NVSL Team Stuggles to get Volunteers - Ideas Needed

[Anonymous]

Our NVSL Team seems to have the same core group of parents stepping up each week and a handful of families who aren't volunteering. Our team is considering our options to motivate and potentially penalize the families who aren't pulling their weight. I'm wondering if other teams are willing to share their volunteer policies and consequences if they are not met. i.e. swimmer won't be eligible to swim if parents don't volunteer?

Help!

[Anonymous]

Yep, if you don't volunteer (without a good reason) week to week then your kid will be pulled from the meet. We track who has the least volunteer shifts, when short positions we email this group only. If they positions don't get filled we remove those kids. It has never happened once a family has been told/targeted.

I am a team rep and have had conversations on deck with families. Have said they are not meeting their volunteer requirements, there kid will not be able to swim. Most of the time other families will point out the families that are not working meets before I even run reports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Yep, if you don't volunteer (without a good reason) week to week then your kid will be pulled from the meet. We track who has the least volunteer shifts, when short positions we email this group only. If they positions don't get filled we remove those kids. It has never happened once a family has been told/targeted.

I am a team rep and have had conversations on deck with families. Have said they are not meeting their volunteer requirements, there kid will not be able to swim. Most of the time other families will point out the families that are not working meets before I even run reports.

Do you pull their swimmers from all Meets? B meet only? And do you reinstate them once they hit a certain minimum of volunteering?

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of sending emails asking for volunteers to a smaller group based on who has few sign-ups. For example, on Saturday my DD's friend made the A meet and her parents were specifically asked to volunteer so they stepped up and did it.

There may be some people who have legitimate reasons for volunteering, like an illness in the family, a single parent with other young kids, or intense work schedules. I know that many people may disagree but I don't think kids from these families should per se be precluded from summer swim.

[Anonymous]

That's punitive to the kids, who aren't responsible for their parents' actions.

What you SHOULD do is make it clear before enrollment that the team cannot function without parental contribution, either as a time donation, or an additional monetary donation. They need to sign something to that effect before enrolling their kids.

And then if they check the volunteer box and don't volunteer, you remind them, and let them know they can always write another check. if nothing is forthcoming, they are banned from subsequent swim team seasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our NVSL Team seems to have the same core group of parents stepping up each week and a handful of families who aren't volunteering. Our team is considering our options to motivate and potentially penalize the families who aren't pulling their weight. I'm wondering if other teams are willing to share their volunteer policies and consequences if they are not met. i.e. swimmer won't be eligible to swim if parents don't volunteer?

Help!

We require a certain number of hours for a kid to be eligible to swim divisionals. It only effects the A meet swimmers, so your aren't imposing on B meet parents. It doesn't change the meet outcomes because divisionals are individual. We've found that kids care a lot about that meet and that puts pressure on the parents

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's punitive to the kids, who aren't responsible for their parents' actions.

What you SHOULD do is make it clear before enrollment that the team cannot function without parental contribution, either as a time donation, or an additional monetary donation. They need to sign something to that effect before enrolling their kids.

And then if they check the volunteer box and don't volunteer, you remind them, and let them know they can always write another check. if nothing is forthcoming, they are banned from subsequent swim team seasons.

If you do that, every one writes the check and it gets even harder to find volunteers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's punitive to the kids, who aren't responsible for their parents' actions.

What you SHOULD do is make it clear before enrollment that the team cannot function without parental contribution, either as a time donation, or an additional monetary donation. They need to sign something to that effect before enrolling their kids.

And then if they check the volunteer box and don't volunteer, you remind them, and let them know they can always write another check. if nothing is forthcoming, they are banned from subsequent swim team seasons.

IME, having coached other kids' sports, the parents with legitimate reasons for not helping out let team leadership know proactively, because they want to do the right thing and they have nothing to hide. Very few teams would refuse to allow the child of a single parent or child of an ill parent to participate. It's the parents who are "too busy," don't talk to team reps, think they shouldn't have to volunteer, who are the issue. When you give the out of writing a check to everyone, it worsens the problem, as a PP noted.

[Anonymous]

Asking people/families individually is a proven way to get participation for lots of things. Either the rep can do it, or they can delegate to a volunteer coordinator:

"Dear Family X,
We are reaching out to you because your volunteer participation is needed for the A meet this Saturday in order to do your family's fair share for the team. All families are expected to volunteer X number of times per season, and to date your family has contributed Y. Would you prefer to send a timer or a concessions helper this weekend?
Sincerely,
A Rep"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's punitive to the kids, who aren't responsible for their parents' actions.

What you SHOULD do is make it clear before enrollment that the team cannot function without parental contribution, either as a time donation, or an additional monetary donation. They need to sign something to that effect before enrolling their kids.

And then if they check the volunteer box and don't volunteer, you remind them, and let them know they can always write another check. if nothing is forthcoming, they are banned from subsequent swim team seasons.

If you do that, every one writes the check and it gets even harder to find volunteers

Exactly. I’m a team rep and I’ve also found that the families having trouble making it work because of having to wrangle little kids or being a single parent, etc. have been the ones to affirmatively approach us and say ok what can I volunteer for if I have these limitations. I will work with those people every time as opposed to the ones who have only 12 and over swimmers but hide at the start of meets and hope we don’t notice them (we notice you and the other parents notice you). I would love to tell those parents that their kid will be yanked from the meet if they don’t meet their volunteer requirements.

[Anonymous]

Everyone is having a hard time getting parent volunteers right now. So it’s not just you, OP.

What I have started doing is assigning people tasks and dates:

June 22
Timers
Melissa
James

Concessions
Jennifer S.

Stroke and turn judges
Michael
Jennifer T.

Etc

Make the list in Sign-Up Genius, plug in the email addresses, and let Sign-Up Genius do the harassing.

Yes, some will go in and cancel (but then you have a record of cancellation), but others will show up and do their job because you’ve removed the emotional labor from the situation.

[Anonymous]

Volunteer coordinator at a large team in nvsl pool. High division. 22 volunteer points or pay $400. Don't have issues getting volunteers. Everyone has to do it. If your kid is in a championship meet, you need to volunteer if asked.
I don't understand how teams can ever get enough volunteers without some requirement to volunteer. We have over 200 kids. Every parent needs to do their share.

[Anonymous]

Pp. We use Swimtopia, which makes things super easy to track points and charge the deposit if a family doesn't make the point requirement.

[Anonymous]

IME, you need a big volunteer deposit to get people in Northern Virginia to volunteer. $200 doesn't cut it. People will happily pay.

[Anonymous]

Our nvsl swim team said up front how many volunteer each family had to sign, and for those didn’t sign they get assigned to whatever left. Failed to do volunteer work would prevent their kids to swim the next meet etc. There’s no fee to buy volunteer spot at our swim team. Therefore, all volunteer spots for the entire summer season were all filled the night it opened. For those all star and divisional carnival participants’ parents need to assign additional volunteer work before the events. It’s a fair system and we never worry about short of volunteers.