Swim Team Volunteering - it helps if you are nice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

Because these moms are actually behaving this way IRL, not just on the internet. This is actually how swim team feels to those of us not on the “in.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Ladder is the publicly posted times sheet broken out by age/gender/stroke. Its so you know what time you need to be selected for A meets.

What does your summer swim team call the official list of times?

Ours doesn't post since some of the times used from B meets are not "real" times. B meets tend of have officials that don't properly call DQs. So if a kid is not legal and they see it that basically highlight that fake legal time as something not to consider. I have seen it happen. I saw a breaststroke event a kid did butterfly kicks 1/3 of the pool and it didn't get called and was a "legal" time that was far from legal. You can't put that in the ladder it would ruin your seeding. We use A meet times as our main time and try to put in legit B times.

What? B meet times are legit. How bizarre not to publish the times on the ladder. Sounds like it would lead to a lot of problems and drama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Ladder is the publicly posted times sheet broken out by age/gender/stroke. Its so you know what time you need to be selected for A meets.

What does your summer swim team call the official list of times?

Ours doesn't post since some of the times used from B meets are not "real" times. B meets tend of have officials that don't properly call DQs. So if a kid is not legal and they see it that basically highlight that fake legal time as something not to consider. I have seen it happen. I saw a breaststroke event a kid did butterfly kicks 1/3 of the pool and it didn't get called and was a "legal" time that was far from legal. You can't put that in the ladder it would ruin your seeding. We use A meet times as our main time and try to put in legit B times.

Is that NVSL? One of the reason that volunteers get burned out is that meets (including B meets) need qualified stroke and turn judges as well as referees and starters and three timers per lane so that the times count. If only A meet times counted, most of the kids at our pool would never get a time or a chance to improve because each age group has way more swimmers than A meets have slots.

THIS. B meet times absolutely count and the entire point is to improve times in order to make the cut for A meets. The cut is not subjective, it’s the top posted times, based upon “the ladder” or official times which all these “experienced swim moms” claim not to know about.

Our summer swim team has a huge mandatory volunteer requirement that you cannot pay your way out of. We have (no kidding) 10 “board members” who do not have to volunteer at meets because they are exempt. They just stand around in their cliques and chit chat while the rest of us sweat and run ourselves ragged.

I find your last two sentences to be very difficult to believe and, if so, why don’t you just become a board member? Problem solved.

You can’t just sign up. You have to be “chosen” of course and you can imagine who all the board positions go to!

[Anonymous]

Swimming is definitely a mean sport. I think it’s like dance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

OP didn’t even ask! It’s unclear what she doesn’t understand.
I love the poster who said their team had mentors/buddies for new members. I think that’s a great idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

OP didn’t even ask! It’s unclear what she doesn’t understand.
I love the poster who said their team had mentors/buddies for new members. I think that’s a great idea.

She said no one but the lifeguards and some kids spoke to her the entire 90 minutes she was there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

OP didn’t even ask! It’s unclear what she doesn’t understand.
I love the poster who said their team had mentors/buddies for new members. I think that’s a great idea.

She said no one but the lifeguards and some kids spoke to her the entire 90 minutes she was there.

So no. She didn’t ask. Did she approach them?
I guess I would be considered a veteran parent. No one came and approached me. I approached people and asked questions I didn’t understand. People aren’t mind readers.

[Anonymous]

I have older kids. I don't even have time to talk to the adults I do know and by now I know a lot of them and maybe have 30 minutes a week to talk to all of them. I am now responsible for a lot of things beyond just swim and simply don't have the bandwidth and I am not a leader in anything other than my small job I sign up for each week at the pool so I'm not the welcoming committee in any way. Most of the parents with younger kids don't want to talk to me. They want to talk to other moms with 6 year olds. If I am a timer, I talk to the people I'm timing with. If I do clerk of course, I talk to them. I don't spend extra minutes trying to meet the new parents. A lot of this is someone just not signing up for stuff and expecting everyone else to be like a kindergarten teacher. Our social chair this year has been at the pool for one year and her oldest is 9. I guarantee that the following year that position the the mom with four kids whose youngest is finishing their last years is going to give that position up and then it's all yours if you want it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

OP didn’t even ask! It’s unclear what she doesn’t understand.
I love the poster who said their team had mentors/buddies for new members. I think that’s a great idea.

She said no one but the lifeguards and some kids spoke to her the entire 90 minutes she was there.

She said "No adults assisted the little kids - only me and the lifeguards/HS age coaches. The “experienced” swim team parents just talked among themselves." Getting the little kids in the right order is the teen coaches' job. Maybe her pool is different, but the team tents are an area where parents are not welcome at all. It's supposed to be an area reserved for the kids without parents hovering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

OP didn’t even ask! It’s unclear what she doesn’t understand.
I love the poster who said their team had mentors/buddies for new members. I think that’s a great idea.

She said no one but the lifeguards and some kids spoke to her the entire 90 minutes she was there.

So no. She didn’t ask. Did she approach them?
She arrived 5 minutes before her assigned time, approached the person running it who said the real work was set up, and then didn’t give her any direction on what she could do to help.
I guess I would be considered a veteran parent. No one came and approached me. I approached people and asked questions I didn’t understand. People aren’t mind readers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

OP didn’t even ask! It’s unclear what she doesn’t understand.
I love the poster who said their team had mentors/buddies for new members. I think that’s a great idea.

She said no one but the lifeguards and some kids spoke to her the entire 90 minutes she was there.

She said "No adults assisted the little kids - only me and the lifeguards/HS age coaches. The “experienced” swim team parents just talked among themselves." Getting the little kids in the right order is the teen coaches' job. Maybe her pool is different, but the team tents are an area where parents are not welcome at all. It's supposed to be an area reserved for the kids without parents hovering

She’s talking about a social. Not a meet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

OP didn’t even ask! It’s unclear what she doesn’t understand.
I love the poster who said their team had mentors/buddies for new members. I think that’s a great idea.

She said no one but the lifeguards and some kids spoke to her the entire 90 minutes she was there.

So no. She didn’t ask. Did she approach them?
She arrived 5 minutes before her assigned time, approached the person running it who said the real work was set up, and then didn’t give her any direction on she could do to help.
I guess I would be considered a veteran parent. No one came and approached me. I approached people and asked questions I didn’t understand. People aren’t mind readers.

Posted in the wrong place, but she arrived 5 minutes before her assigned time, approached the person running it who told her the real work was set up, and then didn’t give OP any direction on what she could do to help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have older kids. I don't even have time to talk to the adults I do know and by now I know a lot of them and maybe have 30 minutes a week to talk to all of them. I am now responsible for a lot of things beyond just swim and simply don't have the bandwidth and I am not a leader in anything other than my small job I sign up for each week at the pool so I'm not the welcoming committee in any way. Most of the parents with younger kids don't want to talk to me. They want to talk to other moms with 6 year olds. If I am a timer, I talk to the people I'm timing with. If I do clerk of course, I talk to them. I don't spend extra minutes trying to meet the new parents. A lot of this is someone just not signing up for stuff and expecting everyone else to be like a kindergarten teacher. Our social chair this year has been at the pool for one year and her oldest is 9. I guarantee that the following year that position the the mom with four kids whose youngest is finishing their last years is going to give that position up and then it's all yours if you want it.

This is a lot of words to state the following, which is how many people feel:

I have my friends and I don't need new ones. The end. This is the way a lot of people feel. But as this person also points out (with too many words), there are newbies who don't feel this way, so find them. Eventually and organically over time, you will morph into this cranky person above. And the cycle will continue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there was any doubt how b-itchy swim team moms are, one need only read this thread.

I find it no b-itchier than the rest of DCUM. What exactly do you object to?

If you have read through this thread and do not understand the problem, then you in fact are part of the problem.

DCUM is always much b-itchier then in real life.
People don’t agree with OP and her complaints don’t make a lot of sense. But I’ve seen some horrible threads and there is nothing super offensive here.

A lot of us know exactly what OP is talking about. The veterans treat you like a moron for not knowing what’s going on but sure as hell aren’t going to explain anything!

OP didn’t even ask! It’s unclear what she doesn’t understand.
I love the poster who said their team had mentors/buddies for new members. I think that’s a great idea.

She said no one but the lifeguards and some kids spoke to her the entire 90 minutes she was there.

So no. She didn’t ask. Did she approach them?
She arrived 5 minutes before her assigned time, approached the person running it who said the real work was set up, and then didn’t give her any direction on what she could do to help.
I guess I would be considered a veteran parent. No one came and approached me. I approached people and asked questions I didn’t understand. People aren’t mind readers.

I would assume there was a job description when she signed up? I mean how much “direction” does one need? Sounds like she missed set up and OP isn’t responding if that’s the case so…