During Registration, families sign up for swim meet jobs for most of the swim meets. Most jobs last about 2 hours and are easy to do. It takes about 100 parents from both competing teams to staff the various jobs for one meet. Meets generally start at 9:00am and have an intermission after the Individual Medlay (IM) events are completed (generally around 11:15am). During this intermission the first and second half volunteers swap positions. The meets generally end around 1:30pm. Setup starts at 7:00am and take-down begins immediately after the conclusion of the meet.

Below is a list and description of the Colony swim meet jobs:
 

Timer	Setup & Take-down	Snack Bar
Ready Bench	Runner
Scorekeeper helper	Lane slip sorter

If you cannot fulfill your job assignment it is your responsibility find a replacement and notify the Colony Meet Manager.

Timer

18 Colony Lane Timers are needed for each swim meet (9 for each half). Three timers (some from the Colony and some from the other team) are assigned to each lane. Each lane will have either one or two Colony Timers. A Meet Official will give instructions immediately prior to starting the meet (both first and second half).

The Lane Timer uses a stopwatch to measure the time it takes for a swimmer in their lane to complete their race. When the Meet Official sounds the starting tone, each Lane Timer starts their stopwatch. When the swimmer in a given lane touches the end wall, the 3 Times in that lane stop their respective stopwatches. The times from each of the 3 stopwatches for each lane are written onto the swimmer's swim card by one of the timers, and the middle time is circled and becomes the official time for that swimmer in that event.

Colony owns and provides the stopwatches to the Colony Timers. The other team supplies their own stopwatches to their parents. When you are done with your Lane Timer assignment, return the stopwatches to the Meet Manager at the scoring table. Do not return the watches to the other team. The stopwatches cost about $25 each.

Ready Bench

The Ready Bench parents get the Colony Swimmers assembled at the "ready bench" prior to their race. The Ready Bench consists of a  pop-up tent with a carpet marked into grids where the kids for the next several events sit. A large elevated placard is used to denote what event# is being prepared at the ready bench. Swimmers and parents will know what race numbers they are competing in, thus when the placard is flipped to a particular event, the swimmers for that event should come to the ready bench area.

When the swimmers come to the ready bench a ready bench volunteer hands each swimmer a swim card that contains their name, team, event#, stroke, and their lane number. The swimmer is then placed in the proper grid location.

For a home meet only,  a Colony ready bench volunteer will walk the next group of swimmers over to the starting blocks, making sure each kid lines up behind the proper lane (there are 6 lanes). For away meets, the other team’s parents will do this.

Scorekeeper Helper

This job occurs at the Head Table, in the shade. It involves hand-writing Heat Winner and Team Record ribbons as well as taking the labels produced by the Colony Statistician, and affixing the labels to various ribbons.  The ribbons are then placed in the Colony Ribbon File, by swimmer last name. You will also copy DQ information for the coaches use. You will receive on-the-job training from a Colony parent at the meet.

Setup & Take-down

This job is for home meets only. Five families are assigned to Setup and five for Take-down.

The Setup crew arrives at 7:00 am to move and setup equipment (tables, chairs, canopies, pop-ups, starting blocks, snack bar items) from the storage shed and Club House to the pool deck and snack bar area and cordon off the deck area. All trash cans should be empties and liners replaced.

The Take-down volunteers get started immediately after the meet ends and are responsible for breaking down and returning all equipment to the storage shed and clubhouse.  The Colony Meet Manager will direct your efforts for both setup and Take-down. Please check in with the Meet Manager before leaving your setup or Take-down assignment to make sure all tasks have been completed.

Cleanup

This job is for home meets only. At the end of the half and at the end of the meet all trash cans must be emptied and liners replaced.

At the end of the meet the Cleanup person will also check the bathrooms and clean up paper, trash and wipe down the counters in the bathrooms after the meet.

Lane Runner

This is a home meet only job. Two-three parents per half  provide the transportation needed to move the swim cards for each event from the swimmers, to the timers, and finally to the Head Table. You will receive on-the-job training from a Colony parent at the meet. Doing this job well is crucial for making the meet run smoothly.

Lane Slip Sorter

This is a home meet only job. There are two Sorters per half, who sit at the head table (in the shade).  After each heat the Runner will drop off the lane cards at the Head Table. The Sorters then sort the cards by time. Then they use the Judges Slip to determine the heat winner as well as any swimmers that were disqualified (DQed) and mark this information on the cards. After all heats for the event have been processed, non DQ cards are sorted by time and 1st - 6th place are written on the cards. The cards are then separated by team and  passed to the data entry personnel for each team. You will receive on-the-job training from a Colony parent at the meet.

Snack Bar

This is a home meet only job. The Snack Bar Coordinator will direct the volunteers. Tasks include setting up and cleaning up (depending on which shift you are working), grilling, preparing and selling at the snack bar.

Substitutes

Fill in for no-shows.

Age Group Party Coordinator

These individuals will be responsible for hosting/ and or organizing an age group party. This could be going to a movie, Boomers, or an afternoon or evening meal at the park or watching a movie with dinner in your home. Or use your imagination!

Banquet and July 4th set up and clean up

Set up tables and shade before the Banquet & July 4th and clean up afterward (including trash detail)