Does your team allow alumni swimmers/coaches to volunteer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. All 3 of our coaches (head and 3 assistant coaches) are alumni. Head coach is 8y out, 2 assistant coaches are 4y out, and 1 assistant coach is 1y out.

This is weird comparing coaching to volunteering. Apples to Astronauts.

[Anonymous]

Did you ask the team reps for clarification? When my kids swam, the team reps were always around and happy to explain things. I don’t think we had a set rule, but don’t think anyone wanted to volunteering for anything other than maybe timer.

My guess is the team may not want distractions of former coaches or swimmers at clerk of course. I’ve been Clerk of Course in the past and we didnt let friends or other swimmer linger in that area to socialize - especially B meets that were already crazy and long. Probably similar rationale for marshal, since the focus is safety or rule enforcement and kids might want to come talk with their former coaches.

But it also looks like there are lots of roles that they could volunteer if they wanted to. Does your pool have a role to escort kids from clerk of course to the starting block? Maybe that would be an option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why on earth would they not be allowed to volunteer as long as they are adults? Parents are _required_ to volunteer in many capacities. Alumni or former junior coaches would likely be the best C of Cs, since they know the team culture from the inside and know the kids!

It depends - logistically knowing the kids helps with organizing yes, but if the reason to volunteer is to socialize with former teammates then I can see that as adding more crazy to the cat herding that is clerk of course. We also always had to remind swimmers to be quiet for the start of races too. Kids don’t want to talk with the parents but they probably would want to talk with the former coaches.

[Anonymous]

Never come up for us but if we did have teenagers or young adults clamoring to volunteer than I could see needing to put some rules in place. The rules listed by the OP seem reasonable, but i can see both sides.

Does the coach allows former swimmers in the team area? Pretty sure we've had former swimmers lead cheers, decorate faces, etc. and the younger kids loved it.

[Anonymous]

OP here - the email that was sent out with these new rules did not include any rationale, just the rules.

It did offer the opportunity to discuss on a case by case basis. The email says "the final decision on any request will be with the Team Reps." They have not approached the Team Reps.

The email did include the welcome to alumni to come to the team area to socialize during the meets.

[Anonymous]

This is insane. I want all the young adults and teenagers to feel like they can contribute to a community that they are/were a part of. Community is most of the point of summer swim!

Now if they were doing a bad job, then someone should say "hey, so-and-so, we need someone else on this job. Feel free to sign up for these other things."

We've had teenagers volunteer who did a bad job (not on purpose). We just politely told them that this wasn't the best fit and they should do something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is insane. I want all the young adults and teenagers to feel like they can contribute to a community that they are/were a part of. Community is most of the point of summer swim!

Now if they were doing a bad job, then someone should say "hey, so-and-so, we need someone else on this job. Feel free to sign up for these other things."

We've had teenagers volunteer who did a bad job (not on purpose). We just politely told them that this wasn't the best fit and they should do something else.

Sounds like the team is providing plenty of ways for them to still be a part of/contribute to the community? Why does it HAVE to be CoC or Marshall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - the email that was sent out with these new rules did not include any rationale, just the rules.

It did offer the opportunity to discuss on a case by case basis. The email says "the final decision on any request will be with the Team Reps." They have not approached the Team Reps.

The email did include the welcome to alumni to come to the team area to socialize during the meets.

This is helpful context, and makes it almost seems like a non-issue -- is anyone really upset? If the alumni want to socialize, it seems like they are welcome and encouraged to do that. And if they want to volunteer, it seems like they can do that as well, with a few constraints that appear focused on preventing potential issues or distractions or whatever the rationale is behind it. And it sounds like the team would be open to discussing the rationale with interested families. Being proactive in anticipating potential issues and trying to head those off before they become problems is way better than being reactive after problems arise.

[Anonymous]

We are happy to have any volunteers we can get. We don’t have many alumni who volunteer, but have been thrilled to have the few that we have received in any role they sign up for.

[Anonymous]

I bet the former swimmers being coc or Marshall and socializing instead of focusing on the volunteer duties has happened to the team in the past, or to someone a team rep or board member or coach talked to, or they saw it at another pool. That’s probably all it is. Making sure whatever this team saw in the past or heard about from someone doesn’t happen (again?).

[Anonymous]

My general opinion on this, or any issue for that matter, is if you don’t like the rules, then sign up to be a rep a make the rules yourself. Do I agree with every rule our team has? No. Do I want to spend an infinity amount of time being a rep and dealing with the sort of petty nonsense that reps have to deal with on a near daily basis? Also no. So I keep my petty grievances to myself and get on with my life like a normal person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My general opinion on this, or any issue for that matter, is if you don’t like the rules, then sign up to be a rep a make the rules yourself. Do I agree with every rule our team has? No. Do I want to spend an infinity amount of time being a rep and dealing with the sort of petty nonsense that reps have to deal with on a near daily basis? Also no. So I keep my petty grievances to myself and get on with my life like a normal person.

normal except that the amount of volunteering needed is not normal to most people, just normal to swim parents

[Anonymous]

Normal as in I don’t get worked up to the point of posting anonymous comments online.

But since you asked, I reread the original post and I will answer your question honestly: while I do not know our official rules, or if we even have any, I have never seen anyone other than a parent work any of the chief positions mentioned in your post. A meets- that would cause a riot in our division. B meets are crazy enough as it is and we need to keep things moving. If you set the precedent at the first meet, how do you draw the line when a less qualified alumni/jr. Coach offers to do it the next week? We also have a points based system for volunteering, so I can see current families getting pissed when people who don’t need the points take their spots. Just my .02.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t seen anything from our team, but I also don’t think we have a way to sign up someone who isn’t a parent. So we’d have to ask first and would find out then I guess