Parents Guide

Many people joining the club are under the impression it more or less runs itself - I certainly was four or five years ago. And it's true that come hell or high water, things always get done. But our head coach is the club's only employee and the more people there are to share the rest of the load, the stronger the club will be.

If you're new to RSC, you might come along to Club Night on a Thursday and find the scrum in the foyer a bit intimidating (again, I did). If you need to speak to any of these people they'll usually all or nearly all be there:

• the club chairman,
• the secretary/joint treasurer,
• the membership secretary,
• assistants for both these;
• the away meets coordinator, who deals with entry forms;
• at least one administrator for each training squad;
• the welfare officer, who acts as team manager when the club travels away;
• the press officer, who usually tries to sneak off to the gallery;
• the webmaster,
• plus, of course, Geoff and Gwyn, who give up their time to staff the club shop across the room.

Even if you can't commit to the extent of taking on one of these roles as they fall vacant - not all the above currently have swimmers at the club, but people naturally tend to be more involved when their swimmers are - there are any number of things you can do to make things run more smoothly. 

Firstly, on the financial side it's an enormous help if you can pay training fees by standing order. The membership secretary has mandates. 

Secondly, please check your swimmer's pocket in the squad folder at every opportunity. If you are returning entry forms, please try and do so when your swimmer arrives for training on a Thursday rather than when you collect. Melvyn is usually around from about 5:30 until 7pm, and he will usually need to work on the forms over the coming weekend, often the next day. And there may be queries which can be sorted out when you collect if he is still there.

Away from the admin side of things, I only found out some time after my daughter joined the club that you can join as a non-swimming adult member for a small fee, currently 8 pounds a year. This entitles you to vote at the AGM, which is held in October. The AGM in turn elects the Executive Committee. This consists of most of the people listed above, plus coaches, club captains, representatives from the teaching programme, masters and water polo sections, and some additional members. The "Exec" elects club representatives to outside bodies. Above it sits the Management Committee - the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary/treasurer, membership secretary/treasurer and liaison officer (Gill Thomas, who deals in the first instance with the very rare discipline issues which arise).

If you haven't yet, you will soon realize that even with the most modern software, swimming is an incredibly labour-intensive sport. (And particularly in terms of complying with directives and joining initiatives from the ASA, it seems to be becoming more so.)

We always need help with home meets - if things can seem a bit fraught backstage sometimes, it's just a factor of the pressure involved in running a meet to time. We can easily find things to occupy over 25 people - two timekeepers per lane, four to six judges, a starter and a referee, three in the meet office, two or three to staff the door, two or three to run the raffle, help with the club shop, two or three "whips" or competitors' stewards to make sure swimmers are where they are, when they should be, two people for the announcer's table, several to bring round refreshments and man the medals table.

You can timekeep at a non-designated home meet (see the "beginners' guide" for an explanation) without qualifying, but we really need as many people as possible to come forward and train for the qualification. This is run by the Berks and South Bucks ASA, and concludes with a practical test at gala. You can then branch out into the more demanding areas of judging, starting and refereeing - all of which are of course absolutely essential areas, and in which the sport as a whole is always short-staffed. You wouldn't believe how grateful clubs are for support from qualified timekeepers or officials at away meets and, hey, you might look great in white and not get the opportunity to wear it! To find out more about this vital area of the sport, contact club chairman Peter Tiley, or webmaster, Jonathan Mills.

Do come along to our annual Awards Night in November. It is NOT only for award winners, but a great night out for the club as a whole.

Finally, every March the club staffs a water station at the annual Reading half-marathon, which raises a substantial sum for our funds and helps raise our profile in our community. It's very hard work but immensely enjoyable and we always need as many people as possible to join the team. 

Above all, remember it's your club and the more shoulders we put to the wheel, the more smoothly it will run. The annual general meeting is held in November, but don't wait until then if you are help. If you're interested in where the money is spent, there is a rough overview, but the full detail is discussed there, or you ask the management committee if you want to know...