Meet Volunteers

Meets 

The Piranhas largest volunteer responsibility each year is volunteering at meet.  All families, regardless of your volunteer commitments to the PPA and with the exception of on-deck officials are required to be meet volunteers.  Meets cannot run without these volunteers in turn our children cannot swim without these volunteers.  If your child is swimming in a meet, it is the understanding that you may need to volunteer.  

At home meets, jobs range from Timing Coordinator (coordinator of volunteers for a specific session of a meet) or timer, to working in the concession.  At away meets, according to the size of our entry, we are assigned a proportionate number of jobs (mostly as timers) and will be fined if our volunteer requirement is not met.  Working at a swim meet is a good way to meet other parents and increase your understanding and enjoyment of the swim program. Most parents actually find it more enjoyable to participate than to sit in the bleachers.  Please make your presence known to the Timer Coordinator to help the Team avoid a fine and ensure that no parent ends up working for an entire session. Volunteers for meets may also be contacted by a timing coordinator.  Remember, many hands make light work.
 
Any of the following jobs fulfill the meet volunteer requirements:
  • Timer Coordinator (away)
  • Meet Coordinator (home)
  • Timers (home &away)
  • Runners (home)
  • Posters (home)
  • Marshall (home)
  • Ribbons (home)
  • Program sales (home)

Meet Volunteer Sign up
The procedure for signing up to be a meet volunteer will essentially remain the same this year.  You may sign up to work at a meet either at the October parents meeting, on the Piranha bulletin board in the lobby of the YMCA or in response to an email blast or website notice.  

But new this year…. Based on these sign-ups, if we have not filled all of our spots for any given session of a meet, we will then pull names at random to fill the remaining spots. Please note, the names entered into this lottery will be of those families who have not yet volunteered.  This will eliminate the nagging requests for help and extensive emails back and forth.  If you are unable to work at a particular meet for which you have been chosen, you are responsible for finding your own replacement.  If your name is pulled, you will be notified by email and are expected to confirm within a timely manner.  It is recommended that you sign up in advance for at least two meets per swimmer for the short course season.This new procedure will hopefully ensure that everyone has the opportunity to volunteer and that our spots are easily filled.  If we eventually have the scenario where everyone has volunteered and we have not filled our meet volunteer spots, we will do the lottery from the entire entry pool.During the season, we will publish the names of families who have NOT volunteered at any meets.  Please periodically check this list to ensure that no mistakes have been made.


Championship Season
All parents of swimmers in Championship Meets (8/U Championships, Regionals, Age Groups and Seniors) will be expected to be a meet volunteer.  If your child is swimming in finals, you may need to work during both trials and finals.Additionally, distance meets always require that a swimmer provide his/her own timer.  Timing at these meets will count towards your volunteer requirement.

Meet Volunteer Job Descriptions