Welcome to the Woodcroft Whirlwinds! We cannot run our swim meets without the help of you, the parents! Without critical volunteer jobs being filled, DSSL requires us to forfeit our meet. Being a meet volunteer may seem intimidating, but there is a job for everyone. Below is a list of the jobs we need for each meet.

Volunteer Jobs for Home Meets Only:

Meet Director / Head Timer - This person is the "referee" of this sporting event. They are responsible for making sure that the meet is fair for all swimmers. This person must be a USA Swimming-certified Meet Director or have attended a DSSL Meet Director training session.

Starter - This person is the person who makes sure of a fair "start" of each heat of the meet. They are the people at the meet that will tell swimmers to step up on the blocks, take their marks, and then start the race with a buzzer. This person must be a USA Swimming-certified Starter or have attended a DSSL Starter training session.

Head Clerk of Course - The Head Clerk of Course oversees the staging area with colored dots where swimmers line up for heats according to their lane number. The Head Clerk is in charge of identifying swimmers and lining them up in lane and heat order, to make sure that the meet runs efficiently.

Heat Winner Ribbons - Heat winner volunteers hand out heat winner ribbons and/or rubber duck to each heat's winner (i.e., whichever swimmer touches the wall first).

Set-Up / Clean-Up - Help set-up before the meet or clean-up after the meet. This job is ideal for early risers or people with flexible schedules. Note that there may be lifting and other physical activity required, but all you need to know is how to follow directions!

Volunteer Jobs Required For All Meets:

Clerk of Course/Assistant - This person assists Head Clerk of Course to get new heats of swimmers ready and takes them in order to the starting blocks. Both the Home and Away teams supply an Assistant Clerk of Course.

Place Judge - This person works with a partner from the other team to write down the order of finish for each heat. This sounds like it would be hard and that many finishes are too close to call. This rarely happens, and there is another pair of Place Judges stationed at the opposite side of the pool from you. The Statisticians make sure that the information shared by the Place Judges matches what the race times the Timers are recording.

Rounder-Upper - This person works closely with the Head Clerk of Course to time collection of swimmers by age and gender from around the pool deck to the clerk of course seating area. Our team has a sign that is on the end of a pole to use, but some of our swimmers are pre-readers so it is helpful to be loud!

Runner - This person works with a second Runner from the other team to collect order of finish slips from both pairs of Place Judges and delivers them to the scoring table.

Stroke and Turn Judge - This person works in a pair with a second Stroke & Turn Judge from the other team to evaluate whether there are any swimmer disqualifications (i.e., making sure that all strokes are legal). This person must be a USA Swimming-certified Stroke & Turn Judge or have attended a DSSL Meet Director training session

Swimmer Check-In - This volunteer ensures swimmers are checked in, have Swimmingly numbers on arms, and are ready for meet before sending them onto the pool deck.

Timer / Relief Timer - This is probably one of the most important jobs on the pool deck! Each timer is assigned to a lane to time the swimmer from the starting blocks until they finish by touching the wall at the end of their race. We make use of a smartphone app called Swimmingly, which synchronizes with the Starter signal, so the Timers are only required to record the finish of each race.

Do I need specialized training for these jobs?

Meet Directors, Starters, and Stroke and Turn Judges need to be USA Swimming certified officials for their position or have attended one of the current seasons’ DSSL training sessions, offered in person or virtually. All other jobs require no ahead of time training.

Do I need equipment for these jobs?

Timers need to have an iOS or Android smartphone with the latest version of the timing app, called Swimmingly on iOS and Swimmingly Timer on Android. Stroke and Turn Judges and the Starter must have an iOS smartphone with the Swimmingly app on it (these roles are not supported on the Android version of the app). Please make sure your phones are fully charged before arriving to the meet. No other jobs require any equipment.

Which jobs are best for new swim families or families with younger swimmers?

We give new families and families with 6 and under swimmers priority for the Heat Winner Ribbons, Assistant Clerk of Course, Rounder-Upper, and Swimmer Check-In jobs. Place Judge and Runner are also excellent job choices for first time volunteers. However, any of the jobs can be done by any family! No matter which job you have chosen, you’ll still have plenty of opportunities to watch your swimmers’ races (and you’ll have the best view at the pool!)