Volunteer Requirements, Practice Information, and Meet Sign Ups

We are about TWO WEEKS out from the start of the season!

Volunteering

Every family is required to volunteer. We understand that some people have challenges with childcare during a swim meet while also fulfilling their volunteer duties. This is something many parents have to manage. It takes a lot of people to run a successful swim meet and we appreciate your hard work and dedication to the swimmers and our team!

• Volunteering requirements will be determined by approximated hours. Considering most meets will be about 3 hours. One half of the meet will be counted as 1.5 hours and a full meet will be counted as 3 hours. We will not be tracking if meet finish 20 minutes early or run a little late. You either get 1.5 or 3 hours depending on what you signed up for.
• Every family will be required to volunteer for 6 hours. This equates to about two full meets. You are welcome to volunteer more, but this is the minimum requirement.
• The majority of volunteer roles are split up into 1.5 hour time frames. You can choose to sign up for only 1.5 hours at a time throughout the season. Or, you may sign up for two time slots within one meet and get three hours done in one meet.
• You are being asked to select your meets by June 2nd. Volunteer duties are first come, first served.
• You will have the option to volunteer as a timer, computer operator, clerk of course, or official. Here is a brief description of each role if you are a new swim family.
  • Timers will be stationed at the end of the pool and will use various equipment including stopwatches to record the times for each swimmer throughout the meet.
  • Computer operators will be stationed at the meet operations table near the start end of the pool. You will assist the home team with data entry and posting meet results.
  • Clerk of course will be stationed behind the blocks in order to line swimmers up for their races. This is an important job to help maintain the flow of the meet. You will need to be comfortable interacting with the swimmers and making sure they follow directions.
  • Officials will be judging the technical side of swimming and ensuring all athletes are abiding by the rules while competing. Pre-season training is required to volunteer in this position. There will be one admin/starter and 3 stroke/turn officials at each meet.
• You will get an auto email the day before your assigned volunteering duty to remind you to come prepared.

Detailed directions for signing up to volunteer:

1. Log into our team website. 
2. Click “EVENTS” at the top of the screen.
3. Scroll down and click “Job Signup” next the meet you wish to volunteer for.
4. Find the empty slots shown as "---------".
5. Click on the checkbox in front of the empty slot that you want to sign up for.
6. Select the “Signup” button to sign up for the slot that you selected
7. If you are not the person volunteering, please put the name of the person

Note: If your Account name is printed right after the checkbox, you've signed up for that job. You do NOT have to "Signup" again. You, however, can use the "Remove Signup" button to remove the signup if you no longer want to work on that job.

If someone else's name is printed, that job slot is not available for you to sign up (this is a first-come-first-serve system). You can only sign up for the empty slots shown as "---------".

Meet Schedule and Signup

The Meet Schedule is finalized, and everything has been entered into the team website. You will see them all listed under “EVENTS.”

Signing up for meets:

• You are required to either commit or decline each swimmer for each meet.
  • This is how we know if your swimmer should be entered in the lineup.
  • You must do this for every meet to ensure everyone is entered and to properly arrange the lineup so that the team is competitive with the other team.
• The signup deadline for each meet is five days before the event.
  • We ask that you please commit to the meets as soon as possible.
  • You will be automatically emailed one week before the deadline as a reminder to commit or decline the next meet. This email goes out to the entire team. You will still get the reminder if you already committed.

Practice Information Update

• I have attached the practice groups and corresponding times. The updated June and July calendars now have the schedule on top. You just need to remember which group your swimmer is in. Our fun group names this year are dog themed! Sorted by size. 😊
  • Please be aware that these groups are not always participating in the same activities. Each group will share the pool. However, a different coach could be doing entirely different things in the pool. Do not be alarmed if your swimmer is in the same group as an older or younger swimmer.
• A swimmer’s morning and evening practice times will remain the same throughout each week.
  • Per the handbook, swimmers are not allowed to change practice groups. If the coaching staff feels that a change is needed with any swimmer, we will contact you on a case-by-case basis. A parent may not choose which practice to attend. Swimmers attending a practice at the incorrect time will not get the appropriate workout, pose distractions and present safety hazards.
• Practice Requirements
  • 10&Under: At least 2 swims a week. One of those should be a class at the swim school.
  • 11&Older: At least 3 swims a week. One of those can be a class at the swim school.
• You are welcome to attend more practices than what is required. Plenty of swimmers will attend 3 and 4 practices a week in addition to their lessons. The more time in the water, the faster they will improve! But do not feel overwhelmed by our schedule. It is designed to give families flexibility within their schedules.
• We would like as many people as possible to take advantage of HCC evening practices. The added space is a great opportunity to get more swimmers in the water. They will also get more practice in the longer pool. We pay to rent this space as a service to our athletes, so please take advantage of it!

Other reminders

• I have attached the Final Draft of the Calendars. These are also posted online for your reference.
• We will still accept new swimmers if you know anyone interested! Send them our way, and we can communicate about registration.
• Officials training is going on now! If you have questions about that, let me know! The more the merrier!

Thanks,

Coach Galen