Our swimmers need you!

Volunteer with Our Competitive Swimming Club

At our competitive swimming club, we greatly value the contributions of our volunteers. Their dedication and support play a crucial role in the success of our club and the growth of our swimmers. Whether you’re an experienced swimmer, a parent, or simply passionate about aquatic sports, there’s a place for you in our volunteer team.

Why Volunteer with Us?

Make an Impact: By volunteering, you directly influence the development of our swimmers. Your time and effort contribute to creating a positive and competitive environment for everyone.
Learn and Grow: Volunteering provides an opportunity to learn new skills and enhance existing ones. From event coordination to communication, there’s something for everyone.
Connect with the Community: Join our network of fellow swimmers, parents, and community members. Volunteering is a fantastic way to build lasting relationships and be part of something bigger.

Club Volunteer Roles

Chair	The club chairperson is the principal officer for the club and is elected by the club members	https://www.swimming.org/careers/club-chairperson-role/
Membership Secretary	The Club Secretary is key to the smooth running of the club. They provide a main point of contact for administration, information and communication.	https://www.swimming.org/careers/club-secretary-role/
Treasurer	The Treasurer of the club is responsible for producing and managing the club’s accounts and finances and will oversee all income and expenditure for the club.	https://www.swimming.org/careers/club-treasurer-role/
Fixtures & Competition Secretary	The Club Fixtures/Competitions Secretary is responsible for the development and management the clubs competitions calendar.	https://www.swimming.org/careers/club-fixtures-competitions-secretary-role/
Volunteer Corordinator	A Volunteer Coordinator is responsible for overseeing all volunteers within a club, and most importantly, ensuring they have a meaningful and positive experience.
Swimmark Corordinator	The SwimMark Coordinator is the key point of contact for SwimMark, Swim England’s recognised kite-mark for the development of effective, ethical and sustainable clubs	https://www.swimming.org/careers/swimmark-coordinator-role/
Welfare Officer	This role is essential in providing a first point of contact for children, parents and adults within the club who have a child safeguarding or welfare concern.	https://www.swimming.org/careers/club-welfare-officer-role/

Competition Volunteer Roles

Timekeeper	See further J1 details below	J1 Training Required
Official / Judge	See further J2 details below	J2/(s) Training Required
Announcer	The announcer is critical to the success of a meet. The announcer is responsible for making safety announcements, calling swimmer to marshalling, announcing events and heat numbers, announcing swimmers names and clubs and announcing results. The announcer needs to be confident reading and announcing difficult names.
Timing Desk Computer Operator(s)	Good IT skills and the ability to work under pressure are required for this role. The results and timing desk operators are responsible for seeding the heats, preparing heat sheets and documents for the officials and timekeepers and running the meet software as the meet progresses. They are also responsible for ensuring the results are accurately recorded from each heat and discrepancies are dealt with.
Marshalls	Working as Marshall you are responsible for ensuring that the swimmers are in the correct order for their heats and ready for their race. Detailed instructions will be provided on the day.	Need to DBS/Safeguard Qualified
Front Desk	Working on the front desk this role involves meeting and greeting spectators and collecting the entry fees.
Raffle Table	Working on the raffle table is a great opportunity to chat to spectators and hopefully sell them lots of raffle tickets to assist with fund raising for the club.
Poolside Refreshments	This role involves handling out drinks and sweets/fruit to poolside officials, timekeepers, coaches, team managers and volunteers.
Team Managers	The Team Manager ensures team cohesion at aquatic events and competitions. This may include the organisation of the logistics where the competition is at a different venue.	Need to be DBS/Safeguarding/TM Qualified
Medal Table	Based on poolside handing out medals to winning comptitors	Need to be DBS/Safeguarding Qualified
Runners	Assisting the meet organiser on the day as required

Additional Information on British Swimming J1 Officials Training:

You can find information about the different qualifications for swimming officials here:

https://www.britishswimming.org/browse-sport/swimming/officials/officials-qualifications-training/

The theory training for J1 is offered as an online course. Once this has been completed you will be
sent a workbook. You will then need to complete a poolside timekeeper assessment and get all your
competencies signed off gradually as you gain experience. You will be mentored poolside by
qualified officials covering all strokes and relay takeovers in order to be deemed competent and to
be issued with a J1 licence, which will last for 4 years.

In order to undertake the training, you will need a Swim England membership number. If you don’t
have one already, this can be obtained via the club. Please email
wosc.officialscoordinator@gmail.com with your full name, full address including post code, email
address, mobile number and date of birth and we will request a volunteer ASA number for you.
You will then need to take the following steps:

1. Register with the Institute of Swimming (IoS) here:

2. Sign up for the course here Courses for Officials and Volunteers (swimming.org) (the
registration link is at the bottom of the page).

3. Undertake the online theory training as and when you have the time.

4. Following the J1 Training Theory course completion please upload the certificate that you
will be issued at Swim England Member Options | Swim England (swimmingresults.org)
(log in with your Swim England number and you may need to create an account) Welcome
to the Swim England Online Membership System. - SE Online Membership System
(swimmingmembers.org). Once you have activated your membership, please edit your
details and go to the ‘data protection choices’ tab and click yes on all of the officials
information fields relating to your qualifications, so that they show on your membership
check details. I would advise keeping your address, email address and telephone number
as No, so that they are not visible to anyone searching.

View or Upload Certificates

You will then be sent your workbook and can begin your poolside training. At this stage,
contact me at wosc.officialscoordinator@gmail.com to let me know you have completed the
training along with your ASA number for my records. I will send you information about how
to sign up to officiate at upcoming meets, as and when the information becomes available.
N.B, You have 11 months from completion of the J1 course to get all your competencies
signed off, ready to apply for your licence. If you have not managed to get signed off in that
time period, then you will need to complete the J1 theory course and start again. I have
been told that Swim England are very strict on enforcing this.

5. Please also complete the ‘Contemporary Issues’ course on IoS. You will also need to
complete a timekeeper assessment. This can be done the first time you attend a licensed meet. Please let the lead referee of the meet know you need to be assessed for this. The certificate should be uploaded onto swimmingresults.org as per the instructions above.

6. Mentoring can take place across a variety of different level meets. Mentoring can only be
given by qualified officials and competencies need to be signed off by referees. Once you
have all competencies signed off, you will be need to apply for your licence from Swim
England. You will then be issued with your licence and a Swim England folder, to record
your experience for your licence renewal in four years.

If any qualified J1’s who have completed their additional 20 hours post qualification hours are
willing to continue on to the J2 qualification that would be a great help to the club, as we need as
many qualified officials as possible at the higher levels to host our own opens and licenced club
championships. J2 and J2S (starter) officials courses are currently conducted in a classroom
setting, course dates can be found on the Kent Officials website or by contacting
john.burdett@kentswimming.org

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sue Spence, White Oak Swimming Club Officials Coordinator
wosc.officialscoordinator@gmail.com