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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Don't have time to read through 19 pages of this nonsense but I judge the volunteer nazis like OP who deliberately try to make people feel bad.  Same person who gets into a tizzy when the volunteers' shirt isn't 100% white cotton or if someone makes a mistake when filling out those unnecessary ribbons. SMD, OP.

Riddle me this, how is a single parent with one kid swimming and two others who aren't because they aren't old enough or don't want to but aren't old enough to be at home by themselves supposed to volunteer for 5 effing swim meets, plus all of the other stupid events such as needing volunteers for tie-dying shirts, or for pancake breakfasts or for the rootbeer floats. It's so much bullshine.

Perhaps at registration allow folks to opt out from volunteering for an additionl $50-$100. Then you could hire the additional help needed to do the meets.

For B meets, why not just one or two timers? It's not important at all and if little Johnny is going to swim in 8 meets he doesn't need 24 different time samples for each stroke to figure out if he's good enough for all stars or whatever else.[/quote]
Summer swim team is not for the person is this situation then. 
The social culture -root beer floats and pancake breakfasts and the other stuff you deem billshine - is what makes it fun for the kids. Versus year round swimming which is a grind. [/quote]

As someone who does my best to volunteer whenever I can, while working around a full-time job, this attitude makes me sad.  As a timer, does it really make my job harder if there's an extra kid in Lane 6 vs that lane being empty, or maybe having one extra heat of freestylers?  No?  Then why should the kid be barred from joining the team if his parents have a hard time with the volunteer schedule, or don't want to bring him to the extras?

I'm glad our team isn't that clique-y.  We welcome all swimmers, regardless of the family situation.  Of course we request and encourage volunteering; we have the same needs as every other team.  But we would never push a family out or shun a kid if the parents are in a tough spot schedule-wise.  I mean, some of the 'freeloader' parents on swim team are really active in PTA or Scouts or other time-consuming activities throughout the year, in which my kids benefit from their volunteer time.  Or not ... but the kid should still have an opportunity to participate regardless.  I volunteer because I want to make the activity better for all kids, not just the ones from families I deem worthy of it.[/quote]

The issue becomes it heavily falls on other parents, especially with smaller teams.  We only have one ref, so every home meet, my spouse has to ref.  He cannot get sick or miss it for any reason and has to rearrange his work schedule around it as no one else will step up.  When he's not ref, he's stroke and turn.  He doesn't get one meet off, which isn't really fair.  And, I'm doing a lot of behind the scenes stuff.[/quote]

That’s a little much. He’s allowed to get sick. Your husband could set some boundaries and give his availability and stick to it. People are never going to volunteer because they know Frank always does it or that your family will step in. Just say no. Let the cards fall where they may. [/quote]

He has very good boundaries but the swim meet will not happen without a ref.  Its a small team.  We will do our part but it sucks when others don't.  Its only two months.  No one else IS stepping in.  You must not get swim as you have to get certified for specific positions.[/quote]

I understand that he’s certified and others are not but you have an attitude that the team can’t survive without you. So do it because you love it or cut back and only do what you want.  What happens when your kids age out? Do you think no one else will ever step up and become certified?  Life goes on and people will when they need to if they want the team to continue. And if they don’t, this team wasn’t that important to them.  It sounds like you like being the in charge and then like to complain that no one is helping. [/quote]

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