Volunteering
Our volunteers are how we run our swim team.
To have a fun and successful summer swim season, it is essential that we have the full support of our families. They perform critical functions which enable us to hold our swim meets and run the team.
Families are required to perform their “fair share” of service duties during the season. We expect each swimmer’s family to work at least six shifts during the swim season. This requirement may be adjusted – depending on the final number of families swimming.
Parent Responsibilities and Service Requirements
|
Board Positions |
Service Positions |
Service Positions |
| President | Age Group Parent | Ready Bench |
| Vice-President | Awards and Ribbons | Set-Up / Take-Down |
| Treasurer | Computers and Scoring |
Timers/Scribes |
| Secretary | ||
| Team Representative | Officials | Volunteer Coordinator |
| Clerk of Course | Special Events |
Set Up Coordinator |
| Registrar |
Fundraising |
Wet Shop |
Notes:
-
Board Positions are “year-round” positions.
- All other volunteer positions are only needed during the summer swim season.
If you are interested in a Coordinator Role, please visit the Team Coordinators page for a list of open positions.
Failure to meet your service responsibilities will result in your swimmer or swimmers not being allowed to swim in swim meets.
Other Guidelines for Parents
- If you have any questions about your specific duties for your service assignment, please contact the category coordinator for more information.
- If you know in advance that someone will substitute for you for a service assignment, please contact the category coordinator and advise them of the change.
- Please make sure you write down the assignments you have registered for. You will receive a confirmation email and you can check on the web site. The category coordinators will not be contacting parents to “remind” them of the assignments they have registered for. If you find a discrepancy, please contact the category coordinator as soon as possible.
- If you arrange a substitute and the substitute completes the assignment, the substitute will receive credit for the completed assignment. Having a substitute work for you will not satisfy your service requirement. You will need to sign up for another assignment by the following Thursday - failure to do so will mean your swimmer will not be allowed to swim in the next meet. In the event all service assignments for remaining meets are already filled, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator immediately - you will be placed on a “fill-in” list for any “no shows” at the next meet.
- We recognize there will be times when unexpected events will prevent a parent from fulfilling a service assignment (e.g. traffic accident in route to the swim meet, swimmer or sibling of a swimmer becomes ill, personal tragedy, etc.). If an issue such as this comes up, you must contact the Volunteer Coordinator as soon as possible to discuss how this issue may or may not impact your swimmer’s eligibility to swim the next meet.
- The Volunteer Coordinator has the discretion to allow for “extenuating circumstances” constituting a valid exception to the requirements. If the parents of any swimmer disagree with the decision of the Volunteer Coordinator, they may request that the Marlin’s Board review the decision.
Overview of Volunteer Opportunities
Age Group Parents
The age group parents are responsible for organizing swimmers of the same gender and age group (e.g. girls 9 – 10) and making sure they arrive on time to the ready bench area – ready to swim. Age group parents of younger swimmers may also be asked to assist with the seating and control of the swimmers in the ready bench area.
Awards & Ribbons
The awards and ribbons team is responsible for the preparation of ribbons for each meet and for the end of season awards presented to the swimmers.
Clerk of Course
The clerk of course is responsible for: (1) insuring the ready bench is provided with the appropriate heat and lane assignment sheets for swimmers based on the results of the pre-meet swimmer scratch meeting, (2) insuring the ready-bench is operating smoothly, (3) insuring any re-seeding that is done by the ready bench is done in accordance with NWAL rules and (4) notifying the scribes, referee and computer/scoring team of any swimmers which failed to report for their event.
Certification
The clerk of course position requires certification by NWAL (Northwest Aquatic League). The certification process consists of a couple of hours of classroom training. The NWAL website (www.nwal.org) contains all kinds of detailed information including (but not limited to), the 2010 Rule Book (a great resource for learning about the rules and roles of the clerk of course) and the training/certification schedule.
Computers and Scoring
The computer and scoring team are responsible for inputting swimmer data into meet management software and exchanging same with opposing team, generating “heat sheets” for the meet, generating swimmer cards or event data sheets (cardless meets), inputting race results, posting race results and exchanging race results with opposing team.
Certification
All Computer/Scorer personnel are required to be certified by NWAL (Northwest Aquatic League). The certification process consists of a couple of hours of classroom training. The NWAL website (www.nwal.org) contains all kinds of detailed information including (but not limited to), the 2019 Rule Book (a great resource for learning about the rules and roles of the different positions) and the training/certification schedule.
Fundraising
We are a non-profit organization, run by parents! This position helps us raise money to pay coaches, pay for facilities fees, and keep our fees low, among other things. This person helps keep the Marlins team thriving!
Officials
There are various positions within the officiating category: Referee (the head official), Starter (responsible for the start of each race), and the Stroke and Turn Officials (monitor swim strokes, turns, wall touches, and touch/takeoff confirmations for relay events). The Officials Team is responsible for running the meet - including rule enforcement, monitoring conduct of meet participants and spectators and when swimmers are disqualified for a rules infraction, explaining to the swimmer the nature of the infraction.
Certification
All officials are required to be certified by NWAL (Northwest Aquatic League). The certification process consists of a couple of hours of classroom training, a couple of hours of “on deck” (poolside) training, passing a written exam (almost everyone passes the exam), and working as a provisional official for a certain number of events. The NWAL website (www.nwal.org) contains all kinds of detailed information including (but not limited to), the 2019 Rule Book (a great resource for learning about the rules and roles of the different officiating positions) and the training/certification schedule.
DJ / Announcer
This position is required for home meets only and is responsible for Announcing event calls to the ready bench, making any special announcements requested by meet officials or team representatives.
Ready Bench
The ready bench team is responsible for keeping the swim meet moving smoothly. They sequence the swimmers into the correct heat and lane assignments - ready to swim and making sure the scribes have the swimmer’s information to record the swimmer’s time. More information on Ready Bench positions is available on the Information page.
Set-Up / Take-Down
The set-up and take-down teams are responsible for tasks which vary - depending on the location of the swim meet. General responsibilities are to manage the shade canopies for away meets (pick-up, set-up, take-down, drop-off), and for home meets, assist with material or equipment set-up and take-down for the Ready Bench team, Hospitality team and Publicity team.
Timers and Scribes
The timers are responsible for capturing the swimmer’s time with the use of a stop watch. The scribes are responsible for recording the times captured by the timers on the event heat sheet, verifying the swimmer’s name, and in the case of the younger swimmers, recording the swimmer’s time on the back of the heat ribbons and giving the ribbon to the swimmer. The timers and scribes are also responsible for keeping the meet moving smoothly.
Web Site
This position serves as the Web Master for our team web site.
Wet Shop
The wet shop team is responsible for providing swim gear and other team accessories to Marlin team members and supporters. The wet shop team usually has items for sale during some of the practice sessions and is always open for business at each home swim meet. The wet shop team manages the selection, procurement and sales of all wet shop items.
Can I pay a fee to opt out of volunteering? We prefer that our parents volunteer to help us run the team, but we do have an option to pay a $500 fee so a family is not required to volunteer for the season. This is only available to 20 families per season, and is available on a first-come-first-served basis. Please email our Treasurer if you are interested.
