Parent Volunteering
The Morris Plains Swim Team Parent Organization exists to support the team and the swim coaches. The organization consists of a President, Vice-President, and Treasurer and they organize various committees needed to assist the coaches. Parent participation is essential in order to make the swim team successful. It is a requirement for every family to volunteer over the course of the season.
Below is a list of Swim Meet job descriptions and what they entail when volunteering for these during swim meets.
HEAD TIMER: This position is accountable for serving as the overall coordinator for the Backup Timer, Timers, Writers, and Across the Board judge. On the day of the meet, the Backup Timer, Timers, Writers, and Across the Board judge should check in with the Head Timer 30 minutes prior to the start of the meet to ensure a smooth and successful meet.
TIMER: This position has one person from each team working each lane. Using a stopwatch provided by the team, the timer starts the watch using the strobe light flash of the starting machine as the starting signal. Check your stopwatch after the start to make sure it is functioning. If the stopwatch malfunctions, raise your hand and call for the Backup Timer. Use your index finger and stop the watch when any part of the swimmer touches the wall. Timers must attend the Timer's meeting approximately 15-30 minutes prior to the start of the meet.
BACKUP TIMER: This position starts the stopwatch at the beginning of each race and helps any timer whose stopwatch didn’t start correctly. Backup Timers also attend the Timer's meeting approximately 15-30 minutes prior to the start of the meet.
ACROSS THE BOARD: This position stands at the finishing end of the pool and writes down which lane finishes in what place. For official heats the swimmer’s place (and points) is determined by the Across the Board judges. Across the Board judges also attend the Timer's meeting approximately 15-30 minutes prior to the start of the meet.
WRITER: This position works alongside the Timers from the Morris Plains Marlins Swim Team and the Opposing/Visiting Team. The Writer writes the swimmer's time from each stopwatch next to the swimmer's name on the timer sheets. Writers should always check that the swimmer getting ready to swim matches the name on the timer sheet. When writing the times consistency is important - the first written time should be from the Morris Plains timer's stopwatch. Writers also attend the Timer's meeting approximately 15-30 minutes prior to the start of the meet.
RUNNER: In this position two people collect the timer sheets from the Writers after each event. A third person takes the timer sheets and the sheet from the Across the Board judges and ‘runs’ the sheets over to the scoring table. Timer sheets should be put in lane order with the Across the Board sheets on top. Runners also need to check with the Officials for any DQ slips.
SCORER: This position is responsible for entering times, scratches and changes into Meet Maestro on a laptop. At a home meet once all changes are made, the Scorer will print the heat sheets for the Coaches, Officials and Marshallers. Once the meet starts, the Scorers take the timer sheets from the Runners and enter the times (and DQs if any) into Meet Maestro. The Scorers double check that the place finishes from the Across the Board judges match with each other. When the Across the Board finish places do not match, the swimmers' times will determine the place finish (1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.). Meet Maestro will automatically tabulate the teams' scores.
MARSHALLER: This position is responsible for a single lane for the entire meet. The Marshaller must make sure they have the correct swimmer in the correct lane in the correct order. You will use heat sheets to line up the swimmers for your lane. Watch out for the younger swimmers particularly the Under 8’s and 9-10’s. It is imperative that swimmers are lined up correctly – swimmers cannot miss their races. There’s plenty of time to make sure you have the right swimmer in his/her lane.
BREAKDOWN: At the end of a home meet, two people are needed to put the covers on the starting blocks, put all the chairs in the shed, take down the tent over the scoring table, put the tent and scoring table in the shed, and make sure all garbage is cleaned up.
