NVSL Team Stuggles to get Volunteers - Ideas Needed

[Anonymous]

Here’s my proposal:

Several days before the meet, set a volunteer deadline. If any volunteer slots are empty after the deadline, the team will assign a family who has not signed up for their volunteer obligation to that slot and notify them. Those families have several days to contact other families to swap places or to find replacements.

If they are still a no-show on the day of the meet, the announcer opens an auction and offers to pay someone to fill in, starting at $100, and rising by $20 increments until the volunteer spot is sold, oversold flight style. The family who failed to sign up in advance, failed to find a replacement, and failed to show up will be billed for the amount.

This way, parents who are short on cash can pick up some money, parents who don’t care about volunteering can pay their way out of it, and collectively, the team can express their disdain for those few who never volunteer by letting the price go up as high as they want to punish them.

Plus, how fun would that be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

large team is probably easier to find volunteers - smaller team may have more challenges.

[Anonymous]

We make it clear that opting into summer swim is opting into helping execute the season. It’s volunteer run and our culture is that through varying roles, all participating families work together to make it happen. This is the expectation. Every family has to fulfill a points requirement to participate, period. As others have said, families with limiting situations aren’t an issue. They are proactive and we work with them to find roles that fit their situations. We do have certain situations where we discreetly waive volunteer requirements, but generally speaking, summer swim is volunteer run and there is no one to do the work except the parent volunteers. No one is entitled to participate in summer swim, you commit to the work or you don’t join. Don’t expect that other full time working parents will do it for you.

[Anonymous]

Our team rep sends out an email before the meet with an assigned job. If your kid is swimming in less you have a good reason, you are assigned a job.

[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.

And how are those spots filled this season? It’s required, 95% of parents fulfill the requirement. If they don’t step up, their kid should be out this season. Bet you this never gets to this and the parents start helping.

[Anonymous]

What sort of requirements do other teams have for volunteering? Our NVSL team doesn't have a set requirement, but somehow each week all the slots get filled. I assume the team reps are doing some arm-twisting behind the scenes to get it done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What sort of requirements do other teams have for volunteering? Our NVSL team doesn't have a set requirement, but somehow each week all the slots get filled. I assume the team reps are doing some arm-twisting behind the scenes to get it done.

We have about 100 families and ask 3 volunteer slots per swimmer. So if you have 3 swimmers, you should be working every meet (5 A and 4 B approximately). If you have a permanent job (team rep, data, volunteer coordinator) you are exempt from the per swimmer b/c you are in essense volunteering at every event and throughout the entire week!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sort of requirements do other teams have for volunteering? Our NVSL team doesn't have a set requirement, but somehow each week all the slots get filled. I assume the team reps are doing some arm-twisting behind the scenes to get it done.

We have about 100 families and ask 3 volunteer slots per swimmer. So if you have 3 swimmers, you should be working every meet (5 A and 4 B approximately). If you have a permanent job (team rep, data, volunteer coordinator) you are exempt from the per swimmer b/c you are in essense volunteering at every event and throughout the entire week!

DP - We have ~120 families and use a point system: 12 points for one kid, 20 for two kids, 25 for 3+ kids. We used to use the same number of points per kid (so a family with three kids was required to accrue 36 points), but recently made the switch. Different jobs have different points associated with them.

[Anonymous]

OP here - Thank you all for your valuable feedback. I serve as the Volunteer Coordinator for our NVSL team. We utilize GoMotion and post sign-ups for each meet at the beginning of the season to allow everyone to plan accordingly. There is a clear expectation for each family to volunteer three times per swimmer. For instance, if you have two swimmers, the expectation is six volunteer shifts during the regular season (with additional opportunities like Time Trials, Carnivals, Divisional meet, etc. not included).

I regularly send reminders and reach out to those who may need support through small group emails and text messages. While our large team shows strong effort in volunteering, I am curious about the consequences applied by some teams, such as monetary fines or potential exclusion from participation for non-compliance. Once again, thank you all for your insights. This discussion has been incredibly beneficial!

[Anonymous]

This is a helpful post. I was a PP at a large team. I like the idea of more points if you have more kids swimming. Harder to track but seems fair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a helpful post. I was a PP at a large team. I like the idea of more points if you have more kids swimming. Harder to track but seems fair.

DP - as an active volunteer and parent of three, I agree. I'm glad to volunteer more because I have more swimmers on the team. I do think, if feasible for the number of kids on the team, those requirements should be prorated, e.g., 12 points for one kid, 20 points for two kids, 25 for three kids, etc. When our team didn't do that, those of us with more kids jumped on volunteer shifts early and often to make sure we met our requirement, and more than a few families barely volunteered at all. Our reps ran the numbers and made the adjustments this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

DP - We have ~120 families and use a point system: 12 points for one kid, 20 for two kids, 25 for 3+ kids. We used to use the same number of points per kid (so a family with three kids was required to accrue 36 points), but recently made the switch. Different jobs have different points associated with them.

I am curious: would you share the point values for some of the volunteer jobs on your team? How many points to time in A and B meets? How many to work concessions at meets? Set up and take down at meets? Stroke and turn judge? Relay take off judge? as examples

[Anonymous]

I find that individual messages asking people to volunteer works best.

Volunteer coordinator messaging the people who haven’t volunteered much yet: Larla, we still need three timers for Saturday’s meet. Can I put you down to time at this meet?

Larla: responds either yes or no with some excuse.

Volunteer coordinator: ok, if this meet doesn’t work can we sign you up for these other three meets that still need workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What sort of requirements do other teams have for volunteering? Our NVSL team doesn't have a set requirement, but somehow each week all the slots get filled. I assume the team reps are doing some arm-twisting behind the scenes to get it done.

We have none. The same families are doing multiple jobs at every meet and if they happen to not be working a shift and something is needed, they slot in. We have parent's whose kids are swimming in college still referring meets and announcing

[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.

Money doesn’t run a meet. Our team has plenty of money, but not enough volunteers