Hosting a dual swim meet is indeed a “team” effort – it takes approximately 75 parent volunteers to effectively conduct a home meet!  There are many different roles that need to be filled – some require special training at the beginning of the season; many do not.  We need two volunteers for each position, so that each only has to work ½ of the meet (though you’re certainly welcome to do more!)  Below are descriptions of all the different jobs to be done – pick the one or two that feel right for you!  If we don’t hear from you about your preference, we will be happy to assign you to work where you’re needed most.  The number following each description indicates how many people the team should have for that position overall.

VPSU Certified Officials:

All of our starters, stroke and turn officials, and scorers need to attend a VPSU training session - even if you have filled these jobs before! We will need 2 starters, 8 stroke and turn officials, and 2 scorers to ensure that we can have all these positions covered for the season. The following VPSU training sessions have been set as of April 9, 2008:

Job Descriptions

Referee:

The official in charge of the meet; the final authority in all matters concerning the conduct of the meet.

Starter: (2)

The official who starts each heat of the meet.

Stroke & Turn Judge: (8)

Swim officials assigned by and working for the referee to judge the swimming conformance with the rules for the event being swum. Non-conformance, frequently referred to as "DQ" or disqualification, is reported to the referee.

Scorer: (2)

Determines official swim times from score cards, keeps track of team records, and submits meet results to VPSU.

Other Positions:

No special training required - we can teach you quickly before the meet or "on the job":

Clerk of Course: (4)

Assembles all of the swimmers into their correct lane/heat and distributes deck cards to each swimmer.

Announcer: (2)

The announcer announces the upcoming events at the clerk of course's request.

Sweeps Judge: (3)

Determines visual order of finish of swimmers for each race.

Head Timer: (2)

Supervises Lane Timers during meets, signals to Referee when Timers have cleared watches, maintains watches are in proper working order, and helps schedule Timers for all meets.

Lane Timer / Lane Recorder: (18) (3 per lane)

Uses a stopwatch to get accurate times for each swimmer. Reports to Head Timer. Additionally the timer who is designated as the Lane Recorder ( one of the three timers) will, besides timing, record all times for each race onto the deck card, and then give these cards to the deck runners.

Deck Runner: (4)

Collects deck cards from recorders after each event and deposits them at the scoring table.

Ribbons: (6)

Records swimmer times on the appropriate ribbons.

Concessions: (6)

Preparing and selling food to hungry swimmers and their families!