Conejo Simi Swim Club - Parent Volunteer Policy

Parent volunteers are vital to the success of the Conejo Simi Swim Club. CSSC relies heavily on parent volunteers to perform many of the organizational and administrative tasks that are necessary to run the club and provide your child with a great swimming experience. Without a strong parent volunteer base, your monthly dues would be significantly higher and programs and opportunities would be limited.

In addition to the minimum requirements of this policy, you are encouraged to get involved assisting the swim club in other ways. There are many types of jobs and positions that will match with your talents, interests, and available time. Many parent members have formed lifelong friendships and memories by volunteering for CSSC. You will find a list of volunteer opportunities available for you to consider on the CSSC website. Alternatively, please contact any Board Member or Committee Chair Person to find out more about how you can get involved.

Minimum Volunteer Requirements

The following are minimum volunteer requirements that are required by each

family:

CSSC Hosted Meets - Volunteer Hours:

Each family with swimmers in the Red, White, Blue, Senior I or II Groups is required to work 30 CSSC hosted meet volunteer service hours per swim year beginning Sept. 1st annually (or prorated if you join after the beginning of the season). For each hour not worked, your account will be charged $25 per hour. All service hours must be submitted

for credit to the Volunteer Coordinator by the end of July. Prorated volunteer balances will be due immediately if a swimmer leaves the team mid season.

Timing For Travel Meets - Volunteer Requirements:

A parent (or designee) is required to time at each “away” swim meet in which their child is swimming. At the beginning of each session of every swim meet, the CSSC Timing Coordinator will create a list of timing responsibilities and will post this list in a visible place in the pool area.

• For a preferred timing shift, please make a point to contact the Timing Coordinator.

• It is up to each parent to check the schedule and to show up at the required time.

• If you are not able to work that particular time slot, you will be responsible for finding a substitute timer.

• Typical timing requirements are 60-90 minutes during each SESSION that your child swims.

• A designee can be any person over 16 years of age that is capable of fulfilling the job requirement.

• On occasion, a family with multiple children may be asked to time twice during the same session if more volunteers are needed.

If for any reason you are unable to time during the session that your child was swimming without prior approval from the designated Timing Coordinator (in the case of extra volunteers not needed), your account will be charged a $25.00 fee for the hour on your next billing statement.

Tracking Volunteer Hours & Requirements:

If you sign-up online for our home meets, the hours you work will automatically be posted to your account after the completion of the meet. If you work additional meet hours that you did not sign up for, please make sure that the Volunteer Coordinator is aware of this prior to the meet if possible. Submit your hours by email to the Volunteer Coordinator for tracking purposes and they will be deducted from your account. Your balance will be tracked and available for viewing on our website via your secure log-in ID and password. Any outstanding balance will be due on August 1st at the rate of $25 per hour. You are responsible for submitting your volunteer hours and for checking your volunteer account to be sure the hours are accurate.

Any questions about the balance due or your hours must be sent to the Volunteer Coordinator prior to the billing due date.

Because of the enormous amount of manpower and effort that is required to run a swim meet, CSSC needs all parents to volunteer at each meet. Swim meets are a critical aspect of amateur swimming in southern California and in the United States. Swim Meets provide a venue for your children to improve their skills and compete against other local and regional swimmers.

Virtually all of the manpower required to host a swim meet comes from the membership of the swim club that is hosting the meet. This manpower is provided on a volunteer (unpaid) basis. The only personnel that are paid at swim meets are the meet officials and referees (about 6 people). Most of our officials donate their pay from CSSC hosted meets back to our team.

The host swim club relies on its membership to handle most of the tasks involved in running the swim meet, but it also must enlist the help from participating clubs to handle timing duties. (At a typical swim meet with 7 or 8 competition lanes, a host club would need approximately 100 persons for 2 or more hours each day just to handle timing duties.

A swim club chooses to host a swim meet – it is not a requirement for it to do so. Swim Meets are bid on or requested by a club at the beginning of each year. Usually, the same clubs host the same meets each year. A swim club hosts a swim meet so that it can ensure that some of the meets are held at its home pool and to generate income. This income helps to reduce monthly swimmer dues or is used to enhance its swimming programs.

CSSC hosts 4 or 5 swim meets each year. During the 2010/2011 season, approximately 25% of our annual operating budget was covered by the profit earned from hosting these swim meets. These profits come from meet entry fees, apparel & equipment sales, and snack bar sales.

With the continued support of the membership, CSSC will continue to be one of the premier swim clubs in the region. Please feel free to contact a CSSC Board Member if you have any questions regarding the Volunteer Policy.

A parent of each CSSC swimmer must agree to comply with this policy before your child can begin swimming. Non-compliance with this policy without prior approval from the Board of Directors may result in termination of membership with CSSC.