Dear Parent
I am writing to you to ask you to consider volunteering to help with the various tasks of running the swimming club and helping out at galas and other meets. I know that we, as parents, all appreciate what the coaches, convenors, committee members, time keepers, judges, team managers and others do for our children but it takes more than a card or a ‘thank you’ to run the club.
Take the coaches, for example, and consider the amount of their own time they put in each week to coaching, encouraging and supporting our children in the pursuit of a lifetime sport. Gala and kit convenors, committee members and others are not as visible as the coaches but they too perform a valuable role in keeping the club ticking over and our children swimming. We may not see them poolside every week but we should not underestimate how much time they spend away from the pool inputting information and making it a simple process for our kids to attend the various meets and galas in our splendid club colours.
I was recently asked to be a team manager at a swim meet and I was slightly hesitant since I didn’t really know much about the poolside process. I had done the team manager training course but theory always seems easier than the practice! I ended up doing the meet but I actually really enjoyed it (well, as much as you can really enjoy spending a day and half in tropical heat, surrounded by kids and the smell of chlorine – but think of this – it is way cooler poolside than up in the spectator area (and if red is your colour then it is doubly cooler) and you get way more leg room).
Once you know the ropes the process of being poolside is pretty easy. The kids are great and the older kids know exactly what is going on and are very helpful and are great with the younger kids.
Another area that all parents should try to get involved in is time keeping. Time keepers are needed for our internal competitions and ideally we want 3 per lane and one head timekeeper, totalling 19 timekeepers. Given we have around 80 members now, we need at least one representative from 25% of members, just to run the internal galas. Further, for every external competition your child attends, the club is expected to provide 2-4 timekeepers or judges or risk receiving a fine.
Whilst we recently ran some timekeeper courses, the club now has just one judge who can attend external meets. To become a judge, you begin as a time keeper and attend some courses to develop your skills further. Further information on judge qualifications can be obtained from the Scottish Swimming website or from Tanith Miller. Further timekeeping courses will be run on a regular basis so please keep an eye out for announcements on the website.
The new Club website is now up and running and you will find a “Volunteer” page which has links to Scottish Swimming descriptions of the volunteer positions available. The website will also publish a list of courses available throughout the season which I encourage you to sign up for.
Take the plunge and ask about volunteering and signing up for the various courses on offer. Contact the Club for any details you would like using the Contact page on the Club’s website.
Many thanks and kind regards
E. Brown