Parent Volunteering:
The Owen Brown Barracudas are a parent-volunteer run organization, and the family of each child is expected to volunteer in some way. It takes a tremendous number of volunteers to operate a successful swim team and have a positive experience for the swimmers and their families. It's also fun!
Note: Most of our positions do not require training in advance, but a few do. To learn more about our volunteer positions, click here for the league's page of descriptions, speak to your manager, or email us at [email protected]
TRAINING SESSIONS:
- OFFICIALS (stroke & turn judges, referees, starters) - 2025 SIGN UP FOR OFFICIALS TRAINING HERE
- DATA ENTRY (Putting scores into the computer, printing labels for ribbons, etc.) [2025 Sessions Complete]
OK, I'm Ready! How do I volunteer?
To volunteer, just click on EVENTS, then select the Job Signup Button for the event you wish to volunteer for.
Note: If you're sharing an account with another parent, then please specify which parent is signing up for the job in the comments/telephone field when you sign-up. Any problems, drop us a note at [email protected] and we will get you sorted. Thank you for all you do!! We cannot do it without you!
FAQ:
Why am I being asked to volunteer? Doesn't my membership cover this?
When you registered, you actually joined the Columbia Neighborhood Swim League (which is owned by the Columbia Association.) The CNSL provides the teams with certain basics such as the pool, paid coaches, and lifeguards, certain equipment, and a framework of teams. However, the teams themselves are separate and are completely run by parent volunteers. Every timer, official, referee, and concession worker that you see is a parent with a child on the team, just like you. We can't do it without you!
I'm happy to volunteer, but I am concerned that I can't do certain things...
We understand special situations and will work with you. If one of your kids is 2-months old, we don’t expect you to find a sitter to work a meet. However, if you are a 2-or-more parent household, often one parent can volunteer while the other watches the kids. Teens and grandparents can volunteer too! Talk to us and we’ll help you work something out!
Do I need any special training?
Most of our volunteer positions do not require any special training and can be mastered in about 5 minutes. If you're new to the team, you will likely volunteer for one of these positions. However, a few positions do require special pre-season training. Usually people ask about these after being on the team for a year or two, but they are open to anyone who wants to learn. Please see above about becoming a data helper/scorer, or an official (officials include referrees, starters, and stroke/turn judges).
