Volunteering Commitment
Swim clubs depend on their member families to fill various roles throughout the swim year, and GBSA is no exception. Each GBSA family is expected to contribute their time and talents toward the following club needs:
- An adult representative from each family is REQUIRED to earn a minimum of five volunteer points over the ten sessions held during the meets we host on November 14-16, 2025 , and February 6-8, 2026. This requirement applies even if your swimmer is not entered in these meets. Each home meet has one Friday night session, two Saturday sessions (morning and afternoon) and two Sunday sessions (morning and afternoon). Each session lasts from 3-5 hours. A list of meet-related volunteer opportunities is listed below. All roles are assigned a point value, and Swimtopia will keep track for you. Most jobs are worth one point and will cover one entire session. Only those roles fulfilled at GBSA-hosted meets count toward the five points, and you may work in several different roles to fulfill the requirement. Please note, unless pre approved, only ONE job per person per session. For step by step instructions on signing up for a job click here Meet Job Sign Up Instructions
Some jobs listed below require training/certification beforehand or work to be completed prior to the meet. If your family is interested in any of these jobs, please reach out to Coach Patrick. Email [email protected] with any other questions.
Additional volunteer opportunities, mainly timers, may be needed at meets hosted by other teams. Check meet notices for volunteer needs. An email will be sent to meet participants asking for volunteers when hosts request our help.
GBSA Parent Roles and Volunteer Opportunities
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICIAL: Will supervise the entry and registration process, clerk of course, timing equipment operator, scoring personnel, and other administrative personnel; the accurate processing of entries and scratches; accurate seeding of preliminary, semi-final, and final heats; determination and recording of the official time; determination of the official results; and publication and posting of the results and scores. Volunteers must be a registered member of USA Swimming and have completed all necessary training. This role is accomplished prior to both home meets and is the equivalent of working five sessions. This job will require you to be on deck.
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICIAL ASSISTANT: Be on deck to assist the Administrative Official as needed. Should be on deck at the start of warmups for each session. This job will require you to be on deck.
COACH/OFFICIAL CHECK IN: Confirm on deck credentials of coaches and officials to distribute wrist bands.
CONTINUOUS CLEANUP: Work with the janitorial staff to keep UMBC cleaner than when we arrived. This job will require you to be on deck.
HEAD CLERK OF COURSE: Organizes swimmers prior to their event in heat and lane order.
CLERK OF COURSE ASSISTANTS: Lead swimmers from the staging area and to the blocks, ensuring an optimal number of swimmers are poolside at any given time. These positions are only needed for 12 & under swimmers, and are therefore only needed for two sessions at each home meet. This job is not currently needed while GBSA hosts meets at UMBC.
HEAD TIMER: Starts two watches at the beginning of every heat as backup in case a timer misses the start of the race, a watch malfunctions, etc. This job will require you to be on deck.
HEAT WINNER DISTRIBUTOR: Hand out heat winner prize to each heat winner in all 12 and under events. This job will require you to be on deck.
HOSPITALITY COORDINATOR: Delegates various roles to other concessions volunteers to ensure a variety of food, snacks, and drinks are available throughout the home meet sessions, and that all is cleaned up after the meet on Sunday evening. Concessions for swimmers and spectators are not allowed at our current site, but in the future, the Hospitality Coordinator would be in charge of that as well. This role is accomplished prior to and during both home meets and is the equivalent of working five sessions.
HOSPITALITY ROOM FOR COACHES/OFFICIALS: Replenish food and drink, as well as ice in coolers as needed. There is a possibility for grocery store runs if needed.
HOSPITALITY ROOM MEAL PICKUP: Coaching staff will be coordinating meals for all of the officials and visiting coaches during the meet. There will be one pick up during each session. This job will require flexibility based on meal pickup time.
HOSPITALITY ROOM SUPPLY VOLUNTEERS: Supply volunteers will purchase, transport, and set up food and drink for all coaches and officials. These supplies will need to be dropped off at the meet site at the start of meet setup on the first day of the meet.
MEET ANNOUNCERS: Will announce each upcoming event, broadcast event results, and make special announcements to the spectators and swimmers as needed. This job will require you to be on deck.
MEET ENTRY CHAIRPERSON: Receives and inputs all entries for the meet from all teams, checks entries with MD Swimming to ensure swimmer eligibility, and finalizes the program event/heat/lane information. Volunteer must be a registered member of USA Swimming and have completed all necessary training. This role is accomplished prior to both home meets and is the equivalent of working five sessions.
MEET OFFICIAL: Includes stroke & turn officials, a meet referee, and a starter, require training and dedication. Training is provided by Maryland Swimming and officials are required to maintain certification by attending occasional clinics and working a minimum number of sessions each year. GBSA covers the annual USA Swimming dues for any parent wishing to volunteer as an official. Parents who become certified MD officials are expected to work as many home meet sessions as they can work into their schedule, and will need to work occasional away meets to maintain certification from year to year. For more information, see the USA Swimming website. This role is accomplished prior to both home meets and is the equivalent of working five sessions. This job will require you to be on deck.
MEET SETUP/CLEAN-UP VOLUNTEERS: Set up the computer and timing equipment before and after a home meet under the guidance of pool staff. This job takes place on the Friday afternoon before a home meet to assemble and test all the equipment, and a couple of hours are required at the end of the meet on Sunday evening to disassemble and return all equipment to storage. This role is accomplished prior to and after both home meets.
OPERATIONAL RISK DIRECTOR: Coordinates the roles of all other Safety Marshals, must be a registered member of USA Swimming. For more information see the MDSwim website. This role is accomplished prior to and during both home meets and is the equivalent of working five sessions. This job will require you to be on deck.
REGISTRAR(S): Set up and monitor registration through the team website. Maintains website throughout the season. Requires a non-athlete membership with USA swimming as well as coordination with registrars at MDswim. This is a role for 2-3 people. This role is accomplished mainly at the start of the fall season and is the equivalent of working five sessions.
RELIEF TIMER: Be on the pool deck with timers at all times to relieve timers as needed. This job will require you to be on deck.
RIBBON WRITER: Personalize ribbons for all 12 and under events with labels provided by the officials. This job may require you to be on deck.
RUNNER: Will stay on the pool deck and collect timing sheets from timers and assist officials if needed. This job will require you to be on deck.
SAFE SPORT COORDINATOR: Identify, plan, and execute efforts to raise awareness for Safe Sport within the club’s coaches, parents and athletes. Must be a registered non-athlete member of USA Swimming in good standing. This role is accomplished prior to and during both home meets and is the equivalent of working five sessions.
SAFETY MARSHALS: Will be posted throughout the pool area to keep exits and walkways clear, ensure that swimmers and other children demonstrate proper behavior around the pool area and in the locker rooms and hallways, and ensure non-volunteers and other non-USAS registered individuals do not wander into off-limits areas. This job may require you to be on deck.
TIMERS: Timers time each swim for a single lane during a meet session and record watch times as directed. They are also responsible to ensure that the correct swimmer is up on the blocks at the start of each heat. All timers are shown exactly what they need to do prior to the start of each session. Timers must attend the mandatory timer meeting prior to the meet session start time.
Timer volunteer opportunities are also available at away meets, but do not count toward the fulfillment of GBSA volunteer requirements. This job will require you to be on deck.
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR(S): Ensures coverage for all jobs prior to the meet and the successful completion of volunteer jobs during a home meet. This role is accomplished prior to and during both home meets and is the equivalent of working five sessions. This job may require you to be on deck.
