Hello Waynewood Dolphin Swimmers and Families!

Registering Waynewood Dolphins swimmers includes not just the payment of a fee but also an agreement to fulfill a volunteer requirement. In case you need a refresher on the volunteer policy requirement, it is here in our Parent Handbook.

Each summer, we hear from parents who say they didn’t realize they made a commitment, didn’t know how to communicate a situation that made volunteering difficult, or couldn’t find opportunities to help. In this edition, we're sharing advice to help.

The reality for us is that it takes a lot of volunteers to make the Dolphin season run smoothly - especially swim meets - and we simply can’t do this without everyone's help. While most families go above and beyond the minimum requirements, it simply cannot be stated enough that every family on the Dolphin team agrees to a volunteer commitment for the season.

This season, we are making extra efforts to help all parents meet their requirement and also wanted to share some news about how we plan to reward families that fulfill their obligations. 

WRA Spring Clean Up

For the first time, we’re offering Waynewood Dolphin families one shift credit for families that send at least one family member to help with WRA Spring Clean Up for a minimum of 1.5 hours. The WRA Spring Clean Up will take place from 1:30pm until approximately 4:30pm on Sunday, May 21.

To get a shift credit, you’ll need to make sure WRA Pool Chair Susan Ulsamer ([email protected]) can verify your service as meeting the requirement. We’d encourage the whole family, including swimmers, to come help out but we can only offer one shift credit per family.

Other WRA volunteer opportunities

This year, we are partnering with the WRA to offer other shifts/volunteer opportunities outside of swim meet times. These opportunities include:

• Working the front desk during regular operating hours (email will go out when shifts open)
• Working snack bar shifts during regular pool hours (email will go out with shift options)
• Helping at pool clean-up day (after closing)
• Aiding in helping with any work needed around pool or clubhouse (email will go out with more information when needed)
• Helping with the Fourth of July Parade and festivities (only one credit per family)
  

Again, the above options should be primarily used when your schedule cannot accommodate volunteering during swim meets as help at meets are our #1 priority (or for those super helpers ready to go above and beyond). If you know you can’t help during our meet times, we’re not putting any limits on how many volunteer tasks you can arrange with WRA to fulfill your volunteer obligation. Contact WRA Pool Chair Susan Ulsamer ([email protected]) to get more information.

Volunteering compliance

Last year we began a new policy whereby participation of swimmers from families who meet contributions to team volunteer efforts are given extra priority for certain coveted events. At present, this policy is applied to swimmer selection for the Fort Hunt Sportsmen Relay, IM Invitational, and Winter Swim enrollment. For each of these events, we tend to have more applicants than available slots and while we do not exclude swimmers, we do use volunteer policy compliance for prioritization. In making decisions for such events this season, we will look at volunteering efforts from both last season and efforts put forward in 2023. For families that did not meet obligations in 2022, it’s especially important to have a strong start in 2023 to avoid any potential restrictions.

Appreciation for volunteers

For those volunteers who consistently meet or exceed volunteer obligations and say yes when we ask you to go above and beyond: thank you. This includes all of our Volunteer Lead positions who make a season commitment beyond individual shift sign-ups and our officials who go through training and make the tough calls at meets. To show our appreciation, we’re making a special gift this season:

The new Waynewood Dolphins car magnet is in. Instead of selling these at the concessions stand this year, like we have in the past, we’ll be giving one to each family as it completes its minimum volunteer obligation this season. For Volunteer Leads and our officials, we’ll start distributing these at Time Trials.

If you’re interested in serving as a Volunteer Lead or official this season, there’s still time and opportunity available to please email the Team Reps: [email protected].

If you’re in a situation that makes volunteering difficult, we ask that you also reach out to us as soon as possible. We’re typically very understanding when issues are brought to us on the front end of the season, but much less so when it’s too late for us to try and work something out. This includes families that wanted to volunteer last season but found workable shifts scarce – reach out to us in advance and we can help you with this.

Registration and Spiritwear Store Status

Our registration is now over 270 swimmers, putting our team on a similar track to reaching the size we did last year. And afternoon practices start Tuesday, May 30! We can't make any promises, but we haven't quite yet submitted our priority T-Shirt order so you might be able to still sneak in if you hurry and register. Also, our team spiritwear store is open through Monday, May 15 so place your orders before it closes.

GO DOLPHINS VOLUNTEERS!

Tom LoCascio and Frederick Hill
Waynewood Dolphins Team Reps