Hallowell Hurricanes

While the Swim Team is basically a program for our children, parent support is VITAL to the success of the Swim and Dive teams. Adults are needed to help at the meets in many different capacities. Except for coaching, all other work is done by parent volunteers. There are more than 600 different jobs that must be filled in order to coordinate our swim meets, picnic, fundraisers, banquet, team breakfasts and other social activities during one summer season. With approximately 100 families involved, the math is fairly easy to figure out. Every family must help a lot! We try to even out the work as much as possible. We assign “points” to each volunteer position base on the length of time required, amount of training/certification necessary and other more difficult circumstances (e.g., grilling). Each family will be asked to volunteer for positions that total a specific number of points—this is your Team Commitment and is not optional.

Points Requirements
Volunteer points requirements for the 2024 swim season:

• Returning families need 18 points
• New families need 12 points
• Families with ONLY pre-team swimmers need 6 points

If you're curious about what each role is responsible for, details are below. For day-of-event jobs, some roles are filled by the Home team (H), some by the away team (A), and some by both (H/A)

A Meets vs. B Meets

A Meets: A meets are typically on Saturday mornings. Top 6 swimmers/times for each event swim in A meets.

B Meets: B meets are typically Wednesday afternoons. Everyone who did not swim in A meets is eligible to swim in B meets.

See more info here!

Certified Meet Officials
Who are certified meet officials?

• Referee
• Starter
• Stroke & Turn Judges

These are roles where you must be certified to fulfill the roles. Becoming a certified official is a great way to learn more about the sport of swimming. Once you complete certification, you will receive further on-deck training by “shadowing” an experienced official. Certification courses are provided free of charge by MCSL. For a complete schedule and directions for these courses, visit the MCSL website ( MCSL.org).

Referee (H)
The referee has the final authority for all decisions and questions during the meet and oversees the work of all officials, assigning and instructing them. The referee must be thoroughly familiar with all applicable USS rules and MCSL rules, as well as all meet procedures and the duties of all meet officials.

Starter (A)
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 achieved. The Starter calls the swimmers to their starting positions, starts the race and indicates in conjunction with the Referee, if any false starts have occurred.

Stroke & Turn Judges (H/A)
Stroke and Turn (S&T) Judges determine whether the swimmers perform their strokes and turns in accordance with the prescribed rules of MCSL.

Non-Certified Volunteer Positions
Most volunteer positions do not require certification, and some will get you very close to the action in the pool!

Clerk of Course (H) 
Assistant Clerk of Course (A) 

The Clerk of Course works at the area where swimmers report prior to their event to receive their heat and lane assignments. The Clerk of Course will check in swimmers as they report for their event, tells them their heat and lane assignments, and sees that they report to their lanes in an orderly and timely fashion. Anyone working as Clerk of Course should report to the Clerk of Course area at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the meet. The majority of this job is performed standing.

Computer Table Worker (H/A) 

Helps the computer operator by serving as a Scorer, Times Reader or Times Checker. The jobs at this table can be fluid, depending on what works best given the specific talents of the individuals involved. Someone, usually the Scorer, receives the timer sheets from the runner, puts them in lane order, staples any DQ cards to the appropriate sheet (making sure the DQ has been signed by the referee), and double checks the official time, circling it if it is not already circled. The official time is the time of two watches that agree, or, if no two watches agree, the middle time, recorded to the hundredths place. If there are only two times, the official time is the average of the two times, recorded to the hundredths. The digits representing thousandths are dropped—there is no rounding. The Times Reader will read the verified time to the Computer Operator for entry into the computer and the Times Checker will proof the results printed from the computer after each event against the timer sheets to be sure the times were entered accurately. Volunteers for these positions sit at a table somewhere on the pool premises and should report at the conclusion of the first event.

Concessions (H) 

Concessions Team volunteers work to help set up and prepare food and snacks for the meet, collect money for purchases, and help clean up the snack bar area at the end of the meet. 1st half workers help to set-up the Concession area, 2nd half workers are responsible for cleaning up Concession area and packing up leftover candy and supplies.

Grill Team Helpers (H) 

Grill Team volunteers grill, prepare and sell hot food items at swim meets. At A meets egg sandwiches are made early in the morning, followed by hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches. At B meets, hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches are sold.

The 1st half grill team is responsible for helping to set-up grill station. The 2nd half grill team is responsible for cleaning up grill station and packing up leftover food and supplies.

Head Timer (H) 

Assistant Head Timer (A) 

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED! The Head Timer makes sure all timers are in place and ready prior to the start of each event, communicates with the Referee and acts as a third timer when a timer’s watch malfunctions. The Head Timer collects the lane timer sheets at the conclusion of each event and hands them to the Runner. All timers should expect to get wet while working the meet and to stand for a long period of time.

Head timer to coordinate timers at end of meet to clean-up deck area - second half timers are responsible for deck clean-up – including but not limited to putting chairs away, chair covers, benches, etc. The Head Timer should report to the meet at least 30 minutes prior to the starting time.

Hospitality (H) 

Hospitality provides snacks and refreshments for the volunteers working the meet. Volunteers working Hospitality are responsible for setup and serving refreshments to volunteers.

Ice Buyer (H)
Responsible for purchasing 60lbs. of ice. Must be delivered to the pool by 7:30am for Saturday meets and 4:30pm for Wednesday meets. Please provide receipt to the Treasurer.

Meet Setup/Cleanup Teams (H) 

The setup team is responsible for preparing pool for the meet. Setup concessions, grill area, benches, tents, etc. The cleanup team puts everything away at the end. Setup begins one hour before the meet. Cleanup starts roughly two hours after an A meet and 2.5 hours after a B meet.

Must be able to life heavy items (picnic benches, tents, etc.).

Parking Lot Attendant (H) 

Supervise parking lot and direct Hallowell parents to park outside of lot. At B meets, one attendant stands at the parking lot entrance, another attendant stands by the entrance to make sure Hallowell families are not parking in the lot, and the last attendant  stands by the daycare fence. No swim families may park in the daycare parking area.

Ribbon Writer (H/A) 

Ribbon Writers work at the Awards Table to affix the computer-generated labels onto the back of the appropriate place ribbon and places the ribbon in the appropriate team box. If the labels aren’t computer-generated, the ribbon writers must write the swimmer’s name, time, meet date and other appropriate information onto the appropriate finish ribbon, based on the results provided by the Scorer’s Table. Volunteers in this position are usually sitting down at a table relatively near the pool and should report to the Awards Table by the conclusion of the first event. For B meets, volunteer will take ribbons home and affix labels and return to the pool for Thursday morning practice.

Runner (H) 

Runners collect the time sheets from the head timer and turn them in to the computer operator.  This is an ideal way for new parents, especially those nervous about timing, to get involved. Runners should report to the meet prior to the starting time.

Timer (H/A) 

Timers are provided a stopwatch and training prior to the start of the meet. Three timers are needed for each lane, with one Timer serving as the Recorder who writes the three times down for each swimmer. Timers should expect to get wet while working the meet and to stand for a long period of time.  All Timers should report to the meet at least 30 minutes prior to the starting time. B meet timers for home meets will also help break down the meet (return chairs, tents, benches). If you have never timed, you may only sign up to time B meets.