Wave Service Hours Policy 

Purpose: 

The purpose of the Service Hours Program is to fairly distribute the work necessary for a successful team operation and involve all parents in the team activities. The Service Hours obligation is a requirement of membership and is consistent with the policy on other teams in Pacific Northwest Swimming.

To help ensure we are able to meet our volunteer requirements for a given meet, we are aiming at simplifying the expectations for everyone while increasing the cost if we are unable to fulfill all spots. Those expectations are:

  1. Any meet that your athlete is signed up to attend (away or home), you are responsible for being available and willing to volunteer or officiate (if you are a certified official).
  2. We will open jobs based on needs (whether that is a few spots for an away meet or a lot more for a home meet). If we are able to fill ALL positions, both volunteer and certified officials, without opening the jobs to multiple sign ups from a single family then there will be no charge for anyone.
  3. If we are unable to fulfill all open positions, both volunteer and certified officials, without needing families to sign up for multiple shifts, then anyone that attends the meet but DOES NOT volunteer will be billed $100 for the weekend on top of the normal meet registration fees for their athlete.  

This new process ensures that anyone working a volunteer shift will easily be able to ensure they are NOT billed just by working the meets that their athletes are signed up for. 

For families that consistently do not volunteer throughout the year there is a potential for two things:

For Select Families: 

  1. There is a potential to add an additional $600 at the end of the year, above and beyond the $100 for any meet that might've been charged through the year.  
  2. Members may lose the right to be invited back the following year

For Sport Families: 

  1. There is a potential to add an additional $200 for the 4 month period above and beyond the $100 for any meet that might've been charged through an individual 4 month period.  
  2. Members may lose the right to be invited back the next 4 month period

The hope is that we do not bill anyone throughout the year. The new policy simplifies things and allows parents to plan accordingly to help support the team and their athletes in their sport.

Important Notes about Job Signups:

  • Please note that after the job signup deadline you are responsible to find your own replacement if you are not able to fulfill the job for any reason.
  • If a member or their replacement fails to show for a volunteer work shift, the work hours missed will be billed at $50 per hour. 
  • Please be on time. Your late arrival will be treated in accordance to the Service Hour Policy. You will be billed $12.50 for each 15-minute increment (rounded up) until your arrival. There is no grace period.
  • You can only sign up as an official if you've received your certifications or have taken the necessary steps to work on your certification. If you have not taken the required clinic(s) then you cannot work as an official.
  • Please pay close attention to the job notes. Certain jobs or positions for those jobs REQUIRE experience. We do check, and we will ask that you remove your signup if you put your name for a job that you don't have the necessary experience for.
  • The job times are only estimates. You are expected to stay until the job is done if the meet is running late. 
  • The meet jobs are to be performed by an adult, unless prior approval has been granted by the Booster President, before the meet starts. 

It is important to note that the IRS does not allow paid Service Hours obligation assessments to be considered a tax-deductible donation to Wave Aquatics.

Families cannot use company matching to cover service hours.