Families that never volunteer - swim team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There must be some reason NVSL is one of the largest , oldest and most successful swim leagues in the country, with MCSL up there as well. It’s also probably not a coincidence that this area punches well above its weight in terms of producing high quality swimmers considering we are not in Florida or California.

Yep, it can all be attributed to parent volunteers! You don’t think the parents in metro Boston or Westchester, or suburban Connecticut volunteer for their kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The entitlement on this thread is insane. The fact remains that summer swim teams rely on many volunteers throughout the season. If everyone said f it, this team takes the volunteer commitment too seriously, then it won’t happen. The team shuts down.

What’s wrong with showing and investing in your kids’ activities? Summer swim is a community thing, invest in it or don’t participate.

Always the same parents that step up to help. It’s a shame, what are you teaching your children?

So selfish.

It's a bandwidth thing. Thankfully our team isn't run by people like you.

Your team is run by volunteers like PP and me, and we all have important jobs and a million other things to do. The difference is that we invest our time and effort in our communities and our kids, while you don’t. Maybe get off DCUM and do something productive with your time.

I can't. I literally can't. I would if I could. Does attacking a struggling person make you feel better?

Please. Team rep here: we have a woman on our team whose husband traveled for work most of the time and she had two parents in hospice in her home with no backup help. If she volunteered, you can volunteer.

I'm the volunteer coordinator for our team, and never in a million years would we have asked that woman to volunteer or tell her kids that they can't participate. That's nothing to be proud of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The entitlement on this thread is insane. The fact remains that summer swim teams rely on many volunteers throughout the season. If everyone said f it, this team takes the volunteer commitment too seriously, then it won’t happen. The team shuts down.

What’s wrong with showing and investing in your kids’ activities? Summer swim is a community thing, invest in it or don’t participate.

Always the same parents that step up to help. It’s a shame, what are you teaching your children?

So selfish.

It's a bandwidth thing. Thankfully our team isn't run by people like you.

Your team is run by volunteers like PP and me, and we all have important jobs and a million other things to do. The difference is that we invest our time and effort in our communities and our kids, while you don’t. Maybe get off DCUM and do something productive with your time.

I can't. I literally can't. I would if I could. Does attacking a struggling person make you feel better?

Please. Team rep here: we have a woman on our team whose husband traveled for work most of the time and she had two parents in hospice in her home with no backup help. If she volunteered, you can volunteer.

… are you proud of this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There must be some reason NVSL is one of the largest , oldest and most successful swim leagues in the country, with MCSL up there as well. It’s also probably not a coincidence that this area punches well above its weight in terms of producing high quality swimmers considering we are not in Florida or California.

Yes, the reason is called “segregation”. Private pools developed in the south as a result of white people wanting to keep their pools segregated. Wealthy, politically powerful, highly motivated white people poured money and time into their clubs and created one of the largest, most successful summer swim leagues that is still pretty minority free. I guess this is what we call success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There must be some reason NVSL is one of the largest , oldest and most successful swim leagues in the country, with MCSL up there as well. It’s also probably not a coincidence that this area punches well above its weight in terms of producing high quality swimmers considering we are not in Florida or California.

Yes, the reason is called “segregation”. Private pools developed in the south as a result of white people wanting to keep their pools segregated. Wealthy, politically powerful, highly motivated white people poured money and time into their clubs and created one of the largest, most successful summer swim leagues that is still pretty minority free. I guess this is what we call success.

Then shouldn’t Deep South areas have many swim leagues as successful as this ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah I don't have time, happy to pay. This isn't the 90s where stay at home moms have time to do things and dads work, we are 2-4 income household and trying to make it work with these crushing costs of living. This is another boomer Genx out of touch thing that will need to change.

You don’t have time but you somehow have time to post repeatedly on this thread about all your jobs and GenX/Boomers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The entitlement on this thread is insane. The fact remains that summer swim teams rely on many volunteers throughout the season. If everyone said f it, this team takes the volunteer commitment too seriously, then it won’t happen. The team shuts down.

What’s wrong with showing and investing in your kids’ activities? Summer swim is a community thing, invest in it or don’t participate.

Always the same parents that step up to help. It’s a shame, what are you teaching your children?

So selfish.

It's a bandwidth thing. Thankfully our team isn't run by people like you.

Your team is run by volunteers like PP and me, and we all have important jobs and a million other things to do. The difference is that we invest our time and effort in our communities and our kids, while you don’t. Maybe get off DCUM and do something productive with your time.

I can't. I literally can't. I would if I could. Does attacking a struggling person make you feel better?

Please. Team rep here: we have a woman on our team whose husband traveled for work most of the time and she had two parents in hospice in her home with no backup help. If she volunteered, you can volunteer.

… are you proud of this?

The cruelty is the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The entitlement on this thread is insane. The fact remains that summer swim teams rely on many volunteers throughout the season. If everyone said f it, this team takes the volunteer commitment too seriously, then it won’t happen. The team shuts down.

What’s wrong with showing and investing in your kids’ activities? Summer swim is a community thing, invest in it or don’t participate.

Always the same parents that step up to help. It’s a shame, what are you teaching your children?

So selfish.

It's a bandwidth thing. Thankfully our team isn't run by people like you.

Your team is run by volunteers like PP and me, and we all have important jobs and a million other things to do. The difference is that we invest our time and effort in our communities and our kids, while you don’t. Maybe get off DCUM and do something productive with your time.

I can't. I literally can't. I would if I could. Does attacking a struggling person make you feel better?

Please. Team rep here: we have a woman on our team whose husband traveled for work most of the time and she had two parents in hospice in her home with no backup help. If she volunteered, you can volunteer.

We are a small team who needs volunteers and I get frustrated by people who just don’t feel like volunteering.

But there is absolutely no way the people on my team would have let that woman go without lots of offers to do her hours.

Having said that, I am the mom who referenced a kid on chemo above, and I will say that when our lives were completely falling apart, my kids really clung to things that we were able to keep the same. I can remember sneaking away for an hour to go to a potluck at the pool. Someone else had brought my kids and a dish with my name on it, but being able to stand with my mom friends and think about normal things for an hour was really nice.

I sure hope no one is saying “her kid was on chemo and she still volunteered so . . .” because of me!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There must be some reason NVSL is one of the largest , oldest and most successful swim leagues in the country, with MCSL up there as well. It’s also probably not a coincidence that this area punches well above its weight in terms of producing high quality swimmers considering we are not in Florida or California.

Yes, the reason is called “segregation”. Private pools developed in the south as a result of white people wanting to keep their pools segregated. Wealthy, politically powerful, highly motivated white people poured money and time into their clubs and created one of the largest, most successful summer swim leagues that is still pretty minority free. I guess this is what we call success.

Then shouldn’t Deep South areas have many swim leagues as successful as this ?

They do. But everyone here is so myopic and provincial and they think nothing could be as totally awesome as nvsl.

For example, the Louisville summer swim league has 3000 swimmers as compared to 1000 in nvsl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There must be some reason NVSL is one of the largest , oldest and most successful swim leagues in the country, with MCSL up there as well. It’s also probably not a coincidence that this area punches well above its weight in terms of producing high quality swimmers considering we are not in Florida or California.

Yes, the reason is called “segregation”. Private pools developed in the south as a result of white people wanting to keep their pools segregated. Wealthy, politically powerful, highly motivated white people poured money and time into their clubs and created one of the largest, most successful summer swim leagues that is still pretty minority free. I guess this is what we call success.

Then shouldn’t Deep South areas have many swim leagues as successful as this ?

They do. But everyone here is so myopic and provincial and they think nothing could be as totally awesome as nvsl.

For example, the Louisville summer swim league has 3000 swimmers as compared to 1000 in nvsl.

Check your math. NVSL has 102 teams and you think it is just 1000 swimmers ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both sides have valid points here.

I'm new to summer swim and am surprised at how much it takes to run these programs! I expected it to be a bit more streamlined (ha) along the lines of other kid activities/sports but it clearly requires a level of parent commitment that I have not seen before. I am impressed and grateful to the parents to make the time to support the team. I also think there are a lot of parents who are REALLY into the whole scene and their kid's performance, which may explain their motivation for volunteering as much as they do. Not everyone shares that motivation.

On the flip side, the amount of commitment being asked of the parents--while it varies by team--is not insignificant particularly compared to other sports. It's not JUST the swim team that expects time from busy families--and while things might slow down a bit with kids during the summer, many of us have demanding jobs year-round, are caring for special needs kids or aging parents, or maybe we have health problems of our own or other commitments that take up time. Some people just don't have a lot of extra time and can't just throw money at solving a problem. You never know which family falls into that category or which family just doesn't want to help.

I'm fortunate that I can often find time to help, but it doesn't help the situation to act like everyone should be able to do the same.

As a volunteer coordinator - I would simply ask families to be transparent about their situation. If you tell me you can't work at meets or have not a lot money to buy snacks, but have an hour or two then, I will find something for you. You could help volunteers, file ribbons, et.c. There is a lot you can do at home, behind the scenes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The entitlement on this thread is insane. The fact remains that summer swim teams rely on many volunteers throughout the season. If everyone said f it, this team takes the volunteer commitment too seriously, then it won’t happen. The team shuts down.

What’s wrong with showing and investing in your kids’ activities? Summer swim is a community thing, invest in it or don’t participate.

Always the same parents that step up to help. It’s a shame, what are you teaching your children?

So selfish.

It's a bandwidth thing. Thankfully our team isn't run by people like you.

Your team is run by volunteers like PP and me, and we all have important jobs and a million other things to do. The difference is that we invest our time and effort in our communities and our kids, while you don’t. Maybe get off DCUM and do something productive with your time.

I can't. I literally can't. I would if I could. Does attacking a struggling person make you feel better?

Respectfully, getting out of your own head and helping others is exactly what you need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The entitlement on this thread is insane. The fact remains that summer swim teams rely on many volunteers throughout the season. If everyone said f it, this team takes the volunteer commitment too seriously, then it won’t happen. The team shuts down.

What’s wrong with showing and investing in your kids’ activities? Summer swim is a community thing, invest in it or don’t participate.

Always the same parents that step up to help. It’s a shame, what are you teaching your children?

So selfish.

It's a bandwidth thing. Thankfully our team isn't run by people like you.

Your team is run by volunteers like PP and me, and we all have important jobs and a million other things to do. The difference is that we invest our time and effort in our communities and our kids, while you don’t. Maybe get off DCUM and do something productive with your time.

I can't. I literally can't. I would if I could. Does attacking a struggling person make you feel better?

Please. Team rep here: we have a woman on our team whose husband traveled for work most of the time and she had two parents in hospice in her home with no backup help. If she volunteered, you can volunteer.

It's not about time. But keep judging. Our team doesn't care, and since older DS is getting a scholarship out of it...your hate is meaningless and will catch up with you one day.

A scholarship out of what?? What kind of scholarship? Certainly not a college scholarship as a result of summer swim!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There must be some reason NVSL is one of the largest , oldest and most successful swim leagues in the country, with MCSL up there as well. It’s also probably not a coincidence that this area punches well above its weight in terms of producing high quality swimmers considering we are not in Florida or California.

Yes, the reason is called “segregation”. Private pools developed in the south as a result of white people wanting to keep their pools segregated. Wealthy, politically powerful, highly motivated white people poured money and time into their clubs and created one of the largest, most successful summer swim leagues that is still pretty minority free. I guess this is what we call success.

Then shouldn’t Deep South areas have many swim leagues as successful as this ?

They do. But everyone here is so myopic and provincial and they think nothing could be as totally awesome as nvsl.

For example, the Louisville summer swim league has 3000 swimmers as compared to 1000 in nvsl.

According to NVSL website, there are 17,000 swimmers, five times Louisville's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The entitlement on this thread is insane. The fact remains that summer swim teams rely on many volunteers throughout the season. If everyone said f it, this team takes the volunteer commitment too seriously, then it won’t happen. The team shuts down.

What’s wrong with showing and investing in your kids’ activities? Summer swim is a community thing, invest in it or don’t participate.

Always the same parents that step up to help. It’s a shame, what are you teaching your children?

So selfish.

It's a bandwidth thing. Thankfully our team isn't run by people like you.

Your team is run by volunteers like PP and me, and we all have important jobs and a million other things to do. The difference is that we invest our time and effort in our communities and our kids, while you don’t. Maybe get off DCUM and do something productive with your time.

I can't. I literally can't. I would if I could. Does attacking a struggling person make you feel better?

Respectfully, getting out of your own head and helping others is exactly what you need.

What if it's not just in her head? You don't know.

You don't know if she has cancer, chronic daily migraines, somebody dying, a wrecking ball hit her house, divorcing, working 75 hours a week, tied up volunteering to give impoverished kids free surgeries to correct birth defects or representing battered women in court, or is some top secret CIA mixed martial arts lady in the middle of fighting some foreign adversary dude hanging off a balcony like Jason Bourne. You just don't know.