Embedded Files
For cross-country to be successful, the collective effort of all parents is required. There are several main areas where volunteers are needed, from simple things to bringing snacks to meets, all the way to coordinating our season ending banquet. Most of these positions require only a couple hours of your time throughout the season, but the help provided is very valuable to the program. Please follow the links to these Signup Genius forms to see what is involved and to sign up for your desired position. Descriptions of some of the positions can be found below as well.
Lead Volunteer Positions & Race Day Snacks: See Link on left side of this screen.
Description of Volunteer Positions
Race Day Simulation - After the race simulation is complete, the team has a late morning breakfast cookout at the open air shelter at Olander Park. Need someone to plan and oversee the cookout. Major areas of focus are assigning everyone attending the cookout something to bring to share with the group and setting up the buffet line the morning of the time trial.
Race Day Snacks - For the kids to enjoy the cross-country experience, drinks and snacks are brought to each race for each division. For each division we will have two parents per race bring a snack and a drink. Healthy snacks are preferred. There are approximately 40 kids for each division (pee wee, minor, and cadet) and about 20 for juniors. It is important to bring enough drinks and snacks for all the kids.
Pizza Party Coordinator - Plans the ordering and delivery of pizza to serve at the end of a short practice. Pizza delivery along with the supply of paper plates, napkins, drinks, etc. are all a part of making this a successful event.
Season Ending Banquet - Plan and oversee our season ending banquet. Major areas of focus are deciding on a main meal (we've done everything from grilling burgers to ordering pizza), assigning everyone attending the banquet something to bring to share with the group, decorating the Family Center (if desired), and finding people to help with setup.
Picture Takers - the highlight of the season for the kids is a 15-minute slide show that is put together by a volunteer parent. Currently you can watch the last few years' shows under Coolest Page. To make this happen it is important for all parents to take pictures and then share them for the slideshow. Not to mention, if you want to ensure your child is in it, then share your pictures of them. Every year it seems like we are scrambling for pictures at the end of the season. The easiest way for us to collect all the pictures is for you to upload them to our Google Album. You can find instructions on how to do that by following this link: Pictures
Picture Taking Tips and Ideas:
pictures of the kids at practice for the stretching, team prayer, and games
kids posing with their finishing ribbons and medals
kids from the same division (boys and girls) posing with their finishing medal (only Top 3 get a medal)
pictures with their teammates and friends on race day at the tent
pictures with the kids and coaches
pictures of the trophies on championship day
pictures of all SJS kids during the race
pictures from the start of the race just before the race while in the starting box and just after the race starts
pictures of warm-ups on race day (especially the juniors which always seem to get missed due to early race time)
pictures at Olander Park on race simulation day
candid photos of the coaches
pictures of kids hanging out at the tent on race day
pictures of the season ending silly string war
OBSOLETE OLD POSITIONS - REFERENCE ONLY
Finish Line Volunteers - On race day there are eight parents needed in total, or two per race, covering both the boys and girls race. As you are at the finish line, you typically do not want to volunteer for the race your child is in but for the ones they are not in. For instance, if you have a junior runner you would typically volunteer to help for the cadet race. Also if you have a Pee Wee and Minor runner you would not volunteer for either the Junior of Cadet race because they are much earlier in the morning.
For each race there are two parents who stand at the finishing chute to hand out the finishers ribbon and collect the card and name tag from the child. Prior to going to the finish line, you will want to get one of the green Jaguar t-shirts from the bin at the tent and put it on or hang on the finishing chute rope so the kids can easily recognize you. Also, take an envelope with the finishers ribbons. When the St. Joe's kids come through the chute, you call them over to you. When they get to you, one parent will hand them a ribbon and the other parent will take their name sticker off their shirt and place it on the card the child will be holding. This card is handed to the child in the finishing chute and represents what place they got in the race. Many kids will be tired and not totally aware of what is going on. Simply call them over, say good job and then direct them under the rope and their parents will likely be very close. If you happen to know the child's name call out to them. It can be very crazy at the finish, and it is important to stay focused on the task at hand.
Most important part - after all the kids have come in, one parent will take all the cards back to the team tent and record the race results in the designated binder. Every year there is one race that always gets missed. After the results are recorded, the parent will take the Top 6 finishers and turn them into the CYO scorers location. The scorers location varies by race, and it is important to know where it is. If you are unable to locate it please ask a coach or another volunteer. The remaining cards can be placed in the designated binder with the team results. Do not, and I repeat, do not turn in all the cards. The race directors get very annoyed by this as they are then responsible for trying to determine who the Top 6 runners are and that is not their responsibility. More importantly, they could get it wrong and cost our team valuable points.
Page updated
Report abuse