Parent volunteers are a critical part of a successful season and vitality of any swim team. Each family is required to work a total of at least FOUR volunteer shifts this season - 3 at home and 1 at away meets. Sign up online by clicking on Events and then selecting Job Signup on individually listed events. On the date that Job Signup is opened, positions are available on a first come first serve basis. If you are available to help out at more than 4 meets, let the Volunteer Coordinator know directly and she can place you as a floating volunteer until gaps for each meet are identified.
A $250 deposit from each family is required for volunteer responsibilities. Your check will be torn up at the end of the season assuming you have fulfilled your team volunteer duties or deposited if your volunteer responsibilities have not been fulfilled.
Parents of swimmers who will be swimming in Silver and Gold Conference Meets are expected to volunteer to work at one of the two Conference Meets above and beyond the 4 meets identified above.
For any additional questions please contact the Oakhurst Orca Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected]
Volunteer Job Descriptions and Report Times (Swim Meets)
Meet Set-up (5:00pm) - Set-up involves putting up starting blocks, ropes, flags, moving chairs, arranging tables and supplies in concessions area, etc. Some heavy lifting is required for this job.
Concessions (Set Up 5:00 - 7:00pm; During Meet 6:00pm - 8:00pm; Take Down 7:00pm - End of Meet - These volunteer positions assist with preparation and sale of food before and during the meet. The concession stand runs from about 5:30 p.m.until 9:30 p.m. the night of the meet. It can involve setup, cashier, serving food and clean up. No experience is necessary, it is known as one of the more fun and easy jobs.
Grillers (5:00pm) - Meat!
Bullpen (Check in 5:50, 6:10pm) - These people will check in the swimmers and/or corrals the younger kids for their events and gets them lined up behind the blocks.
Starter (6:00pm) - The starter starts each race and ensures that the swimmers start simultaneously.
Meet Manager Entry (6:00pm) - Enters the swimmer times and disqualifications into the meet manager software. Prints ribbon labels for Ribbon Writer to apply to ribbons.
Meet Data Clerk (6:10pm) - Receive timesheets from the runner and put them in lane order, verify median times, attach DQ slips to the appropriate time sheet and mark as DQ.
Meet Data Reader (6:10pm) - Receive the ordered timesheets from the Clerk and reads the times for each swimmer to the Meet Manager to help them input the data into the computer.
Announcer (6:00pm) - This is a great job for someone with a strong voice and outgoing personality. The announcer works with the Starter to make sure the meet runs quickly and smoothly.
Timers (6:00pm) - This is the most popular meet job among both new and experienced parents. You use a stop watch to time the swimmer in your assigned lane. There are typically 3 timers per lane, 2 from the home team and 1 from the away team. The median of the times is used for the official time.
Back-up Timer (6:00pm) - Time each race and be available to step into a particular lane if one of the timers misses the start.
Dolphin Timer Admin (6:00pm) - Works with Starter, Meet Manager and Meet Manager Entry to ensure dolphin times are being accurately reported.
Floater Volunteers (6:10pm) - They will fill in where needed or until the meet is organized. If all the helpers are not needed they can tag team or take shifts among other volunteers.
Runner (6:10pm) - After each race the runner collects the times from the timers in each lane and any disqualification forms and takes them to the scoring table.
Stroke and Turn Judge (6:10pm) - These judges determine whether a swimmer's swim was legal based on the USA swim rules. You are required to take a class before the start of the season to become a Stroke and Turn Judge.
Heat Winner Prizes (6:10pm) - After each individual race (No relays) - this person will hand a prize out to each winner of the event
Ribbon Writer (6:45 pm) - This person takes the labels from the person running Meet Manager and puts them on the back of the correct ribbons and places them into each child's family folder.
Meet Clean- up / Take Down (End of Meet until finished) - These people need to stay after the meet to help put the deck chairs back where they belong, put the tables back in the club house, empty the trash and basically clean-up after the meet.
How to Sign Up to Volunteer at a Swim Meet
Click here to see instructions on how to sign up as a volunteer at a meet.
Volunteer Coordinators (Swim Team Committee)
Swim Team Chair and Trident Treasurer -- Runs the Swim Team Committee and reports to the Pool Board. Coordinates the hiring of all Swim Coaches and their payments. Also ensures insurance is in place for the team. Coordinates Orca Open House in April or May. Chair also handles orientating new families to ORCAs making sure they know what to expect and who they can turn to for questions. In addition, Chair handles concessions cards for referring families. Helps Vice Chairs plan senior night. Sends list of swimmers to the Pool Board to ensure they are all pool members. Provides Trident conference t-shirts maker with swimmer names for back of shirt. Provides membership list to awards chair for award purchases and ribbon chair for ribbon folders.
The Chair also serves as the Trident Treasurer for the Trident Swim Conference Board. Trident Treasurer collects payment from each team for their trident swimmer fee. Trident Treasurer is in charge of any Trident Swim Conference deposits, payments or reimbursements that are needed. Trident Treasurer also helps with Gold Meet Hospitality and fills in as needed for the Trident Rep. Helps coordinate Trident Officials training and the coordination of Trident conference t-shirts.
Vice Chair & Trident Rep– Helps the Swim Team Chair with any needed tasks and fills in when the Chair is unavailable. Both Swim Team & Vice Chairs plan senior night. Attends Trident Meetings and is Oakhurst's voting liaison. Helps create the Trident Swim schedule for the summer. Works with other swim teams representatives to make decisions on canceling meets or anything that arises. Helps coordinate Trident Officials training.
Swim Team Treasurer – The Treasurer maintains the team’s financial records and cash requirements. Provides budgets to other committee members, maintains checking account, makes team deposits, pays all team bills and reimbursements, and uses proper bookkeeping processes to document and provide an audit trail for all money transactions. Gets cash boxes ready for concessions. Collects all registration and deposit checks and completes registration for each swimmer once payment has been made. Provides Trident Treasurer with membership totals for Trident swimmer fees.
Swim Team Secretary – Creates agendas and takes minutes at all meetings. Helps keep the Swim Team Committee informed.
Sponsorship & Scholarship Coordinator – Solicits sponsorships for the Orca Swim Team. These sponsorships are placed on the back of our free yearly Orca swim t-shirts, advertised on our website and in the Gold Meet Program. Organizes fundraisers at local restaurants. Coordinates the yearly scholarship for applicants who meet the criteria.
Volunteer Coordinator (Duel & Conference Meets) – Determines the jobs needed for each dual swim meet. Keeps track of how many meets families have volunteered for and determines if the family can get their volunteer deposit back. Checks families in at every meet and provides the volunteers with the supplies and tools they need to do their job.
Other Volunteer Leaders
Awards & Bag Tag Coordinator - Orders year end trophies for team banqet and gift cards if prefered for 15-18 swimmers. Creates bag tags for home meets.
Banquet Coordinators - Plans year end banquet including catering dinner, swim team raffle and clubhouse decorations.
Club Swim Education Liaison - Be a resource for families looking for information for swimmers who want to join local swim clubs.
Concessions Coordinators - Coordinate concessions for all home dual meets. This involves purchasing all required food, creating a menu and price board and keeping track of money before and after each meet. This person should be available during the meets for any questions concessions workers may have but does not need to work concessions during the meet.
Gold Meet Hospitality - Coordinates hospitality for the head coaches and officials at the Gold meet. Planning breakfast, lunch and snacks. Also delivers water and snacks to those working the gold meet such as timers and officials.
Meet Coordinator - Plan fun for the swim team such as raffle & games/craft at our open house, themed swim meets, Pasta & Poster making potluck, and Spirit Week leading up to our conference meets.
Social Coordinator - Plans Little Fish and Big fish program and Orca of a the week, and Oreos with Orca opening event.
Meet Manager - Meet Mangaer is trained in the Meet Manager software and operates the program during the meet to print timesheets, print heat sheets, input times, modify line-ups, print ribbon labels, give the overall score to the announcer periodically and other functions as necessary. At the conclusion of the meet, the results are copied to a flash drive for the visiting team and printed. You are required to take a class before the start of the season to work with the Meet Manager software.
Officials Manager - In charge of training all Trident officials at 2 different time and locations before the season starts. This person should be versed in USA swimming Rules and feel comfortable talking through stroke infractions. This person would also be in charge of all Oakhurst Officials ensuring we have enough officials for each home and away meet.
Positive Check-In & Bullpen Coordinator - At home meets checks Oakhurst swimmers in and lets Meet Manager know what swimmers are not there and need to be scratched from the meet. Works with Meet Manager to hang up heat sheets. Passes out clipboards and timer sheets to timers. Passes out heat sheets to announcer, home and away coaches, starter, stroke and turn judges, and new family helpers (at the start of season).Passes out clipboards and heat sheets to Oakhurst bullpen and heat sheets to away bullpen. At away meets, checks Oakhurst swimmers in and lets away Meet Manager know what swimmers are not there and need to be scratched from the meet. Tells away Meet Manager how many heat sheets Oakhurst needs. Finds spots to hang up heat sheets in plastic sleeves for team, passes out clipboards & heat sheets to Oakhurst bullpenners and delivers coaches heat sheets.
Records & Ribbon Board Coordinator - Works with coaches and Meet Manager to update records board each year. The Ribbon Writer Coordinator will make sure that the swimmers have a family folder and keep them current. They will oversee the ribbon writer volunteers at each meet and remind the heac coach to take the ribbon box to and from the meets. Lastly, the Ribbon Writer Coordinator will order and keep an inventory of ribbons.
Spirit Wear / Professional Swim Photos Coordinator – Makes arrangement to prepare team orders for Silicone Swim Caps, Swim Suits, and Apparel. The sale starts about 8 weeks prior to the start of the swim season and goes along with the day of Registration-and-Parent-Orientation-Day. We allow 4 weeks to order, and plan on 4 weeks to process the orders. When caps, swim suits and apparel get delivered, the apparel coordinator contacts individuals to coordinate pick-up.Contacts PMI Photography to discuss availability in January. The team prefers to hold the event on a Wednesday about 2-3 weeks into the season. The date will be announced on the website, at registration and via email-blast. Order envelopes will be provided some days prior to the event. Each swimmer receives a form in his/her folder as well. On Picture-Day, the coordinator is present to direct the photographers and makes sure the event runs smoothly. We will take team and family/individual pictures.
Website Admin – Responsible for updating oakswim.com prior to each season including set up of annual registration, upcoming events and meets, content development and account maintenance. Throughout the season the web admin is required to update all relevant content in a timely manner including Announcements, Meet Results and Records. Also responsible for keeping web hosting and Team Unify services in good standing.
Team Photographer – To take pictures during home-meets, it is recommended to have a good lens to zoom in on single swimmers. Upload the photos onto Google-Photos and share them with the team to enjoy. An ORCA Email address and password will be provided. At the end of the season, all photos will be displayed on the screen in the clubhouse as a slideshow.
