OLD KEENE MILL JUNIOR TEAMS

Most youth sports only need a single referee to run games, but our swim meets can have 250 swimmers competing, and they require 20-25 parents from each team to be timers, officials, scorers, etc.  Most volunteer roles can be filled with no prior swim experience, and there are also non-meet activities (socials, etc.) where we need volunteers.  To make sure the volunteer load is shared, each family on swim team has a volunteer obligation (Mini Ospreys are exempt).  Families who choose to not fulfill that obligation are charged a volunteer opt-out fee.

The Swim Team Volunteer Opt-Out Fee is $200 per family (for families that do swim and dive team, there's just a single $200 fee).  A charge on your card will be pre-approved but not charged at registration.  We will process the charge after the season if the volunteer obligation is not met.  

Note:  This policy is not intended to be punitive or to prevent children from joining OKM teams.  If you have extenuating family circumstances that impact your volunteering, please talk with your Team Rep.  

Here's the Swim Team Policy:

1. The standard requirement is a family needs to volunteer for at least six credits (typically six meets or events).
2. But for families that participate in less than six meets, the requirement will be the number of meets they swim (e.g., a family that participates in only four meets will need four credits).  Note:  Time Trials counts as a meet participated in.
3. Volunteer opportunities will be posted before meets throughout the season.  Families may earn multiple credits at a single event by having multiple family members volunteer (even children over age 12 can fill some meet roles).
4. Volunteer credits can also be earned by filling non-meet roles throughout the season, such as planning/running social events.
5. Families seeking to earn credits at a meet where every volunteer position is already filled can sign up for an “Floater" position and will be assigned a position at the meet where needed.  Floater volunteers should expect to work and will need to fill in any job where needed. 
6. There are no partial fee refunds because of the associated accounting difficulties. 
7. The minimum credit requirement is a floor and not a ceiling!  If a job needs to be filled and you’re available, please help out even if you’ve met your obligation. Working a meet is often more fun that just being a spectator!

JOBS THAT DO NOT REQUIRE EXPERIENCE

Awards Clerk -- (Table job) Secures computer-printed labels to ribbons/medals.

Clerk of Course -- Help organize swimmers into their assigned heats & lanes. We prefer to have at least two at each meet with prior COC experience.

Concessions -- Help with serving/selling food at the concessions stand.

Floater -- Fill in jobs as needed, whether for absences or meet needs. Please be prepared to work any job (so please wear white shirt over blue bottoms in case you need to be a timer). If not needed at start of meet, will be on-call during meet. If you want to choose where you work, then this is not a good choice because you might end up in any position!  Please sign up for this position after all others are filled.

Place Recorder -- (Table job) Verifies official time is correct on each time card, arranges the cards for each heat in order of finish (fastest time on top), staples DQ slips to time cards, and records team/league records.

Runners -- Carry time cards from timers and DQ slips from officials to the results tables.

Safety Marshals -- Monitor swimmer safety during warmup; assist with crowd and noise control during the meet. ** Duties begin at time of swimmer-warm ups **

Swimmer Supervisor -- Monitors swimmer behavior in the team area so coaches can focus on the swimmers in the pool. Help kids maintain quiet at the start of events. (great job for parents who need to keep their own young kids with them during the meet).

Time Verifier -- (Table job) Confirms that computer generated race results match the individual time cards to ensure accuracy before results are announced.

Timers -- 3 timers are assigned to each lane. Host team provides one timer on lanes 1,3, & 5 and two timers on lane 2, 4, & 6. Vice versa for the visiting team. One timer on each lane is responsible for posting the time on the time board.

Timers and Relay Takeoff Judges -- for A Meets only, function as a timer during the individual portion of the meet, but once the relays start, these timers observe the relay exchanges to see if a swimmer leaves the wall before the incoming swimmer touches.  

JOBS THAT REQUIRE TRAINING AND/OR EXPERIENCE

Referee (Home Team) -- The lead deck official who verifies all DQ calls by stroke & turn judges and false start calls by the starter; has responsibility for the overall running of the meet.

Starter (Home Team) -- Gives the "take your mark" command and triggers the starting horn for each race; make false start calls in conjunction with the Referee.

Stroke & Turn Judges (2 from each team) -- Observes 1/4 of the competition pool and makes disqualification (DQ) calls when a swimmer fails to adhere to the rules for a given stroke.

Announcer (Home Team) -- Announces the lane assignments for each event, meet results, team scores, and other pertinent meet information.  The announcer is also in charge of playing music during warmup and during meet breaks.

Chief Timer -- Oversees the timers; starts two backup watches for every race; collects cards from timers and checks them before giving them to the runner.

• A-MEET DATA COORDINATORS – Julie Wilson (For home A meets, conduct meet merge and meet-sheet/cards and do data entry at the meets; oversee A-Meet tables generally)
• ANNOUNCER(S) – Ryan Nobles, Gillian Reese (Announce all home meets; help coordinate Senior Graduation Recognition)
• B-MEET DATA ENTRY – Chris Dwyer (For all B-Meets, run the team computer and input times during the meet)
• CHIEF TIMER – Nathan Fischer and Clay Shrieves(lead the meet timers; provide backup watches; collect and check time cards after races)
• CLERK OF COURSE LEAD – Wendie Green (Run the COC for all home meets)
• CONCESSIONS – Terri Thomas (Plan, purchase and sell food at all home meets; coordinate with OKM snack bar on inventory)
• END-OF-SEASON BANQUET COORDINATOR – Katie Stegmaier (Banquet setup; potluck food coordination, etc.)
• EVENING SWIM COORDINATOR – Katy Fenn (oversees coach staffing and parent communications for our evening swim and evening mini programs)
• OFFICIALS LEAD – Susana Lee (Oversee & assign all deck officials for all meets; ensure training/certs are up to date)
• PHOTOGRAPHER/SLIDE SHOW –  Courtney Smythe (Takes team picture; take candid photos during season and creates slide show)
• SOCIALS (TEAMWIDE) – Liz Casteel (Plan and coordinate 4 pep rallies; potluck breakfast; and other team events)
• SPIRITWEAR – Karen Carlson and Ayron Myers (Oversee selection of spiritwear items and setting up online store for purchases)

• VOLUNTEER COORDIANTOR – Lori Horner (Ensures volunteer positions are covered and checks in volunteers at the meets)