• Sign-ups – Volunteer sign-ups are on a first-come-first-served basis and selections can be made through your team unify account. An email notification will go out when volunteer positions for an upcoming meet are posted. Certain jobs and shifts tend to fill up early so if you want a particular position or shift time you should sign up right away. The volunteer coordinator will not facilitate shift changes (you can trade with another family but you must email the volunteer coordinator to confirm the change so we know who to look for).
• Shift lengths – Shift lengths can vary by position and by the type of meet but in general expect to work 2-3 hours at a home meet.
• Positions – Descriptions of the meet volunteer positions can be found on our website. https://www.gomotionapp.com/team/camash/page/home-meet-volunteer-jobs
• Penalties – Families who fail to sign up for a home meet shift will be charged $150. The penalty for no-showing for a shift is $300. All fees will be automatically processed on the 1st of the month through Team Unify.
• Substitute workers – You may hire someone to cover your shift if you will be out of town or ask another family to cover your shift (i.e. one family covers their own shift plus an extra shift for the family that can’t be there *make sure you specify in the sign up who will be there and the name of the family you are subbing for). Please notify the volunteer coordinator if you are doing this so both families get credit.
• Changing an assignment once you have signed up – families are welcome to swap positions with other families any time before the volunteer shift signup closes (usually the Thursday before the meet). This can be done on team unify, one family releases the position and the other signs up or the contact details can be changed to reflect who will be working the shift. Once the online volunteer signups have closed shifts changes must be approved by the volunteer coordinator.
• Questions – please send all questions to the volunteer coordinator.

 

Away Meets

• Timers - At away meets we are required to provide timers based on the number of swimmers we have entered in the meet. The week before the meet the host team provides each team with the number of timing chairs they are required to fill. The away meet volunteer coordinator will send out an email to the attending families. Depending on the number of chairs assigned, each family will be asked to fill 1-2 shifts to cover the meet. Shifts are filled on a first-come-first-served basis. These will remain open until the start of the meet. If your swimmer attends the meet with another family we ask that you arrange to have them cover your timing requirement (i.e. they work two timing shifts).
  • Please arrive promptly to your shift so the family before you is not waiting.
  • If your child is swimming in the later events please sign up for the later timing shifts. This prevents families that only have morning events from having to stay later.
• Officials – We must provide Officials for meets based on the number of swimmers TCA has entered or the team can incur fines

 

 

 

Season Long Volunteer Positions – These fulfill parent requirements for the year.

There are several volunteer positions that run the whole year and would meet all your volunteer obligations for the year.

 

• Official – We are required to provide approximately 1 official for every 10 swimmers we have entered in a meet (home or away). Officials are certified through a process with USA Swimming our TCA Official Liaison can walk you through the process.
• Snack Bar Chair – Coordinate menu, shopping, cooking, and staffing of the snack bar & hospitality for home meets.
• Volunteer Jobs Coordinator – Work with TCA meet director to determine coverage and shifts for home meets, work to resolve meet day issues and signups leading up to a meet, track families required involvement at home meets and away meets.
• Away meet Timer Coordinator -Age Group & Senior Group 2 people – Coordinate shifts and signups for away meet timers at C/B/A+ meets, make sure chairs are filled and families show up for their shifts. (This will remove home meet obligations, but the coordinator should participate in away meet timing for meets their child attends). If the coordinator is not attending the meet they can arrange timing signups beforehand and then assign someone to be the point person at the meet.
• Fund Raising Chair – 2 people – Coordinate and promote Swim-a-thon, coordinate and promote other fundraising efforts (dine and donate nights, raffle baskets to sell at home swim meets etc…)
• Communications – Put together a monthly newsletter, maintain and update google calendar feeds, coordinate with Tom & Sarah on monthly practice & meet schedule, assist with travel meet planning.

 

Financial Support

In addition to monthly dues, we hold one major fundraiser per year, Swim-a-thon.

 

Swim-a-thon - October 28th

This is TCA’s major fundraiser for the year and the only direct donation ask of our families. TCA is a non-profit and your donations are tax-deductible and we will happily accept matching donations from employers. A percentage of this fundraiser is donated to USA swimming foundation.

 

TCA athletes raise money by swimming lengths of the pool. Swimmers ask family, friends, neighbors, or businesses to pledge money per length, or make a flat donation in support of the team. Swim-a-Thon participants can earn cool prizes from the USA Swimming Foundation; plus, teams are entered into the Swim-a-Thon contest where we have the opportunity to earn prize packages including a visit from an Olympian!

 

Monthly dues do not cover the costs of running a team of this size and quality. Here’s a short and by no means comprehensive list of what your donation money provides:

• Pool Rental Fees
• Retaining a robust and educated coaching staff
• New Equipment 
• Team Gear
• Insurance
• Scholarships
• Social Events (Christmas Party, End of Year Parties, Pancake Breakfasts ect…)
• Coaches Travel Expenses for away meets
• Athlete travel fund assistance as needed

 

Each family is encouraged to donate $250 per swimmer. Our team depends on the revenue from this fund raiser to operate the team.

 

Safe Sport

All USA Swimming teams must maintain safe sport training certification for their coaches, parents and athletes. This is a requirement of USA Swimming. Athletes and Parents must complete the appropriate online training course, once a year, available through USAswimming.org within the first 30 days of the season. If your swimmer is over 18 they will not be able to swim in meets or practice until this requirement is met.

 

Follow the link below to log into your USA Swimming account and complete the training session. This should take less than 30 minutes.

https://www.usaswimming.org/swimmers-parents/parents/safe-sport-for-parents

 

Contact Information

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAQ’s

 

Why do I have to work at meets, shouldn’t this be included in our monthly dues?  Meets are an essential source of revenue for TCA. Swim dues do not cover all the expenses of a team. Swimming competition requires manpower to run safe and effective meets.  Coaches are responsible for coaching, parents are responsible for supporting the team during meets so coaches can focus on swimmers.

 

I will be out of town during one of the home meets, can I get an exemption?  No, all families are expected to participate in running home meets.  The home meet schedule is posted at the beginning of the season for your convenience to plan your family schedule.

 

Can a relative, friend or neighbor take our place working at a meet?  YES!!  Include their contact info on the sign-up in Team Unify and you are good to go (phone number and email address).  It is your responsibility to make sure your replacement shows up early for any training needed and is aware of their shift times.   

 

What if I need to switch my shift?  Can I do this?  Yes, if you do it!  Though swaps are not encouraged because they can cause confusion and sometimes your swap does not cover your original shift!  You are still responsible in the end.   You must swap on your own in Team Unify before the signup closes (usually the Thursday before a meet) and email the jobs coordinator to announce your swap.  Swaps can only be done within the same meet.  We do not contact replacements.  You are responsible for making sure your replacement shows up for your original shift.

 

If I cannot show up for a shift, isn’t it the coordinator’s responsibility to find a replacement?  In the end, yes but this causes disruption.  The jobs coordinator manages unexpected circumstances and ensures that everyone working a shift has a comfortable experience by offering bathroom breaks and training new families. When the jobs coordinator has to cover a shift themselves or search out new people to cover jobs it causes stress and confusion on deck.

 

What if there is an extreme emergency, what happens?  Families are responsible for finding a replacement worker or paying the missed shift penalty.

 

I’ve seen some families don’t engage the way I do, this isn’t fair.  What’s up with that?  We address non-compliance with our policy equally.  Shifts are tracked by software and tallied by our coordinator and administrator.  We cannot discuss non-compliance with other families to protect confidentiality and keep our team culture positive.

 

If I take on a “special job” with the team, why do I have to time or take meet jobs?  In the end, our goal is to run meets safely and effectively and to share the workload fairly. We are required to provide timers at away meets.  If we don’t have all hands on deck at these meets, some families end up working ALL day.  This causes resentment between families which is not good for our team, we expect each family to do a small chunk of work so we all can enjoy the meet.   

 

This process seems complicated and my schedule changes all the time.  We’re new to swimming and don’t understand the swim team culture, how do I figure this out?  We recommend looking into your family schedule far in advance, write down all the meets posted from the TCA website in your calendar and work swimming into your schedule.  If you need advice on how to navigate swim meet calendars, our website, or swimming culture in general, please ask a veteran swim family early in the season.  We want your child to swim on our team and believe with some tips you can make this happen.  We are here for you but can’t help you effectively in the 11^th hour, please reach out to a veteran swim family or any board member early and we can help guide you in the right direction.