All swim meets are run by family volunteers, and many volunteers are needed to run each and every meet. A home swim meet requires about 35 people and away meets require about 18 people. To ensure that we have adequate coverage for every meet, each swim family is obligated to volunteer at least one family representative to help at meets their swimmer(s) participate(s) in. This does not mean you will have to work every meet, but you will have to work most meets. Other than "Official" spots for which volunteers must be certified, everything else is easy to do, can be learned in a few minutes, and there is a job to fit every need. If you have any questions, please contact a Team Rep

Parent Meet Volunteers - MCSL Certified Officials (Training Required)

We are always in need of Trained Officials. You do not need to be a swimmer yourself to be an effective official. MCSL provides training for meet officials. It’s a great way to learn more about the sport while supporting your swimmer! Every single meet (MCSL or Wednesday night) requires starters, stroke and turn judges and referees who have been previously trained and certified at an MCSL clinic. It is strongly urged that as many parents as possible attend at least one clinic. Clinics last approximately 2 to 3 hours. Information can be found on the MCSL website, www.mcsl.org.

Referee – The referee is the chief official for the swim meet. They are responsible for the conduct of the meets and are the final authority on the interpretation and enforcement of all swimming rules. They need to be thoroughly familiar with all applicable MCSL rules, meet procedures and duties of all meet officials.

Starter – The starter has complete control over the swimmers from the time the referee signals the start of the race until after a fair start has been made. The starter will call the swimmers to their start position, get them set and then start the race. Starters also indicate whether false starts have occurred.

Stroke and Turn Judge – Stroke and Turn Judges ensure that the rules relating to the stroke, turn, kick and finish designated for the event are being observed. These judges are responsible for watching swimmers for disqualifications (DQs) in stroke technique during each race and reporting DQs to the meet referee.

Other Meet Volunteers

Other volunteer positions which require no MCSL certification and training include:

Announcer –work during meets announcing events. (1 person per meet)

Automation/Computer Operator – create meet line-up, input swimmers’ times into Meet Manager software during the meets, print meet results for posting during the meet, produce disks for both teams and the League. (1 person per meet)

Automation/Verifier – work with Computer Operator to ensure accuracy of swimmer’s times as they are input into Meet Manager software. (1 person per meet)

Clerk of Course - work during meets to control flow of swimmers to Clerk’s table, checks in the swimmers and tells them their lanes. (2 people per meet)

Head Timer/Asst. Head Timer – assist referee by coordinating the timers, provide a back-up watch for timers as needed. (1 person per meet) 

Timer - work during meets operating a stopwatch as one of three timers per lane. (9 people per meet)

Runner - Deliver time cards after each event to automation. (1 person per meet)

Parking - direct drivers to parking area during home meets. (1 person per meet)

Ribbon Writing - work during meets to affix labels to swimmers’ ribbons. (2 people per meet)

Set-Up/Break-Down - set up pool area 1 hour before warm-up for home meets. Put up backstroke flags, set up lane ropes, arrange seating, set up Clerk of Course area. Clean up and restore pool area at the conclusion of home meets. Put away lane ropes, backstroke flags, rearrange tables and chairs. Help clean up food service area. (3-4 people per meet)

Snack Bar - work before and during meets to set up and sell food items for the Thunder Café, and take down café at end of the meet. (3-5 people per meet)

Vendor Coordinator/Shoppers – assist Café Manager with picking up food donations from local merchants and deliver to pool before the start of a home meet. Order pizza for Wednesday home meets, order/pick up donuts for Saturday home meets, pick up ice from Burger King (2+ people per meet)