Swim Team Parent Volunteers
This information serves a guideline, detailing the volunteer positions which we need to fill, in order to run a Saturday or Monday swim meet. Unlike other team sports, it takes a village…a large number of people (~30) to run a swim meet. It is expected (and very much appreciated) that at least ONE family member works at every HOME meet during the season. We have an EXCELLENT record of volunteerism here at Herndon and we are hopeful that 2025 will be another fun and productive summer for all of our swimmers and their families!
Concessions: (Home Meets only) Sat morning breakfast or Mon evening dinner. Responsibilities include: working with Concessions lead to set up, prepare, sell food & snacks during the meet, clean up.You’ll be close to the coffee Sat morning.Similar to being a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen and you can even volunteer to run the grill if you want to keep it as realistic as possible. Plastic gloves provided free, hair net optional.
Donut Miss Tuesday Coordinator: (Tuesdays only...duh!) Responsible for contacting Dunkin' in advance, to arrange for the Tuesday morning pickup of several dozen steering wheel sized donuts to feed our hungry swimmers, while also helping them to "carb load"!
Clerk of Course: Enjoy herding mass quantities of children into neat and orderly rows?This is the job for you. Help to organize swimmers into their assigned lanes by seating them on benches numbered for your convenience.Before each event you will walk the swimmers to their assigned lane.Shade provided at no additional charge.
Announcer: (Home Meets only) Be the voice of the Hammerheads.Looking for the sound a Hammerhead shark would make—no clue! The microphone is yours.You announce the event, swimmers for each heat and then the results, along with any other pertinent information such as birthdays, new team records or, “Your car is being towed.”
Assistant Data Coordinator: Assists with data entry on Saturday mornings or Monday evenings.Chair and shade provided free.This title is impressive enough that you can include it on your resume.
Tables/Ribbons: Assists with scoring meets, putting labels on ribbons, sorting, alphabetizing.Might sound mundane, but you’re sitting in the shade.Key words here are sitting and shade.
Marshal: Monitor and patrol designated pool area during warm-ups and throughout meet.Bonus…great view of the meet and gets to wear extremely stylish neon colored vest.Basically keeps law and order in these here parts.Additional Marshal hat and badge can be arranged.
Parking Attendant: (Home meets only) Great job for a former police officer, jigsaw puzzle artist or someone who has an innate skill for getting a lot of cars into a relatively small lot.
Chief Timer: Being ambidextrous is a plus.Must be able to work two stopwatches simultaneously. Ability to yell, “Timers clear your watches!!” without shattering nearby eardrums is very much appreciated. Headdress available upon request.
Timer: Must have working pointer finger.Use a stopwatch to keep track of swimmers’ times during the meet.Free water available for the duration.Sunscreen is a must.Hats optional but strongly recommended.Prizes awarded by Chief Timer for lanes achieving doubles, triples, or straights.Don’t get too excited…this is not poker.
Relay Take Off Judge: Watches swimmers’ starts and finishes during relays to ensure that the swimmer in the water has touched the wall before the next swimmer dives in.Must possess a combination of eye, hand & feet coordination although it’s just your eyes and other people’s hands and feet.
Meet Set Up/Break Down: (Home Meets only including Time Trials) Arrives early when all else is quiet in the world to help prepare the pool for the meet. Sets up Clerk of Course area, timing boards, bleachers, tables, yada, yada, yada…. Helps to put all items away after the meet.Sounds like a day in the life of a typical parent, but this is a job for anyone who doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty.
Senior Sack Coordinator: Purchases laundry bags/hampers for graduating seniors.(You’ll be reimbursed.)Advertises when they are available for families to contribute donations of useful items, gift cards, whatever a graduating high school senior could use…The seniors have always been overwhelmed by the generosity of our members and you’ll get some of the credit.You can even present the Sacks to the Seniors at our last HOME meet.
Swim Team Banquet Coordinator/Helpers: Advertises, collects payment and arranges for food for the End of the Season Team Banquet to be held at the end of July, the day of the Divisionals meet.Helpers needed to set up tables, keep food trays full, clean up afterward.You can tell everyone that you cooked the entire meal yourself. We’ll believe you.Really.
**************************************
The following positions require certification at training clinics every 2 years from NVSL. Clinics are free. Your willingness to undertake these very important roles is priceless.
Stroke & Turn Judge: You will watch swimmers to ensure they are executing legal stroke technique, turns and finishes.If a swimmer is not swimming a legal stroke, you will raise your hand to get the referee’s attention and then write down what you saw on a notepad.This is a disqualification or DQ and will be confirmed or overridden by the referee.You do not have to yell, “YOU’RE OUT!!” while executing a sweeping backward motion with one arm and thumb outstretched. You’ll feel bad about it at first, but you’ll get used to it.Come on, it’s the only way the kids are going to learn.
Starter: (Home Meets only)Do you like it when people hang on your every word?Want to get teenagers to listen to you?This job’s for you. Using your best monotone voice, the Starter announces each event, tells swimmers to take their mark and then presses the buzzer to indicate the start.Must be able to stand very still, hold microphone up to your mouth and press the start buzzer simultaneously…like being on Jeopardy! Must watch swimmers for any false starts.
Referee: (Home Meets only) The Grand Poobah, The Great Gazoo, The Head Honcho, The Top Banana… Ensures that the ENTIRE meet runs smoothly and that all rules are followed.Must remain cool under pressure…never let ‘em see you sweat.Accepts or overrides DQ’s.Gets his/her very own whistle.Remember the police officer in Frosty the Snowman, the one with the whistle?That’s you.Future position as a crossing guard…inevitable.
