Swim Meet Volunteering: All Cincinnati Marlins participating in an annual membership program must volunteer at swim meets hosted by the Cincinnati Marlins. An essential factor in our team’s success is the participation of our families. 

Why do we host swim meets?

• Home meets provide high quality experiences for our athletes while also keeping member dues and travel expenses low. 
• Swim meets are a fun way for families to get involved, meet other parents, and support our swimmers. 

How often do I have to volunteer?

• There are plenty of swim meet volunteer opportunities throughout the season. Opportunities include timing, hospitality, concessions, staging, officiating- there are many ways to contribute to our swimmers’ success! 
• A swim meet is broken down into sessions. The seasonal total of required sessions for each family is listed in the "Cincinnati Marlins Volunteer Requirements Program" attached to the bottom of this page.
• Requirements will be calculated at the beginning of the season, once registrations are complete.
• You will be required to work at least one session per meet at TYR and Regionals.
• If you are new to swimming, we will guide you every step of the way! 

How to Sign Up to Volunteer

Most jobs for all meets will be posted at once for the entire Season. During Short Course, signups will be posted separately for High School families and Age Group families.

To sign up for jobs, login to your Commit account and click jobs from the left menu bar. All meets will be listed. Select the meet, and then select the session and job you would like. If you are signing up for multiple jobs in the same session, you must select different jobs. For example, you can sign up to be a Marshall and a timer in Session 1. However, if you wish to sign up for 2 of the same jobs (2 timers in Session 1) you cannot do this. If you have a second adult on your account, they can use their own unique login to sign up for meets.

• Any changes to volunteer signups for added jobs will be announced via email
• Service Credit age requirement is 15 years old. Registered Marlins swimmers are allowed to assist at age 14.
• The following jobs will continue to be signed up through meet department chairs: Announcer, Data Board, Officials, Clerk of Course, and Meet Office

How to Choose a Job

For most of our jobs, training is easy and can be done on-the-spot. For other jobs that require pre training, please reach out to the listed contact. Please note, not every volunteer position is offered at every meet. See job descriptions below. Need help? Reach out to the Volunteer Coordinators at volunteers@cincy-marlins.com.

How do I track my sessions?

• will be maintained in Commit
• Commit developers are working on adding a volunteer credit balance feature to the dashboard. Until this is released, contact volunteers@cincy-marlins.com at any time to track your volunteer balance

Billing Notes

• The Service Credits will be prorated for families who register after November 1.
• The Service Credits will be prorated for families who terminates participation before the end of the annual swim season:
• At the conclusion of each season, any outstanding Service Credits not satisfied will be reflected as a balance due. A Balance due notice will be sent to families .After a brief period of time for correction, the fees will be charged to your credit card on file.
• The fee for unworked sessions will be $100/session.

Other Details

• In order to earn a Service Credit, the person signed up must check-in at the appropriate time and work the entire session. If you leave your job early without providing adequate coverage, no Service Credit will be given. See below job descriptions for check-in times and locations.
• If an individual signed up does not check in by the appropriate time, their role will be re-assigned and credit will be given to the family who fills the role. Please be sure to sign in.
• Service Credits cannot be split between families. The Service Credit will be assigned to the family who signs up to work the session. If someone fills in for another member for a partial session, no incremental credit will be given.
• There will be a paid workers list this year. Utilize the google form to sign up to be a paid worker. Contact list will be sent out. All workers are to be paid $50 as a person to person transaction. This is not conducted through the Marlins.

The Cincinnati Marlins Board of Directors reserves the right to change Service Credit roles throughout the season as meets or events are in need of additional help. All Service Credit roles will be publicized to Marlins families in order for families to reach their required service credits during the season.

Thank you for your support!

On the Spot Training Available:

8&Under Staging: Report to staging area 30 minutes before start of meet. Supervise and organize swimmers into appropriate heats, lead swimmers to the starting blocks. A great way to meet other 8&U parents! See Meet Director after sign-in for heat sheets.

Coaches Check in:  Check in with the Meet Director. Arrive 30 minutes prior to the start of warmups. Your position is at the front door. Check-in ALL coaches and check their credentials to make sure they are current.  Assist with Volunteer Check in as needed. Once all coaches are checked in, check in with the Meet Director for service elsewhere.

Concessions: Report to Concessions at start of warm-ups. Serve food and drinks in the concession stand. Set-up and clean-up. Age 14+ may work with a parent, 16+ without.

Concessions-Cashier: Report to Concessions at start of warm-ups. Operate concession stand cash register. Assist with food and drink service. 

Data Board-Runner: Report to meet office 15 minutes before meet start. Pick up print-outs from the data board and time slips from timers. Deliver to the computer room. 

Head Timer: Arrive 30 minutes before meet start. Report to Meet Director. Test watches, assemble timer’s sheets and clipboards, supervise and train timers, serve as back-up timer. Gather all timer’s sheets & watches and return them to the meet office after the last heat of that session of the meet. 

Hospitality: Report to Hospitality 15 minutes before warm-ups, under the bleachers past the family bathroom. Distribute meals and snacks for officials and coaches. Provide drinks for timers during the meet. Set-up and clean-up of food and hospitality room. Session is over when the swimming is over and everything is cleaned up and put away (usually at session end). Please report to the Meet Director. Must be 16+yrs old.

Maintenance/Clean Up: Report to Meet Director at start of meet. Facility clean-up and replenishment during meet.   Trash removal as needed & place items in Lost & Found after the session concludes. 

Marshall: Report to meet director 15min before the start of warm-ups. Assist Meet Director as needed. Provide supervision of swimmers in gymnasium, lounge, lobby, weight room, etc.  Help to keep aisles clear. 

Gym Marshall/ Maintenance: Report to the Meet Director at start of meet. Gym clean-up and Supervision for larger hosted meets. Coordinate with Announcer for meet event announcements (i.e. 1st call/ last call for events with megaphone via walkie-talkie communication from Announcer).

Timer: Report to and attend timers meeting 30 minutes before start of meet. Operate manual timing systems, record times. Positions will be assigned. Work session ends after the last heat of that session of the meet.

Volunteer Check In:  Check in with the Meet Director. Arrive 30 minutes prior to the start of warmups. Your position is at the front door. Check-in volunteers, and also assist with Coaches Check in as needed. Once all volunteers are checked in, return sign in sheets to the Meet Director for service elsewhere. 

Please reach out in advance for training opportunities in these areas. See Swim Meet Management for contact information:

Announcer:

Clerk of Course: Report to Meet Director 30 minutes before warm-ups. Oversee swimmer sign-in, relay entries, scratches and deck entries.

Computer Operator: Report to office 45 minutes prior to meet start. Work session runs from start of warm-ups until all events have been scored. Operate computers and scoreboard. Knowledge of Meet Manager software required. If interested in learning more, contact Lee Sellinger. 

Computer Trainee: Report to office 45 minutes before the meet start. Work sessions run from the start of warm-ups until all events have been scored. Learn Meet Manager software. Intermediate computer knowledge and attention to detail required.  This position is best for people who want to learn the meet software and become a computer operator or Administrative Official in the future. If interested in learning more, contact Lee Sellinger.

Data Board: Report to office 30 minutes before meet start. Set-up, test and operate the Colorado timing console. If interested in learning more, contact Catherine Pray-Bollman

Data Board Trainee: Report to office 30 minutes before start of meet. Learn to set-up, test and operate timing console, serve as runner as needed. This position is for people who want to learn to run the timing system and become a data board operator in the future. If interested in learning more, contact Catherine Pray-Bollman.

Meet Office Assistant: Report to office. Work sessions run from the start of warm-ups until all events results have been posted. Assist Meet Director and computer operators. Help with worker sign-ins, pick-up print-outs from the data board, get watch times and information from officials on deck, post results, etc. If interested in learning more, please contact Lee Sellinger. 

Meet Manager/ Director: Oversees meet planning and preparation. Ensures that all departments are prepared for the meet. If interested in learning more, contact Jen Hedger.

Official: Report to office at start of warm-ups. “Wet-Side” Officials are on deck and officiate events during the session. ”Dry-Side” Officials work in the meet office. Requires apprenticeship and certification. Sign in at the officials meeting. If interested in learning more and becoming an official, please contact Jon Balash. (It is fun to be an official!)

Scratch Table: Report to office at the start of the meet. Must stay until 30 minutes after the end of the last non-timed final event. During a Prelim/Final meet, scratch swimmers from finals swims at their request. If interested in learning more, please contact Lee Sellinger. 

Concessions Management: purchase (through Marlins account), stock, and regularly inventory concessions goods, order pizza, work with Business Manager to report concessions financials from Square, ensure cash box is returned to Office safe after each session (either by yourself or designating a responsible adult each session);

Timing System Team: advanced understanding of Colorado Timing System, install and test all Timing components before each home meet, provide on-call support during meet days;