I’m a team rep. Our policy is that if your kid is swimming you must volunteer. We don’t officially track points, but SwimTopia lets you run a report on how many shifts everyone has done. If we have a meet where parents aren’t signing up, I email those who haven’t done much and say that we’ve noticed they haven’t done much and would they like to time or marshal at this next meet. Usually that embarrasses them into participation.

In our experience, most families do something. Some do a lot, others do the bare minimum.

Anonymous wrote:How do you know they aren't? I do things that no one knows I do.

What kinds of things? I know some jobs are not necessarily visible (ie bringing snacks for the timers/officials), but most really are obvious to the rest of the team.

Our team has added a crazy amount of new members. Many have 10u kids. I’m starting to see emails reminding folks they must volunteer. I’m hoping our team goes back to charging if you don’t volunteer.

I don’t buy the argument that people may be volunteering for other things. My SO coaches teams for both kids every season and I spend hours volunteering for another kids activity. We still do our volunteer hours for swim and step up if they are low in people for a particular meet. I’m getting tired of folks who don’t volunteer. They are usually the same people who don’t parent their kids at meets.

How do you know they aren't? I do things that no one knows I do.

Our team doesn’t allow kids to swim If the parents aren’t meeting their volunteer requirements (certain jobs get certain points and there’s a min point requirement).

We had one mom who worked full time and was a single mom. She could not go to most meets much less attend a pancake breakfast. The team found some back end things for her to do that most people never “saw”.

We have a steep fee for not volunteering this year. Everyone is pretty much stepping up. And it is a high number of points. It takes so many people to run a swim meet. Thankfully more people are.stepping up.

Anonymous wrote:There are no fees or penalties for not volunteering for our team. My spouse and I both do a lot for the team and we enjoy it and are happy to pitch in. Every year there are some who never volunteer, but I try to give them the benefit of the doubt--maybe they're on the PTA and I'm not, maybe they're helping at a soup kitchen and I'm not, maybe they're a single parent and I'm not.

That’s fine if volunteering is optional as opposed to people being told it’s mandatory.

We charge people $175 if they don’t volunteer. Next year it will be $200. Meets can’t run without volunteers.

There are no fees or penalties for not volunteering for our team. My spouse and I both do a lot for the team and we enjoy it and are happy to pitch in. Every year there are some who never volunteer, but I try to give them the benefit of the doubt--maybe they're on the PTA and I'm not, maybe they're helping at a soup kitchen and I'm not, maybe they're a single parent and I'm not.

Mind your own business OP

Anonymous wrote:At ours you can pay or volunteer.

If yours doesn’t have that rule, don’t hate the player, hate the game. There should be enforcement.

Me again. Also - are you sure you know every job? For us some people have jobs that aren’t at meets such as doing pep rallies and other social events. There are also other certain season long jobs.

At ours you can pay or volunteer.

If yours doesn’t have that rule, don’t hate the player, hate the game. There should be enforcement.

Some teams charge parents money for not volunteering. Parents don't care, it's only $100+.
Other teams do not allow kid to swim (A or B meet) if their parents refuse to volunteer.

Same post different year.

Our swim team says parents must sign up to volunteer for every meet DC attends. We do that but noticed some families don’t sign up for anything. Even some with multiple kids. Are we chumps for signing up every time?