Good Morning, Riptide families!

Volunteer Slots for Summer 2025 are now open!

Please read through all of this (lengthy) email regarding some specific calls for help this season. Additionally, it includes important reminders about the volunteer requirements for families registered with Riptide.

We are still in need of some exempt positions that count for your required summer volunteer positions. Let me know if you’re interested in any of the following open, exempt positions!

• Head B-meet Timer (experience required)
• B-meet Concession Lead
• B-meet Photographer (experience required)

To sign up for your volunteer slots, go to our webpage and click the Meets and Events tab. Then, click on the Signup Calendar and scroll down to see the social events and meets.Click on Job Signup to volunteer for that event. Please review the information below about the volunteering requirements for summer swim with Virginia Run Riptide.

Every Riptide Family is required to volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 jobs each summer. It takes 40-50 volunteers to run a meet. We can’t do this without your help and your gift of time!

1. Time Trials – Every family must work at Time Trials (June 7) or Make-Up Time Trials (June 9)
   • TIP: Sign-Up for Saturday Time Trials – it is a much better environment for your swimmer and for you as a volunteer. It runs like an actual meet and the pool is closed for our event. ONLY take advantage of Monday Make-Ups if you absolutely must and there is no way around it.
   • TIP: If your swimmer is swimming Make-Ups - that is when you should volunteer so we have enough help to run the make-up session.
   • As a general rule of thumb, when your swimmer is swimming, you should volunteer. Makes it easy to remember and get those 5 jobs done in no time flat.
   • Don’t: Sign-Up 2 or more family members to work Time Trials as a way to check the box on jobs. We need new families joining late in the Spring to have opportunities to work at this event, fill their requirement and learn new jobs. If we are short on help, we will let you know and you can double up, but to start out only 1 sign-up at Time Trials per family.
2. Social Job (Optional) – But only 1 per Family
   • TIP: You don’t have to volunteer for a social job at all, you can work at 4 meets instead.
   • Don’t: Sign-Up for more than 1 Social Job, these are popular sign-ups and some require less time so that is why it’s only 1 job per family. If you love the social activities on swim team consider running the committee next summer and contact a board member on how to do that.
3. Meets – Work at 3 or 4 (Depending on if you sign-up for a Social Job)
   • TIP: Sign-up for meets your swimmer is swimming
   • TIP: Changing jobs or switching to work at a different meet is OK up to a week out. Last-minute emergencies are your responsibility to find a replacement for.
   • Don’t: No Show: Just not showing up at all puts the entire meet in scramble mode as we try to find people in the crowd to help last minute. It is a nightmare, please don’t do it. It’s been happening more and more the past two summers.
   • Don’t: Sign-Up for Saturday Away Meets BEFORE you know if your swimmer is swimming. A meets swimmers are selected by the coach and based off of ladder times.Saturday volunteers have to show up. We can’t back fill no-show volunteers when we are away as NVSL dress code requirements for officials is specific, timers must have experience, etc.
   • We encourage all team members to come to our Saturday Home Meets. Volunteering without a swimmer swimming is fine at our home meets (it’s convenient and a great way to show team spirit). PLEASE, just make sure you are 100% sure you can be there to volunteer if you don’t have a swimmer participating. No shows really do create chaos. Again, the safest rule of thumb is to volunteer when your swimmer is swimming.

We will most likely need some families to volunteer for more than five slots. We just don't have enough families to fill all of our volunteering needs. If your family has more than two swimmers on the team, please consider volunteering an extra slot. If your child swims both A and B meets, please consider volunteering an extra slot. As a last resort, please expect that if your child is swimming at a meet, you may be asked to volunteer to help fill a vacant slot. We need all hands on deck for a smooth summer!

If you have questions about jobs or haven’t worked a specific one before, contact me. I am more than happy to help.

Please keep on top of your sign-ups and keep them entered on the team website. I pull compliance reports regularly throughout the season.

Thank you,

Toni Garcia, VR Riptide, [email protected]