Each season, we are looking for committed, hardworking, and passionate swimmers who are interested in becoming future Stingray coaches, expanding their swimming knowledge, or supporting our coaching staff on deck.
As a volunteer coach, you will have the opportunity to:
- Assist coaches during practices, both on deck and in the water (provide feedback and stroke correction, demonstrate skills, and assist with overall group management)
- Support swimmers at swim meets (general supervision, guidance through marshalling, and assistance in the water) and lead/assist in team events (Timed Trials, Stingray Olympics, Swimathon, etc)
- Develop leadership and communication skills
- Develop technical swimming knowledge
- Progress toward planning and leading your own practice by the end of the season
QUALIFICATIONS
To become a Ladner Stingray volunteer coach, you must:
- Be a minimum of 12 years of age by the end of the year
- Have a minimum of 2 years competitive swimming experience
- Attend the Ladner Stingray Volunteer Coaching Workshops and sign the Volunteer Coaching Contract at the start of each summer season
TO BECOME A VOLUNTEER COACH
1. The Volunteer Program Coordinator will contact all eligible and current volunteers with details about attending the Ladner Stingrays Volunteer Coaching Workshops at the start of the summer season. This includes both a dry workshop and a wet workshop:
Dry Workshop:
You will learn and review general coaching concepts to apply throughout the summer. Volunteers will also work in groups to practice writing sets and applying corrections for common swimming mistakes seen within our club and region.
Wet Workshop:
You will learn how to effectively and appropriately support swimmers in the water during both practices and races, across all four strokes.
2. You will also review the Volunteer Coaching Contract and must sign it before you can begin attending volunteer coaching shifts.
3. You will not be assigned a fixed schedule. Instead, you will sign up for volunteer coaching shifts based on your availability, and we will assign you to specific groups accordingly.
You will be invited to sign up for practices and swim meets on a shared calendar. This will be a running calendar that remains accessible to you throughout the season. Please sign up promptly to ensure you are scheduled for your preferred times.
On days where additional support is needed, these will be marked as “ALL VOLUNTEERS REQUESTED.” If you are unavailable on those days, you are expected to notify the coaching staff as soon as possible in advance.
4. In addition to the sign-up calendar, an hour-tracking form will be shared with all volunteers. As hours are not tracked by coaches, you are responsible for submitting your own hours after each shift.
Important Notes
For every hour of volunteer coaching for the Stingrays, we offer a $5 credit to put towards any life guarding and/or coaching courses. Be sure to submit any life guarding and/or coaching course receipts to our Treasurer.
Be sure to attend the End-of-Season Awards Night as the club likes to thank its volunteer coaches at that time.