lack of volunteers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not signing my kids up for swim team - so saying I don't respect an activity that somehow needs 36 parent volunteers to run a swim meet -- that's just information in case you'd like to know -- you all sound crazy needing so many volunteers.

If the system doesn't work -- change it.

That’s the thing- this isn’t unique to swim. Every year our rec sports league is begging for parents to volunteer to coach. And that’s only 2 parents needed for a dozen kids or so.

DP. Yes it is. You really can’t see the difference between needing 2 volunteers to coach a rec team or be team managers in other sports and the roughly 20-25 (or more) volunteers needed at EACH swim meet?? Another difference is that your kid won’t get kicked off the rec team if you don’t volunteer to coach, yet you are fine kicking kids off the swim team if their parents don’t volunteer. Should we presume that you are volunteering for every single sport and activity your kids do since you feel so strongly about it?

PP is right that all of you sound crazy advocating for a system that clearly isn’t working any longer. There have been suggestions on this thread about how to address this and every single one got shot down essentially because “that’s just not how it is.”

If you’re against it stop signing up. Or go play the sports where some other suckers will sign up to be coach and assistant coach. But if those teams asked each parent to take a turn coaching for a week, and you just didn’t do your turn, that makes you the jerk.

Again with the name calling! I guess when you don’t have a substantive response, that’s your best retort along with “then just quit.” And not that it’ll matter, but we actually do volunteer for our kids’ sports teams, at school and for other activities. Some of these roles are pretty time consuming. Our experience in all of these other areas is how I know there’s a better way to handle volunteers here. You clearly don’t want to listen. Have fun wrangling the parents again this summer.

What is your point? This is how summer swim is set up. Volunteer, or don't. You know the committment when you sign up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not signing my kids up for swim team - so saying I don't respect an activity that somehow needs 36 parent volunteers to run a swim meet -- that's just information in case you'd like to know -- you all sound crazy needing so many volunteers.

If the system doesn't work -- change it.

That’s the thing- this isn’t unique to swim. Every year our rec sports league is begging for parents to volunteer to coach. And that’s only 2 parents needed for a dozen kids or so.

DP. Yes it is. You really can’t see the difference between needing 2 volunteers to coach a rec team or be team managers in other sports and the roughly 20-25 (or more) volunteers needed at EACH swim meet?? Another difference is that your kid won’t get kicked off the rec team if you don’t volunteer to coach, yet you are fine kicking kids off the swim team if their parents don’t volunteer. Should we presume that you are volunteering for every single sport and activity your kids do since you feel so strongly about it?

PP is right that all of you sound crazy advocating for a system that clearly isn’t working any longer. There have been suggestions on this thread about how to address this and every single one got shot down essentially because “that’s just not how it is.”

If you’re against it stop signing up. Or go play the sports where some other suckers will sign up to be coach and assistant coach. But if those teams asked each parent to take a turn coaching for a week, and you just didn’t do your turn, that makes you the jerk.

Again with the name calling! I guess when you don’t have a substantive response, that’s your best retort along with “then just quit.” And not that it’ll matter, but we actually do volunteer for our kids’ sports teams, at school and for other activities. Some of these roles are pretty time consuming. Our experience in all of these other areas is how I know there’s a better way to handle volunteers here. You clearly don’t want to listen. Have fun wrangling the parents again this summer.

What is your point? This is how summer swim is set up. Volunteer, or don't. You know the committment when you sign up.

Agree. I don't see why there are 12 pages arguing about this. Yes, you are a loser if you sign your kid up and shirk your volunteer obligations and yes, the whole neighborhood knows who you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There seems to be a lot of people invested in the status quo rather than finding solutions to address the lack of volunteers.

The solution is the moochers stop signing up. Problem solved.

Exactly- this is not an issue unique to swimmers or even sports. We raised a generation of individuals who received trophies for not even showing up, and were coddled and praised all the way through college and beyond. These individuals are now parents and think everyone is there to serve them while they do squat.

When people decide to have children they used to recognize it came with making sacrifices, whether it’s making less money for a more family friendly job, or not participating in activities you can’t fully commit to.

Parents who think it’s okay to disengage while other parents pick up their volunteer jobs are entitled a-holz.

That’s interesting, and I had not thought about volunteer demographics until you wrote this. Our team’s highest level volunteers (reps and officials) are largely GenX, with some older millennials woven in. We are a big (but not huge) top division team, and the officials/reps are mostly older than 45 years old.

You can tell who these participation trophy parents on this thread they are the ones complaining that they do not have the time and both parents work and it is not fair, etc. They use arguments that this was something done by households with a stay at home and that the burden falls on moms, etc. That has not been a thing in the DC area since the early 1970s, and even then it was shifting to dual income homes. So most of these arguments are two generations ago and not the case for their own parents. It was a generation not raised to sacrifice and they will not even sacrifice for their own kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There seems to be a lot of people invested in the status quo rather than finding solutions to address the lack of volunteers.

The solution is the moochers stop signing up. Problem solved.

Exactly- this is not an issue unique to swimmers or even sports. We raised a generation of individuals who received trophies for not even showing up, and were coddled and praised all the way through college and beyond. These individuals are now parents and think everyone is there to serve them while they do squat.

When people decide to have children they used to recognize it came with making sacrifices, whether it’s making less money for a more family friendly job, or not participating in activities you can’t fully commit to.

Parents who think it’s okay to disengage while other parents pick up their volunteer jobs are entitled a-holz.

That’s interesting, and I had not thought about volunteer demographics until you wrote this. Our team’s highest level volunteers (reps and officials) are largely GenX, with some older millennials woven in. We are a big (but not huge) top division team, and the officials/reps are mostly older than 45 years old.

You can tell who these participation trophy parents on this thread they are the ones complaining that they do not have the time and both parents work and it is not fair, etc. They use arguments that this was something done by households with a stay at home and that the burden falls on moms, etc. That has not been a thing in the DC area since the early 1970s, and even then it was shifting to dual income homes. So most of these arguments are two generations ago and not the case for their own parents. It was a generation not raised to sacrifice and they will not even sacrifice for their own kids.

We had a dad on the team who grumbled about showing up Saturday mornings for warm-ups to marshal. Said it was too early.

[Anonymous]

As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

Nice try. A lot of single moms are doing their part, unlike you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

Nice try. A lot of single moms are doing their part, unlike you.

Giving the benefit of the doubt there, but it's hard to generalize about single parents. Some (especially those with younger kids and depending on jobs) are in more challenging circumstances than others. When it come to shouldering volunteering responsibility, i've seen these types of situations handled on a case by case basis, and typically, the single parents does find a way to chip in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

Nice try. A lot of single moms are doing their part, unlike you.

Giving the benefit of the doubt there, but it's hard to generalize about single parents. Some (especially those with younger kids and depending on jobs) are in more challenging circumstances than others. When it come to shouldering volunteering responsibility, i've seen these types of situations handled on a case by case basis, and typically, the single parents does find a way to chip in.

Of course they do. And the expectations are adjusted for a family with only 1 adult available. PP is a sad sack giving single parents a bad name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

I am someone who volunteers a lot for the swim team, and also has a husband who does as well (and yes we both work).

I believe you that you have a lot on your plate and if you have young kids then you definitely don’t need to sign up to be timer or clerk of course or the types of things that take you away from your kids.

BUT, once your kids are older and don’t need you to wrangle them at meets and make sure they are fed/sunblocked, then it’s time to step up. If you can sit and chat for a whole meet then you can step up to time once in awhile. Or scoop ice cream at the ice cream social. Or bring a case of water for the volunteers. You can do SOMETHING.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

Being a single mom has nothing to do with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The snack bar is a fundraiser. It is one of the pieces that makes summer swim affordable.

I spent 100 on donuts one meet. They sold $10 worth. It's a BS fundraiser. Id love to see what the total cost of donated food versus money raised.

I'd rather pay 75 per summer swim compared to 25 per kid AND dont let the people with 3+ kid not pay for each kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

Nice try. A lot of single moms are doing their part, unlike you.

Giving the benefit of the doubt there, but it's hard to generalize about single parents. Some (especially those with younger kids and depending on jobs) are in more challenging circumstances than others. When it come to shouldering volunteering responsibility, i've seen these types of situations handled on a case by case basis, and typically, the single parents does find a way to chip in.

Of course they do. And the expectations are adjusted for a family with only 1 adult available. PP is a sad sack giving single parents a bad name.

No, they aren't adjusted. I have serious health issues. I volunteer for non-deck/meet things. My spouse volunteers at every single meet the entire time, while other people like this poster get to do nothing. My spouse would like to do the 1/2 meet like other parents do and get to watch our kid swim or video it for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

Nice try. A lot of single moms are doing their part, unlike you.

Giving the benefit of the doubt there, but it's hard to generalize about single parents. Some (especially those with younger kids and depending on jobs) are in more challenging circumstances than others. When it come to shouldering volunteering responsibility, i've seen these types of situations handled on a case by case basis, and typically, the single parents does find a way to chip in.

Of course they do. And the expectations are adjusted for a family with only 1 adult available. PP is a sad sack giving single parents a bad name.

No, they aren't adjusted. I have serious health issues. I volunteer for non-deck/meet things. My spouse volunteers at every single meet the entire time, while other people like this poster get to do nothing. My spouse would like to do the 1/2 meet like other parents do and get to watch our kid swim or video it for me.

At our pool the expectations are absolutely adjusted due to circumstances. But it does require stepping up and saying to the team reps, "hey, I can't do x, y, or z, how can I be helpul in other ways?" Sometimes the answer is "don't worry about it this year." Sometimes it's "can you go pick up trophies, or email these families about ASR"

We have military families with one parent deployed, single parents, folks going through cancer treatment, or folks needing surgery. All of those circumstances deserve grace (and there are likely many more!) But if the expectation is that you need to volunteer, you need to step up and ask for an exception. Otherwise, how will anyone know what is going on with you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a single mom, I feel exempt from volunteering. I’ve got more than my share to do.

Nice try. A lot of single moms are doing their part, unlike you.

Giving the benefit of the doubt there, but it's hard to generalize about single parents. Some (especially those with younger kids and depending on jobs) are in more challenging circumstances than others. When it come to shouldering volunteering responsibility, i've seen these types of situations handled on a case by case basis, and typically, the single parents does find a way to chip in.

Of course they do. And the expectations are adjusted for a family with only 1 adult available. PP is a sad sack giving single parents a bad name.

No, they aren't adjusted. I have serious health issues. I volunteer for non-deck/meet things. My spouse volunteers at every single meet the entire time, while other people like this poster get to do nothing. My spouse would like to do the 1/2 meet like other parents do and get to watch our kid swim or video it for me.

This sounds like an issue with your pool. There should not be a need for you to be volunteering for non-deck roles and your spouse to be volunteering on deck every meet for the whole meet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I belong to a pool that has a swim team.

My kids dont swim on the team.

These swim team parents can be nuts. There are women who get very invested in being swim team mom and make it their lives and want it to be everyone else's lives as well. I hear them talking at the pool and see requests for volunteers, etc. Someone even asked ME to volunteer once, and tried to make me feel guilty about saying no!! When I don't have a kid on the team!

Here's the thing. A lot of these "MUST" volunteer activities are BS. You don't need a snack bar. You don't need snacks. If you think your kid is going to be hungry, bring snacks for them. You don't need to make damn gift bags for a swim banquet. You don't need a crafts table. Furthermore, I see parents doing jobs teenagers could do. Why aren't the teenagers out stacking and unstacking the chairs, for example?

Parents need to streamline the volunteer duties down to the absolute necessities. Don't ask people to spend their time doing stupid BS like gift bags.

People are going to hate on this because you don’t have a kid on the team, but you make legitimate points that maybe people in the thick of it can’t see. There are definitely extraneous volunteer positions, outside of deck positions at meets, that you can do without. The point about the set up and take down of meets being handled by teens is a legitimate one. For the people that want to pay to outsource their volunteer requirements it would be pretty easy to recruit teens to do some roles for pay (set up and take down of meets, timing at a meet they aren’t swimming in). One of the problems is people with the mindset of “it’s always been done this way so this is what we are doing” and an unwillingness to explore other ways of doing things.

Our teens do set-up and take down for free, lol. They are awesome, and very helpful. Of course, they learned that from watching their parents pitch in and help too.

We don't have a ton of teens who aren't swimming in meets- I'm sure that's different on bigger teams, but it would mean people alternating timing while jumping back and forth to clerk of course. Not impossible, but a logistical nightmare (and at least for A meets, everyone is trying to finish to get the pool open). We do have teens time for B meets, but if this were a paid position, it would be expensive fast. 3 hours X $10 X 3 people X 6 lanes = $500/meet. Not insurmountable, but is it worth it? I'm not sure.

I think the people who don't volunteer don't realize that it's the best way to become a part of the (very welcoming) community. That's the beauty of summer swim! It is a community in a way that most other rec sports are not. We spend a lot of time together in the summer- and even if I don't love all the people, it is wonderful to have that sense of connection.

I don't really care if other people think it's all crazy, (I always say summer swim is kind of like a cult) but complaining about having to volunteer while still signing up your kid is pretty obnoxious. Either get on board, help to make things better or quit