Volunteer Policy
It takes more than 40 volunteers to run a swim meet! It is the efforts of many parents and members of our community that make us one of the best meet hosts in the league and support our away meets.
1) Every family must send one parent, guardian, or Rent-A-Teen for a minimum of 4 shifts, unless you only have a child in the Storm Chasers (4-6yo non-competitive practice group). A shift is generally half a meet, depending on the role.
2) You must check in prior to the start of the meet with the Hurricanes' Volunteer Coordinator to receive credit.
3) There will be a penalty fee if you sign up for less than 4 shifts or do not show up for your shift.
4) If you are unable to attend, it is your responsibility to find a replacement. Contact the volunteer coordinator immediately with any changes involving your shift commitment.
Rent-A-Teen Program
Many teenagers are willing to work volunteer shifts for you for payment through our "Rent-A-Teen" program. Information about these teenagers is or will be posted on our Facebook group.
Meet Volunteer Roles
Volunteers ensure that each meet runs efficiently, results are accurate, and the swimmers have fun racing. Here are descriptions of every volunteer position on our team, so you can choose something of interest to you.
| Timer |
Timers stand at the edge of the pool on whichever side swimmers will finish on. They are as close to the action as you can get. Each team provides a timer for each lane. The home team timer times and writes down both timers' results, while the away team timer times and shows their result to the home team timer. These two timers work together to ensure accurate results for every heat. |
| Staging and Bullpen | Use the heat sheet to get swimmers to staging, find their lane and heat, and ensures that they are ready to swim. This position is best for a child-friendly but strong personality. |
| Poolside Concessions | Manage cash and PayPal payments for the Poolside offerings. There are only prepackaged items like candy, chips, ice cream, and soda. This is located on the pool deck with a great view of the meet! |
| Upstairs Concessions | Help serve hot food like hotdogs, baked potatoes, burgers, etc. This means plating food and handling money or PayPal. It is the only air-conditioned position we offer. |
| Heat Winner Award | Gives a piece of candy to the winner in every heat. |
| Parking Attendant | Make sure cars are parked on the proper side of the street and in the proper areas. |
| Result Entry (Computer Assistant) | Assist the Computer Operator in moving results from timer sheets into the computer system. |
| Ribbons | Assist in placing result stickers and speed breaker results to the back of the appropriate ribbons. This can be done during or after the meet, and must be done before Fun Friday the next morning. |
| Runner | Pick up timer sheets and DQ slips from all timers and bring them to the Computer Operator to be recorded. |
| Score Verification | Verify digitized results by comparing them to the timer sheets. |
| Starter (Official) | Virtual training required. The starter is a meet official who announces events and starts each heat. They are responsible for the pace of the meet and communicating so swimmers and spectators alike know what is happening. Starters are very important to the flow of a meet, and we always need more. |
| Stroke and Turn Judge (Official) | Virtual training required. Each team provides officials to disqualify swims with illegal actions (starts, strokes, turns, etc.). Disqualifications are an essential part of fairness and learning that let swimmers know when they are doing something wrong and ensures their record is real. We always need more great officials. |
| Volunteer at Large | Work with the Volunteer Coordinator to fill in vacancies and help out in any way needed to ensure the meet flows smoothly. |
Hurricane Command Crew
These leadership volunteer positions last the whole season and fulfill a family's entire volunteer requirement.
| Computer Operator: |
Ryan Dever Requires virtual training. Print heat sheets, timer sheets, and relay cards before every home meet; manage result entry through the home meet; and print meet results and ribbon labels after the meet. |
| Concessions Manager (Poolside): |
Angela Sloggy Stock, maintain, and manage poolside concessions. Poolside concessions offer prepackaged snacks, drinks, and ice cream easily available on the pool deck. |
| Concessions Manager (Upstairs): |
Erika Fitzpatrick Manage home meet concessions from planning the menu to shopping to coordinating volunteers. |
| Head Official: |
Liz Stiebel Requires virtual training. Coordinates all officials and DQ's at home meets and maintains standards of officiation and meet operation. This occurs through the officials meeting at the start of every home meet, and management throughout. |
| Head Timer: |
Vacant Runs the timer meeting with the head official. Passes out and collect stop watches and clipboards at the beginnning and end of the meet respectively. Maintains standards of record-keeping and timing throughout the meet. Ensures the mid-meet timer transition goes smoothly. Passes out cold water to timers and take care of them. This position does not time every race, but may operate as a backup timer in an emergency. |
| Home Meet DJ: |
John Carlton Manages the atmosphere at our home meets through music and annoucements. |
| Ribbons Manager: |
Vacant Makes sure every result is stuck to a ribbon correctly and that the ribbons are at the pool ready to be handed out the next morning at Fun Friday. |
Volunteer Coordinator: |
Kelsie Baez A time-consuming and vital position. Manage volunteer assignments, attendance, and training. This person makes sure that every position is filled and everyone knows where they are supposed to be. |
