Volunteering
This club is only able to exist because of the contributions of many volunteers. Every activity on the field either during practice or a meet done by an adult is done by a volunteer, as well as all the behind-the-scenes work, and we thank everybody who is there helping out.
First, a big thanks to everyone who has stepped up in the Coaching area, I think we are in great shape regarding having enough coaches. Thanks to all the attendance takers and age group helpers also. If anyone else is interested in coaching, please see Greg Moser as we’ll take all interested parties. Please be aware that there are many other jobs and if you are interested, please contact Paula Miller or a board member for info.
Here are a list of volunteer jobs:
PRIMARILY PRACTICE RELATED JOBS:
Ribbon Coordinator: This person would bring the ribbons, athlete boxes to practice and will assist the Ribbon committee in assembling the ribbons and filing them alphabetically.
Ribbon Committee: Need 5 -6 people each week after meets commence to assemble and file during practice. It only takes one night to do this job and you can help with one meet or all.
Jelly bean/Jolly Rancher Coordinator: This person brings the candy and makes sure that there are people to hand them out each and every night. They will take the donations and bring them as needed. They will also purchase them when needed and will be reimbursed when applicable.
First Aid Parent: This person ideally will be on hand during practice and meets when available to perform simple first aid. Typically, the injuries require opening an ice pack, cleaning a minor wound and applying a bandage.
Volunteer Coordinator: This person would assist the GM in filling open volunteer roles.
Merchandise/Uniforms/Awards Coordinator: This person is responsible for ordering these items and getting them distributed. I believe that we have two people who’ve agreed to learn this role from Karen O’Neil this year and will take over next year. Thanks!
Lost and Found Coordinator: This person tries to match the lost and found up with their owners when labeled. When not labeled, they will take it home and bring back to the next practice and hang it on the fence by the bleachers and encourage people to find their lost items. This is an easy position but a necessary one. At the end of the season, we try to match the items at the picnic and if not, they will be donated to goodwill.
MEET VOLUNTEER POSITIONS:
Staging: We generally need 2 dedicated people at all times during the meets. We have two people who’ve done this for years but need to train more. One person typically assigns lanes to the athletes prior to running the races as per Valley Youth rules and the other person escorts the athletes by heat to the start line of the races. We’d love to train a few more people.
Finish Line Person: This person gets the finish line paperwork completed. The tag pullers take the athlete sticker’s at the end of the race and affix them to the finish line sheet by lane number that the athlete ran in. This a pretty simple job but important. This is key to assisting in getting the right times to each athlete.
Tag Pullers: These are parents who volunteer to stand at the finish line to grab athlete stickers in their lane and to give the sticker to the finish line person. During the majority of the meet, we need 6-8 people at a time to cover the lanes. This is a fun job and is needed both at home meets and away meets. If there aren’t enough, this can slow down the meet day! It’s always fun to watch the kids finish a race and see their feelings of accomplishment and pride!
Relay Judges: These people are used during the 4×100 relay and stand on the infield near the exchange zones. They watch to make sure handoffs of the batons are done within the proper zone. Training can be provided if you need help with this.
Hurdle Crew: Hurdle races are at the beginning of the meet and we need people to change the hurdles out when we need the different sizes for various age groups. This is just a little labor involved and this task is done quickly. If we don’t have enough people, this can slow down the meet. We try to get 5 or 6 people per meet to help.
Finish Lynx/Camera Person: This person works in the timing tent on a laptop and is responsible for saving the files that reflect the camera image of each race. There is training required and available if you are interest in this job. The camera set up is easiest for people knowledgeable in the construction business. We’d love to get 2-3 people trained in this to allow for shorter shifts during the meets. This job would only be needed during our 3 home meets.
Timing/Meet Manager Person: This person works on a laptop in the timing tent and takes the camera images from Finish Lynx and places the lines over the athlete images to arrive at their times. There is training required and available if you are interested in this job. We would love to get 2-3 people trained in this area. This job would only be needed during our 3 home meets.
Meet Manager Results Personnel: These people would enter field events on a laptop into the meet manager system and also the competitor numbers once the Timing person is complete with a file. These people would print results by event once all heats have been completed. They will keep a copy and the other will be posted.
Back Up Timers: These people push a button when the athlete in the lane they are watching crosses the finish line. These results are generally not used unless there is a problem with the main timing system. However, it does happen sometimes so this role is important so that the races need not be repeated. We need many people during a meet for this job.
Starter: This person advises the athletes regarding the rules and commences the race with the starter gun. We have someone that has done this for years but it would be great to have someone train with this person so that we have a backup.
Announcer: This person announces the calls for the athletes to be in staging or in their field events. We have a very experienced person for this job but would love to train a backup person.
Field event helpers: These people assist with the field events by writing results during the meet, measuring distances or just raking sand, moving high jump equipment or returning the shots. This is an easy place to help out in the event that your child prefers.
Set Up and Tear Down: People are needed at 7 a.m. during home meets to help set up easy ups and get equipment in place. We generally need 2-3 people helping besides our coach’s to ease in the work. At the end of the meet, we need help in putting equipment away. The more help, the easier it is to host a meet.
Stats Person for each Age Group: The General Manager will forward results from each meet to these people so that they can insert each athlete’s time or measurements for field events by meet. This will be tracked in excel and will just need to be cut and pasted into their excel file by age group. This report assists the coach’s each week in reporting the best time for each athlete in the races they sign up for. This excel report will also generate a season report for each athlete commemorating their season and their accomplishments. This is a job done generally on Sunday afternoons and takes an hour or so.
We hope these explanations have helped you realize where you can help us based on your time and your talents. Thanks in advance for your help this year!
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BOARD POSITIONS:
Many of our positions will be open for next season. We’d love to have some new people think about being on the board and helping with this great organization. The voting for positions will take place in May.
———————————————————————————–GENERAL MANAGER POSITION:
This position is the really the center of the program and involves much delegation. A key person would be someone very organized, good memory, personable and very friendly. This person needs to get the volunteer roles filled to aid in a smooth running program. Paula has helped with the program for 6 years and this is her last in this position. We need to find someone to work with Paula this year and know that there will still be help next year. If you are interested, Paula will love to talk to you about the position!!
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