Running a club the size of Reading takes quite a lot of people's effort. Whilst the swimmers are in the water, there are people teaching them, ensuring entries to meets are send off, cards are returned, coaches and hotels booked, monies collected and accounted for...
There are the coaches themselves, who are trained and coached to become coaches ... and better coaches ...
During meets there are referees, starters, judges, timekeepers, announcers..
Let's take a quick look at a few of the people involved, and encourage you, dear reader, to try your hand too!
Firstly, Reading Swimming Club has a small Management committee, consisting of 6 people, They are responsible for the club, and its business partnerships and relationships. Helping them with so many tasks are the members of the Executive Committee, a much larger entity that meets about 4 times a year.
On poolside during the week are a very dedicated team of volunteers - The Coaching Team. Headed by Tony Woodward, this team encourages and coerces their band of swimmers on to bigger and better things.
Hovering behind each squad, and its lead coach is the Squad Administrator - almost always a parent who has a swimmer in that squad. The Squad Administrator keeps the squad file uptodate, and ensures it gets to as many of the sessions as possible. Squad Administrators try to get to the Thursday Club Night session, because that's when most of the stuff to be put into the folders gets handed out (and, so the theory goes, immediately collected!)
During Galas, there is a quite a team needed to make them happen - and it's difficult to name them because there are many and varied. However, certain Meet Officials and Helpers seem to turn up again and again, so you may recognise them.
The swimmers themselves are represented by the Club Captains - there are two elected ones - a Ladies' and a Mens' captain. They are elected during October, and are senior swimmers. Ages 16 or over, they represent swimmers at Executive Committee meetings, and are responsible for organising Awards Night in the November after they are voted in. They also liaise with Chief Coach about the timing of any further social events, and attend as many meets as they can to help team managers poolside and organise team support - including Speedo and Thames Valley Meets. That's in addition to helping to promote club at all opportunities, and to promote healthy lifestyle issues to younger swimmers.
There are also Junior Captains who attend the younger meets, and are appointed by the coaches on an as-needed basis.
Helping at Galas is the ideal way to start getting involved - whether it's as an official, or a helper. Or if you want a more regular role, why not try your hand at being a Squad Administrator?
Just to complete the list, we have a number of Officials and Life members.