SWIM MEET VOLUNTEERING POLICES

GCST hosts 4 HOME sanctioned USA Swimming meets per year.

Winter Invite, April Invite, Open Water, June Invite & Fall Invite.

2 Session Meet – Requirement is 1 session

4 Session Meet – Requirement is 3 sessions

5 Session Meet – Requirement is 4 sessions

JUNE MEET ONLY REQUIREMENTS:

10 &Under Families – 4 sessions to include a final session

11& Over Families – 6 sessions to include a final session

• With our newly updated Volunteer Policy, we wanted to take a moment to address the

revisions.

• 1. By going to a session-based policy vs. when your swimmer is swimming, this opens

many doors to fill the positions that need to be filled to host a meet properly. There have

been multiple meets where we have not had the correct amount of meet marshals, timers,

set up/ breakdown, runners, or gate attendants.

• a. Meet Marshal – by USA Swimming standards, we are to have 1 female & 1 male meet

marshal per session.

• b. Gate Attendants – by charging admission at the gate, it helps to ensure we, as a team,

do not lose money while hosting the meet. This position should be looked at as a positive

position for the team vs. a negative one.

• c. Timers – Every lane should start and end with two timers, whether it be for a prelim or

finals session. This is a great position to sign up a student that needs volunteer hours.

• d. Set Up/Post Meet Breakdown – the more hands, the faster tasks can get accomplished.

Many times, it is the Lead Volunteers along with Coaching staff that set up & breakdown.

Moving forward, timers will now be part of the post meet breakdown and clean up, especially

on the last day of the meet.

• e. Runner – this position is important. This position helps the Official running the meet to

post the results and get the information up quickly to the swimmers, coaches & parents.

• f. Volunteers can be any student or sibling over 12 yrs. of age, which we will sign off on

volunteer hours. Volunteers can also be grandparents, family, or friends.

• g. The requirement is to have one volunteer per swimmer, per session. Multiple volunteers

in one session does not count as volunteering for a double session.

• h. When a swimmer becomes ill during a home meet, the committed volunteer still needs

to fulfill the requirement.

• i. We have decreased the amount of home meets annually. We no longer will host the

January Invite and Open Water Championships is a “voted/bid” meet, which means we can

potentially not host this meet. We are now at 3 permanent home meets plus OW if we win

the bid process.

Items to Note:

• Mini Meets & Time Trials do not count for parents and/or officials.

• Working an entire shift is required to not receive a financial penalty.

• If volunteer spots are filled, you must contact Cara Sanderson via email to be put on a wait

list. If you fail to do so, it will be considered as a “non-sign up” for that session/meet and the

$50 fee will apply.

• If there are extenuating circumstances involving volunteering for one of GCST home meets,

you must contact Cara Sanderson 14 days prior to the meet.

• Signs up are a first come, first serve basis.

• If you have someone to volunteer for you, they must be 12 yrs. & above to do so. However,

you are still responsible for them showing up and working appropriately for their entire shift.