Hi all,

I'm John Avelis - returning families know me, but for new families, I am the Seahawks head referee, league rep and computer rep. At the league level, I am the PWSL computer chair; I support and train computer reps for all 24 teams and assist the league board. I'm also a USA Swimming official, volunteering at regional and national level meets.

Swim meets are parent and volunteer driven. Unike other youth sports, officials are not paid and swim teams depend on parents to spend a portion of their morning supporting critical meet needs, while still watching and supporting their swimmers.

Because the league has adopted new meet procedures, we've provided short training videos for Clerk of Course volunteers and Timers/Recorders, to explain what's new and what to expect during meets. These are usually great volunteer roles for new parents, I urge you to watch them and get familiar with the roles ahead of time.

All the training is available on the league website. The "What's new" video linked on the league training site is also a great explanation for everyone of what's changing at meets.

https://pwsl.swimtopia.com/volunteer-and-officials...

A very small number of jobs require training beforehand, namely meet officials and computer data entry operators.

Returning officials should go to the site and at least watch the appropriate videos for a refresher on the stroke rules and deck roles.

Computer Data Entry: This is not the "computer rep" role that involves work during the week; you're strictly volunteering for a single shift during the meet.

A major change this year is that meets will not have "scoring and verifying" volunteers manually determining official times. Instead, all times will be entered into multiple computers, and the software will calculate official times and scores. So while we eliminate a couple jobs entirely, we need more volunteers willing to do data entry and printing, and some help double-checking data entry. The new software is MUCH easier than the old; one meet is enough for most people to become a pro.

On the league training site, go to "Computer Operators," watch the 32 minute "meet volunteer" training and follow along the "meet day" instructions on the downloadable PDF. There are also links to more detailed help on the invaluable SwimTopia help pages.

https://pwsl.swimtopia.com/volunteer-and-officials...

Officials: The entry level job for meet officials is stroke and turn judge. Judges stand at the edges of the pool, observing swims and reporting violations of the stroke rules to the referee. In the PWSL, judge shifts usually last the whole meet, but when we have plenty of officials, we can provide lots of breaks during the meet; plus, when you're on duty you can't possibly miss a swim! The Seahawks also provide a free meal at home meets as a "thank you." If you have experience as a swim judge already, I want to talk to you!

After experience as a stroke and turn judge, officials can move into other roles on deck, including starter, chief judge, and referee. It's important to get some new officials trained every year, so we have experienced officials to fill the pipeline into the senior deck roles. Please reach out to me if you're interested, and you can start right away watching and studying all the stroke and turn training on the league site.

https://pwsl.swimtopia.com/volunteer-and-officials...

Welcome back and thanks all for supporting your swimmers!

John