I am looking for information on how to become more involved in the age-group swimming community, i.e., becoming an official or working at a swim meet, etc.
I don't have children, so I don't know the first thing about what I should do and I did not find any useful information on the U.S. Swimming website.
Does anyone have any advice? Thank you.
Parents
Former Member
Contact the Officials Chair/Coordinator in your LSC. They should have information on upcoming clinics for new officials or at least can point you in the right direction. There's a list of LSC's on USA Swimming website under "Find a Swim Club" at www.usaswimming.org
In my LSC , clinics are offered generally in September and in April between the short course and long course seasons. There is no cost to attend. The students watch a training video and then often go on deck for some "live" examples. You then register as a NonAthlete member of USA Swimming ($42) through your LSC's Registrar and take an online test with USA Swimming. After that, you will apprentice with an experienced official for a number of meets.
One thing we're starting to do in my LSC is to host clinics in conjunction with lower-level swim meets if time and space allows. It works very nicely because a lot of prospective officials would be at the meet anyhow to provide transportation to the kids, and the kids have been to enough meets that it's OK if mom or dad don't watch all the events. We are also able to offer these clinics more frequently during the year so it's not 6 months between clinics. We try to get at least 6-10 students per clinic to make it worthwhile for the trainer.
You can register as Unattached directly with your LSC, or you can find a local club and register through them. Advantages are that sometimes a club will pay for the registration if you are going to help officiate at their meets.
If you have other skills and do not wish to affiliate with a team, most LSC's have use for volunteers in other capacities. Again in my LSC, the bulk of the work is done by volunteers who do not have children swimming. In my case - I am a Masters swimmer and update the LSC website. My predecessor was a firefighter who was looking to support a good cause.
If you wish to help with other aspects of running a swim meet, you would need to contact the Meet Director in advance. Depending on the meet, planning can be done quite a while in advance to make sure all positions are covered.
Finally - some people will be suspicious of a strange adult who wishes to volunteer around children in swimsuits. It's a strange world in which we live and athlete safety is a growing concern.
Contact the Officials Chair/Coordinator in your LSC. They should have information on upcoming clinics for new officials or at least can point you in the right direction. There's a list of LSC's on USA Swimming website under "Find a Swim Club" at www.usaswimming.org
In my LSC , clinics are offered generally in September and in April between the short course and long course seasons. There is no cost to attend. The students watch a training video and then often go on deck for some "live" examples. You then register as a NonAthlete member of USA Swimming ($42) through your LSC's Registrar and take an online test with USA Swimming. After that, you will apprentice with an experienced official for a number of meets.
One thing we're starting to do in my LSC is to host clinics in conjunction with lower-level swim meets if time and space allows. It works very nicely because a lot of prospective officials would be at the meet anyhow to provide transportation to the kids, and the kids have been to enough meets that it's OK if mom or dad don't watch all the events. We are also able to offer these clinics more frequently during the year so it's not 6 months between clinics. We try to get at least 6-10 students per clinic to make it worthwhile for the trainer.
You can register as Unattached directly with your LSC, or you can find a local club and register through them. Advantages are that sometimes a club will pay for the registration if you are going to help officiate at their meets.
If you have other skills and do not wish to affiliate with a team, most LSC's have use for volunteers in other capacities. Again in my LSC, the bulk of the work is done by volunteers who do not have children swimming. In my case - I am a Masters swimmer and update the LSC website. My predecessor was a firefighter who was looking to support a good cause.
If you wish to help with other aspects of running a swim meet, you would need to contact the Meet Director in advance. Depending on the meet, planning can be done quite a while in advance to make sure all positions are covered.
Finally - some people will be suspicious of a strange adult who wishes to volunteer around children in swimsuits. It's a strange world in which we live and athlete safety is a growing concern.
