Walnut Creek Swim Team

***PLEASE READ NEW POLICY***

Beginning 2025 season we will be implementing fines for families who fail to fulfill their volunteer commitment. Prior to the start of the season, you will be required to select all of your volunteer shift obligations before your child is eligible to swim in a meet.

If you find you are unable to fulfill one of the shifts you selected, it is up to you to find a replacement and communicate the changes to the volunteer coordinator. There will be a $100 fine if a volunteer does not show up for their shift. It is required that the fine be paid before the swimmer may participate in subsequent meets. Likewise, failure to show up for an assigned shift at the Northland Conference Championship meet incurs a $200 fine.

Families with outstanding fines for unfulfilled obligations will not be allowed to register for the subsequent year until payment is made.

Swim meets are run solely by volunteers and it can take up to 65 volunteers to run a meet. Most volunteer shifts are approximately one half of the meet (2-3 hours). 

Additionally, if you have a swimmer that swims in the Northland Conference Championship meet, you will be required to volunteer for one of our assigned team shifts.

We understand that this is a time commitment and that you may have more than one child/swimmer you are responsible for. We promise you are not the first family to experience this and encourage you to reach out to other parents to problem solve in order to fulfill your volunteer requirements.

Creekers have great families that give their time and energy to the team and their swimmers. Volunteering for the meets shows that you are investing your own time in something that matters to your swimmer. Plus, you can meet other swim families and learn more about the sport!

Parents may work either the 1st and/or 2nd half of the meet in a designated job (i.e. timer, concessions, scoring table, etc.). You will still be able to see your child swim. Shifts typically change at the completion of the Backstroke event (which is approximately half way through the meet) but a few jobs start earlier and switch to 2nd half shifts at different times. Most of these jobs are fairly simple and you can be trained the night of the meet. If you find that you cannot work a shift that you signed up for it is your responsibility to find a replacement or switch with another parent in a different shift but please contact the team as soon as possible so that we may help you if needed.

Certified Jobs

The certified jobs require training, please inquire if interested in obtaining this training. Our team is currently seeking parents interested in these roles. The more officials we have as a team, the more the roles can be shared throughout the season. Training is simple but does require specific training and a background check. Additionally, these roles give you a front row seat to see each race. Please e-mail the Board at [email protected] for more info!

Referee (Home only) Must complete training, test and class. Must have 2 years experience as Starter prior to working as Referee. This is the full authority official for the meet.

Starter (Home only) Must complete training, test and class. Must have 2 years experience as Stroke & Turn Judge prior to working as Starter. The Starter announces the event, starts each heat and assures that a fair start for each heat is achieved.

Stroke & Turn Judge (Home and Away) Must complete training, test and class. This official monitors the stroke techniques of all swimmers.

Head Balloter (Home)  Training required. This person collects the timer sheets and Across the Board sheets from the Runner, puts them in order by event and makes sure they match.  The Head Balloter passes these sheets on to the Computer Entry volunteers. The Head Balloter also collects the DQ slips.

All Other Jobs

Easy to learn, minimum training involved.

Across-the-Board (Home and Away Meets) Is seated at the finish of each race, perpendicular to the wall in order to see each lane's finish placement. Works with a volunteer from the opposing team to mark a sheet with lane order of finish and hands it to the runner.

Clerk of the Course (Home and Away Meets) This is a challenging job and takes an authoritative person! This person works with the swimmers to line them up in heats and get them to the starting blocks for upcoming races. Make sure you ask for an updated heat sheet from our Meet Administrator prior to the meet (the Heat Sheets purchased at the Concessions stand are not always up to date with last minute changes).  Our team plans to enlist three adults for this role for each half of our home meets. For away meets, we will have one adult work at the other team's Clerk of the Course area. If you work with children as a teacher or coach or youth group leader, you would be perfect for this role!

Computer Entry (Home and Away Meets)    One volunteer from each team will be assigned to a computer and enter a swimmer's 3 recorded times. One person will read the times and the other will enter them into the computer. Both volunteers should verify the name of the swimmer. Volunteers may also enter DQ's or be asked to check outlier times against the timer sheet. The volunteers will compare the computer's order of finish with the Across the Board sheets.

Concessions (Home Meets only) We need two people for each half to assist with selling concessions and handling cash. The volunteers for the first half should arrive early to set up the concessions table and the volunteers for the second half should help take down the table.  This job starts at 5:00pm. 1st half shift: 5:00pm to 7:30pm; 2nd half shift: 7:30 - end of meet

Heat Winner Ribbons (Home Meets only) This volunteer hands out heat winner ribbons to the winners of each heat for both the 8 & Under and 9-10 age groups. Must pay close attention to the meet and be on deck when these age groups are swimming.

Hospitality (Home Meets only) This volunteer provides water (supplied by our concessions tent) to other volunteers during the meet. You will be moving about quite a bit and possibly pulling a rolling cooler.

Runners (Home Meets only) For each event, this volunteer collects the time sheets from the Timers, lane finish sheets from Across the Board volunteers and any DQ slips from the judges, delivering them timely to the Head Balloter.

Safety Marshal (Home Meets only) Needs to be able to arrive by 4:30pm, as swimmers cannot enter the water until the Marshal is in place. 1st half shift: 4:30pm to 7:00pm; 2nd half shift 7:00 to end of meet.  Walks around on the pool deck and ensures that all safety standards are followed on the pool deck by both swimmers and spectators. Makes sure that swimmers and spectators behave in a safe manner (no running, unruly behavior, etc). We will give you a snazzy orange vest for this job!

Table Ribbons (Home and Away Meets) Works with the Officials to attach stickers to the back of ribbons for the place finishers as the meet progresses and organizes them for the two teams to distribute. This is a 2nd half only position.

Timer (Home and Away Meets)  One of the easiest yet most essential job at a swim meet. Timers stand at the blocks, start a stopwatch at the signal and stops the watch when the swimmer touches the wall and records the swimmer's time.

Timer - Back-Up (Home Meets only) This person will have 2 stopwatches to activate at the beginning of each heat and if needed will switch stopwatches with any timer whose watch malfunctions.

Home Meets Available families help set up and clean up at home meets. This is not a posted job, but rather an expectation of participation. If we all do a little, then we all do a little! We begin setting up at approximately 4:00pm on meet days. We need volunteers to help set up ropes, flags, chairs, tables and other supplies.  At the end of each home meet we need volunteers to make sure the pool and the grounds are cleaned up. We all want to go home as soon as possible after a swim meet. We thank everyone in advance!