Meet Locations and Tips
7545 Main St, Woodstock, GA
Per the other team, this is about a 0.2-mile walk to the pool. There is only handicapped parking at the pool, so please take this into account with your arrival and your family's needs. There is a turnaround in front of the pool clubhouse to utilize for swimmer/passenger drop-offs if needed. It is about a 30-minute drive from Saddle Creek.
June 27th Swim Meet: At Home/Saddle Creek Pool!
495 Saddle Creek Drive Roswell, Georgia
Arrive at 4:15 to get set up, re-mark arms, and sunscreen, and begin warmups. Warmups for home meets are 4:30-4:45 PM.
Parents tend to set up Chairs on the lifeguard stand of the pool. Some of our pool furniture will be available, but much of it will be stacked. Do not set up on the pavilion side due to walking traffic. Walkways will be marked on the pavilion side.
Concessions: Tex Tacos food truck and snacks and candy sold by our concessions crew!
Reminder: If it there is a weather delay, the meet is delayed for 30 mins. Do not leave the property until the meet is canceled. Most of the time, summer storms are quick and the meet is able to resume. If you and your swimmer, leave before the meet resumes you will create more work for the coaches and volunteers and prevent other swimmers from swimming in relay events. In the event that there are weather delays and the meet is able to resume, the goal will be to make it halfway through the meet (event 44).
We will return the following morning for our team party with free swim 10-11 AM, Awards at 11 followed by lunch!
Brief Parent Job Descriptions
Tips:
Parents, if you do not have a toddler tagging along, please choose a job that does not say "good for parents with a tag-along sibling." This way we work as a team and do our best to meet the needs of everyone on the team at all stages of parenting. We have all been there!
Reminder: If your swimmer is swimming in a swim meet, each family is agreed during their registration to work 1/2 of each swim meet starting as early as 4:30 for some jobs and the 2nd half the meet begins around event 43/44 which is somewhere in the 7-7:30 time frame as long as there are not weather delays
Options Below of how different families work their jobs with young kids
- Parents with younger siblings & 6 & Under swimmers: Some parents wait for a spouse to show up and one of parents takes charge of the kids and the other works their shift
- Some send 6&Unders swimmers and siblings home with a spouse (6&Unders finish 1/2 way through the meet) and works the 2nd shift alone.
- 6 & Unders parents who ONLY have 6& Under swimmers, pick a job during the first half and go home once the 1st half of the meet is over. Please do not go home until you are replaced at event 43--it puts the team in a bind! If you need to leave a little earlier, please seek out your 2nd half-replacement and ask if they can start a little early. Mary Kenny will know at the beginning of your meet to direct you.
- Those who have grandparents or family nearby may ask grandparents to come to watch and help with younger siblings. Some of our favorite volunteers in the past were grandparents working the meet for parents who could not be there.
- Some also choose to leave young siblings at home with a babysitter if its an option (my family did this some because our youngest was too board for the whole meet).
Yes, you may sign up for a job the whole meet and multiple people from your home may sign up. We often do not fill all jobs, especially at Home Meets and would not survive without the families who help us out more than the minimum obligation. Sending with a grandparent? Make sure to read the job descriptions to sign up for a good fit--we have loved our grandparent workers! And yes, we may at times find you or your spouse to pick up an extra shift when someone has not shown up. It takes a village!
If you do not sign up for a job during a meet your child is swimming in, Mary Kenny or Summer Bolte will contact you before the meet to let you know what we have signed you up for--so make the choice for yourself. Unlike other teams, we do not fine families who do not meet their volunteer obligations but will institute that policy if we struggle to get help.
We have hand outs at each meet that bullet points what each job entails as well as Mary Kenny, Alice Marsh or myself will chat with you when you check in at the meets.
Bullpens: Hanging out with the kids during the meets and helping them understand to stay put and understand when their events are coming up. Help kids to respect the property and try to entertain and keep them from being too crazy. Suggest waterproof games to bring other things that can get lost or wet. These jobs are especially important during Away events as we are not always on the deck with the pool. Needs to identify swimmers as they arrive to help make sure all swimmers are present and in place of where they need to be. Please sharpie the swimmer's back/shoulder and/or cap to help coaches identify swimmers on deck during the meet.
**This is a good job for parents with tag-along siblings because siblings can hang with the big kids**
You will need to be able to be fun but firm with the kids in this position to keep them from trashing, destroying property or getting so wild that they hurt each other. 1st 1/2 bullpen workers need to be around as soon as you drop off your swimmer helping sharpie swimmer's backs, making sure they get to warmups ect.
Concessions
This is only at-home meets. Helps sell candy and restocks. Helps set up around 4:30 and the last shift packs up and stores tables in the shed-2nd half can wrap up and clean up in the last 20 mins of the swim meet. Okay for a tag-along sibling -especially one that will want to be a helper! Spots will be limited for this as we already have several who have volunteered to step up and organize this.
Timers:
There are 2 timers per lane --one from each team. Not good for tag-along siblings or someone who struggles to focus. Timers have a front-row view of the pool. One person in the lane times the swimmer, and the other writes down the time. Can trade with this person if your swimmer is in the pool. If you don't know what to do, follow the group of the other 9-11 timers! 1st half timmers need to be at the pool no later than 5:15 PM to meet with our meet ref--the ref prefers both 1st and 2nd half attend this meeting. 2nd half timmers will need to watch the event numbers and need to be ready to swap at event 44.
Bullpen Runner/Deck Manager
This is a job at the away meets. This person will help take swimmers to the coaches from the bullpen to the coaches. At some away meets, a floater may help this person. At home meets, our bullpen is close to the pool, and coaches often take over this job. A floater still may help locate swimmers at home meets in this position. Someone loud and who can gather kids together easily is great in this job. Needs to be at the meet no later 5:30 PM
Computer Person
Inputs swimmer times into the computer with a volunteer from the other team and prints labels for ribbons. We are all learning the system, but so far it is pretty self-explanatory. There is a webinar here and vital info begins at minute 22:31. Typically this is a little away from the pool and crowd. Sometimes it is inside. Can be good for a tag-along sibling that will be fairly content hanging out with you.
We prefer this job to be done by someone who has been a part of swim before, and would like the same 2-3 people be in this job. This is often NOT in sight of the pool which can make it difficult to run and see swim events at times.
Needs to be at the meet no later than 5:30 PM and the 2nd half will need to help wrap up last entries 10-15 mins after the meet ends.
Volunteer Coordinator: filled Mary Kenny
Greets, checks in volunteers and explains jobs and what to do at each event. Not matter if you are 1st or 2nd shift check in with Mary when you arrive at the meet to get instructions!
Judge:
There are 2 at each meet. We provide one at away meets, and 2 at home meets. Watches the race and ranks lanes on who came in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, ect. This is a backup when a timer's time is off or for some reason did not get recorded.
This is not good for someone with a tag-along sibling as the swim events have to be watched closely.
Needs to be on the pool deck at 5:15 PM to meet with the ref.
Master Recorder and Judge"s Recorder
Collects master record from Judge's Recorder. Takes that sheet and collects times from all lane timers for that event. Delivers this record to a computer runner or to the computer person themselves. The other team also provides a Master Recorder. At away meets, this job may require a lot of walking based on the away meet set up. There is less walking at our home pool for this job.
Event Tracker
At-home meets only. Sits in or by the lifeguard stand and flips the event numbers. Sitting job and gets a full view of the pool. Needs to watch and pay attention to events. Not great for a parent with a tag-along sibling, but good for someone who would prefer to sit during the meet. Needs to be at home meet by 5:15 PM for the first 1/2 and an swap out at event 44 with the 2nd half.
Ribbon Worker
Puts stickers on ribbons and files them. This parent must stay until the last labels are printed about 5-10 mins after the meet ends to get the last labels. This job is done beside the computer person and starts around 6:30 PM. There are usually extra hands to help label ribbons at the end of the meets to wrap it up quickly. Ribbons are labeled in batches leaving plenty of time to label them in between swimmer events. Typically not in sight of the pool, but easy to stop and watch swimmer events and resume putting stickers on ribbons.