Volunteer Jobs
Volunteer Job Descriptions
Volunteers - A Critical and Fun Part of Summer Swimming!
As all returning Marlins parents know (and new parents will find out), it takes a tremendous number of volunteers to put on a swim meet. Volunteers establish enduring, sometimes lifelong friendships with each other that strengthen our community and support our children.
Your child’s swim meets require up to 50 adults to run a meet, including timers, officials, and automation. To ensure adequate coverage, we need parents to volunteer about 5 times each season. Though many parents volunteer far more often and we greatly appreciate it!
Time trials require more volunteers as there is no opposing team to share the workload. Time Trials is a great time to try new volunteer roles and to meet other Marlins parents.
No experience is necessary for most volunteer roles; veteran Marlin parents will walk you through the process. If you are interested in volunteering and learning one of the jobs or certified positions, you can always shadow someone who knows it!
Here's some additional information on our volunteer positions:
*students eligible for SSL hours
**Must be MCSL certified
Lane Timers
Timers: 3 timers per lane are required for all meets (1/2 from each team). A stopwatch is provided and you are trained by the Starter and Head Timer before the meet begins. Timers are needed for the entire meet so if you cannot stay the entire time, you must find someone to take the half that you are not able to do. No experience is necessary!
Timers are one of the best ways to get familiar with the way the meets work as you get to know all of the kids and are right in the middle of the action.
Certified Positions
MCSL training is required for all Certified positions.
Certified Referee**: The Certified Referee is the final arbiter of all decisions and questions during the meet and has full authority over all officials, assigning and instructing them. The referee must be thoroughly familiar with all applicable USS rules and MCSL rules, all meet procedures and duties of all officials. Typically, referees were timers, starters and stroke and turn officials in their earlier years of volunteering. MCSL training is needed for this job.
Certified Starter**: The Certified Starter has complete control over the swimmers from the time the Referee signals the start of the race until after a fair start has been achieved. The Starter calls the swimmers to their starting positions - to "take your mark" – and decides if any false starts have occurred, which needs the concurrence of the referee. MCSL training is needed for this job.
Certified Stroke & Turn Official**: Stroke and Turn Officials determine whether the swimmers performed their strokes and turns in accordance with the prescribed rules of MCSL. Two Stroke and Turn Officials are required at each swim meet. MCSL training is needed for this job.
Other Positions (Home meets only)
Announcer: The Announcer announces all the events for the meet and each individual’s name. The Announcer needs to keep tabs on the completion of each heat as it is swum. The Announcer can begin announcing the next event shortly after the last swimmer in the previous event has touched the wall and works closely with the Starter to keep the meet running smoothly.
Concessions*: Salespersons help layout, prepare and sell food, snacks, drinks, and programs. They collect money for purchases and give the sales proceeds to the Team Treasurer. At the end of the meet, they help clean up the snack bar area and may enlist the help of swimmers passing by.
Set Up/Clean Up*: For home meets only, these parents arrive at least an hour before the meet is scheduled to start (when warmups start), and help with clearing the pool deck, roping off team areas, placing chairs for each lane, setting up the concession stand, starting equipment, and other activities. After the meet ends, these parents take down all the meet equipment, clean up the pool area and conduct a walkthrough of the bathrooms to make sure everything has been cleaned up and we leave the pool as good or better than when they arrived. They may enlist the support of coaches and swimmers to clean up trash or resolve other issues they find.
Runner: After an event is completed, the runner takes the time sheets and relay cards from each of the lanes and places them at automation.
Clerk of Course: Controls swimmer traffic on deck; checks swimmers in and notifies them of their lane assignments; Assistant Clerk may place swimmers in order and usher them to their lanes.
Timing
Head Timer: The Head Timer makes sure all timers are in place and ready for each heat, communicates with the Starter and acts as 3rd/back-up timer when a timer's watch malfunctions. The Head Timer works the entire meet. We need a Head Timer for our home Saturday A and Wednesday B meets.
Assistant Head Timer: Responsible for assisting the Head Timer and acts as a 3rd timer when a timer's watch malfunctions. We need an assistant Head Timer for our away Saturday A and Wednesday B meets.
Automation
Automation**: at least 2 people, assists the coach in preparing for swim meets, inputs swimmers times into Meet Manager software during the meets; prints meet results for posting; produces a data file for both teams and MCSL at the conclusion of meet
Awards and Ribbons: Works with automation to gather times and will attach "Placement" stickers for each event onto the ribbons during the meet. This person is also responsible for sorting and organizing the ribbons as they are generated.
