Grant Ranch Swim Team

In order to have a successful and fun swim season we rely on parents to cover the jobs below and ask that each family cover 5-7 shifts/season. Some jobs are worth more than 1 shift and will require additional commitments, such as taking on the same role for all home meets, or taking on a responsibility for the entire season. The total number of shifts depends on the number of registered families. We have positions that can be covered outside of the scheduled swim meet times, in order to accommodate those who require additional flexibility. Volunteering is fun and a great way to meet other families! 

Announcer (home meets) – 2 shift credits per meet – this role is basically the MC of the meet and makes announcements throughout the meet to include opening remarks, calling swimmers to line up in the heating area, broadcasting specials that concessions may have, and updates the Call-Board. Our preference is to find 1 parent to handle this role for all home meets during the season and at a minimum to have the same announcer for the entire meet. 

Computer/Statistician Helper (home meets) – 1 shift credit – we supply 2 volunteers per shift for all home meets to receive sheets from the runner after each event and help enter data into the computer. All participating teams at that meet will use this information, so prior training with the software is helpful and available at a meeting in May.

*Please see the schedule online for training opportunities.

FULL SEASON POSITION: Concessions Lead (home meets) – 6 shift credit –(CURRENTLY FILLED) for home meets we staff a concessions table with proceeds supporting our team. We need 1 family to take the lead on managing the concessions process to include purchasing items, delivering concessions to Village Center for each home meet, managing the cash box, and assisting concession volunteers with set-up and clean-up. This includes the coordination of picking up burritos, coffee, and ice for the snow cones.

Concessions Helper (home meets) – 1 shift credit – we supply 2 volunteers per shift for all home meets to manage concessions. This position is responsible for selling concessions, managing cash, and assisting with set-up and/or clean-up.

FULL SEASON POSITION: Donuts – 4 shift credits (CURRENTLY FILLED) – a team tradition we will continue this year is to provide donuts for our swimmers after practice every Tuesday. We need 1 volunteer to manage this function for the season. This includes ordering and delivering donuts to practice every Tuesday (typically 8 weeks) and making sure to arrive by 7:45am. You will be reimbursed for food expenses.

Heating Helper (home meets) – 1 shift credit – we supply 2 volunteers per shift for all home meets to ensure swimmers find the correct lane several events prior to the start of their event by moving swimmers to starting blocks just before their event begins.

Heat Winner Ducks (home meets) – 1 shift credit – At the end of each heat, hand a rubber duck to the person who finishes first! We will need 2 volunteers per home meet. 

FULL SEASON POSITION:  Ribbons and Speeding Tickets -- 3 shift credits - (filled) On Tuesday ensure all ribbons are labeled and filed in the filing boxes for each swimmer. In addition, print and prep speeding tickets for swimmers who achieved personal best times and file these in the kids folder as well.

Runner (home meets) – 1 shift credit – we supply 1 volunteer per meet for all home meets to collect timing sheets from all timers, organize in lane order and deliver to statisticians for computer entry.

Set-up and Take Down (home meets) – 2 shift credit per meet– (filled) prefer this is filled by a family for the season

• Set up heating chairs and area
• Set up call board
• Set up starter tent (lives in the storage area by the dock)
• Close umbrellas near heating area
• Place chairs back to original positions at the end of the meet
• Take down heating board and move to storage area
• tape off baby pool area, far end of pool and remove tape at end of meet
• Take down Pop-up tents and move back to storage area
• Help take down starter system and PA system for announcer

Starter (home meets) – 2 shift credits per home meet – this position is also technically a meet official, so it’s helpful to have a good understanding of meet protocol. The starter announces the next event, calls swimmers to the blocks, and provides instruction to start each event/heat. The league provides training and it’s encouraged to attend. Our preference is to have 1 starter for all 3 home meets and at a minimum to have the same starter for the entire meet.

Stroke and Turn Judges (home and away meets) – 1 shift credit + 1 for training (with 2 meet shifts completed) – this position is technically a meet official, so it’s helpful to be very familiar with proper execution of all strokes and turns and have completed the certification class (date TBD). Judges are responsible for writing any disqualification as ‘D.Q.’ on the time sheet and to advise the swimmer of the reason for disqualification (diplomatically). We typically supply 2 judges per shift per meet, but for KCI and State meets we don’t have to supply any judges.

*Please see the schedule online for training opportunities:  www.grantranch.swimtopia.com

Timers (home and away meets) – 1 shift credit – we supply 6-8 timers per meet per shift. For home meets we are moving to the Time Drops electronic system for our home meets this year that will only require timers to stop the race time. GRST timers will be paired with a timer from the other team and are required to time every race in their lane, record a back-up time in the lane book.

• For home meets we also supply 1 back-up timer per shift in case of malfunctions
• For KCI and State meets timing shifts are determined based on events our swimmers participate in, so final assignments are typically delivered 2 days prior to meet
• All stopwatches are provided by the team (usually by the Team Coordinator)

Team Photographer - 6 shift credits – the photographer attends whatever swim meets are necessary to get photos of EVERY swimmer for the end of year video. Preference: 2-3 pictures per swimmer.

Video Production (end of year banquet) – 3 shift credits – over the past several years we have included a video presentation at the year-end team banquet. This role requires creating and editing a video with team photos (provided by the Team Photographer and families) and music and assisting in playing it at the team banquet.

State Meet Volunteer Responsibilities (TBD) – every 3 years our league hosts State Meet and additional volunteer opportunities need to be covered for those years. Details TBA.

Volunteer Sign Up Instructions

When Can I Sign Up?

The early bird gets the worm. To get your preferred date/time/position, please sign up as soon as possible.

How Many Volunteer Shifts?

We are still determining how many shifts will be required for the 2026. We will open the volunteer sign up around mid-May. State Meet volunteer responsibilities will be per swimmer and sign up will post later in the season.

How to Sign Up for Volunteer Jobs via Computer or Phone:

1. Log In. At the top of every page of the Barracudas website, you will see, "Already a member? Login." Click on that link to be brought to the login page, and log into your SwimTopia account. (You should have set up a SwimTopia account for your family when you registered your swimmer. If you did not set up a SwimTopia account, or do not remember your login credentials, go to www.grantranch.swimtopia.com ).
2. Schedules Tab/Page. Navigate to the Schedules page or Home page, where you will see a schedule of Barracuda meets and events. CHoose your preferred date/time. The selected meet or event will have two green buttons next to it: one for Meet Entry/RSVP and one for Job Signup. Click the "Job Signup" button.
3. Make Job and Shift Selections. Click to select the job and shift you would like to work. If you allow your cursor to hover over a job position, a pop-up window will appear giving a short description of the position. You can select a job from the first and second shift if you desire. When you are finished, click "Save Assignments"

1. View Your Selected Jobs and Shifts. You will be shown a confirmation of the jobs and shifts you have selected for the meet. You can click "Sign up for Jobs" button to make changes to your choices.