Bent Tree Bluffs Stingrays

Parent participation:

At least one parent for each swimmer is required to work a minimum of one half of each meet - a total of 6 volunteer signups for each swimmer registered. A Signup Calendar will be opened the week before each swim meet on the team website under the Calendar & Volunteer SignUps tab (Signup Calendar - Bent Tree Bluffs Stingrays (swimtopia.com)). Please choose your volunteer position(s) or you will be assigned a job. If you will be out of town or unavailable to volunteer, please advise a board member ASAP. If for any reason you will not be able to fulfill your meet duties. Please try to find a replacement prior to contacting a board member. If you are unable to find someone to replace you on your own, please contact us! Email us at [email protected] early as possible. It takes a lot of help to run each meet and we are lucky to have so many parents willing to do their fair share.

Additional help is needed at home meets to set-up at 4:00 pm and for clean up after the meet. Thank you to all our wonderful parents that go above and beyond the required volunteering. We couldn’t make this swim team a success without your help.

All Meets for our SSL teams are completely run by parent volunteers. Parents are encouraged to step away or take a moment to make sure you watch you kiddo swim - that's our job as parents!

First half volunteers work Events 1-35, Second half volunteers work Events 36-70. Shift switches are announced during the meet on the loud speaker.

Stroke & Turn Meeting, Timer Meetings, & ZOO Meeting will be at 5:45 before each Meet.

We NEED more Stroke & Turn Judges. It is not as difficult as you think. Free quick video trainings lay it all out. Please contact us to help get this training and you’ll have an easy IN for each week! 

Volunteer Job Descriptions (for each half of the meet): 

Starter (Home meet only):  The job of the starter is to call swimmers by heat to the zoo as well as start each race as the swimmers step up to the blocks. Starter also monitors for false starts and gives a time penalty if a false start is observed.  

Start Judge (Home meet only): The job of the start judge is to be "a second set of eyes" for the starter. The start judge stands at the opposite end of the pool from the starter and montiors swimmers for false starts. 

Timers: There must be 3 timers in each lane. There must be at least 1 timer from each team represented per lane. Stop watches should be started with the strobe light (not the sound). You must be standing and looking down over the edge of the pool to see the underwater touch at the finish of a race, which is when you stop your timer. Quickness of the stop and start is important. If your watch malfunctions mid race, quickly signal to have the Backup Timer bring a replacement watch. Backstroke Finish - it is acceptable to place your hand against the wall during backstroke finishes to stop the younger swimmers (not older more experienced swimmers) from hitting their head on the wall. Please DO NOT touch the swimmer’s head and ease them into the wall. This could result in a DQ for the swimmer.

Backup Timer: Start each race (to the light) with two stop watches off to the side of the pool and watch for any Timers who didn't get their watch started properly and quickly replace theirs with your running watch. The Lead Timer will hold a 5:45 meeting to explain.

Stroke & Turn Judge: Stand in one of the four quadrants of the pool and watch every event/swimmer to ensure legal strokes in compliance with "SSL Technical Rules for Swim Strokes & Relays" (Requires prior training - ask Volunteer Coordinator for more info) 5:45 meeting

Head Stroke and Turn Judge (Home meets only): Collects DQ slips from stroke and turn judges and reviews them for accuracy before turning them in to the computer entry person. 

ZOO Keepers: Stand in the ZOO and assist swimmers to get in the correct heat and lane order before each event. The Lead ZOO Keeper will hold a 5:45 meeting to explain.

Ribbon Box: Put placement stickers on correct ribbons and place in swimmers' folder. You may also be needed to read times to computer entry.

Card Runner (Home meets only) Collect time sheets from timers and give to Computer Entry. 

Computer Entry: enter times and DQs during meet and print labels 

Away meet volunteering will fluctuate based on the swim opponent. Bigger teams require more volunteers than smaller. Count is between 28-33. 

For Championship weekend, we are required to supply select volunteers for each shift (AM shift for younger kids, PM shift for older kids). We tend to break each shift into smaller shifts, since the Champ meet is longer.

Volunteer Signups are opened up each week and found on the Calendar & Volunteer Signups Tab.