Officiating
One of the best ways to meet your volunteer requirements with the club is to become certified as an official. Aside from the volunteer benefits, being an official puts you in the action at busy swim meets where you are on deck interacting with the swimmers through the meet. Becoming certified as an official and actively participating at meets is strongly encouraged for all parent members and we encourage you to further your training as your swimmer furthers theirs.
Swim Nova Scotia requires clubs to contribute officials for the meets we compete in and you do not need to be a swimmer to be a great official. Each of the 8-10 lanes that our swimmers race in require 3 timers. At each end of the pool there will be between 3-4 Inspectors of Turns. Along the sides of the pool you will notice 2-4 Judges of Stroke who walk along with the swimmers. Once you add up all of these volunteers including the Meet Manager, Referee, Starter, Safety Marshalls, Chief Timer, you can see that it may take over 50 volunteers at every meet to officiate. These are all made up of parents just like you and our swimmers need these volunteers so we can run successful meets every month during our season.
How to become an official
- You may begin your journey to becoming an official at any time throughout the year simply by contacting the club’s Chair of Officials and Director of Competitions at vpcompetitions@dartmouthcrusaders.ca.
- Upon our chair’s approval you can then complete introductory courses for officiating and timing online through Swimming Canada and become certified to act as an on deck timer.
Opportunities to take Official development clinics will be offered throughout the season and will be broadly communicated to club membership. Many of these online courses can be completed at home in less than an hour. Officiating will add to your experience as a member of our club and you will get to meet parents from both Crusaders families as well as the other clubs throughout Nova Scotia. Resources for officials can be found on the Swimming Canada website and Swim Nova Scotia website.
PRO SWIM PARENT TIP: you must register with Swimming Canada every season to officiate.