Reach out to us anytime. Email, call, or stop by, we would love to hear from you!
Our Location
- 2213 Drake Ave SW, Huntsville, AL 35805
- info@swimhsa.org
- (256) 270-9255
- Monday - Sunday 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Reach out to us anytime. Email, call, or stop by, we would love to hear from you!
“Hosting our own meets not only gives our swimmers the chance to shine at home, but it’s also what keeps our club affordable for families — we simply couldn’t do it without the incredible support of our volunteers.”
Head Coach
The Huntsville Swim Association (HSA) greatly values the contributions of its volunteers. Their support is essential in ensuring the success of events, programs, and overall operations of the organization.
In order to support our club and run the meets hosted at the Huntsville Aquatics Center, sponsored by HSA, a total of 2,150 individual volunteer sessions are needed.
On average, a single session of one meet requires over 40 volunteers. For our largest meets, it requires over 300 volunteer positions. The club needs everyone’s help and support.
More people can volunteer than most realize.
HSA offers various roles to suit different skills and interests. The complete list of volunteer
roles are listed in our policy, but below you will find a summary of many of those positions. Please reach out to a coach, board member, or fellow swim family if you have any questions, or see our FAQ section below.
To ensure the success of meets and events:
HSA evaluates volunteer fees at the end of each annual swim cycle. This helps keep our financial stability and adjust as factors change. Parent engagement is paramount to our success, and we have made it our mission to keep these fees lower than other swim clubs, given our extensive facility benefits.
$400 Fee assessed on March 1 at the end of short course, unless reduced or eliminated by volunteering
$200 Fee assessed on August 1 at the end of long course, unless reduced or eliminated by volunteering
Reduce or eliminate your fees through volunteering! HSA offers a wide range of volunteer roles, allowing you to contribute your time and talents while significantly reducing or completely offsetting your volunteer fees.
If you have any questions about the volunteer fees or how to earn credit, please don’t hesitate to contact the volunteer coordinator at Huntsvilleswimvolunteers@gmail.com
For every volunteer session you complete, you’ll earn credit that goes directly towards reducing your assessed fees. The amount of credit varies depending on the role (see the “Incentive Structure” section below for details).
Volunteer opportunities are available throughout the year, with a wide range of roles to suit different skills and interests. Sign-ups are posted on the Huntsville Swim Association website and SportsEngine Motion app approximately one month prior to each meet. Keep an eye out for emails and announcements!
Choose meets you are available to help
Schedule online to show your availability and interest
Work up to 2 shifts per meet and watch the action up close
Log progress towards requirement and tuition credits
Please review the questions and answers below about volunteering. You should find an answer to the most common questions regarding our volunteer policy and requirements.
Each season, HSA needs over 2,150 individual volunteer sessions to run meets and programs successfully. Large meets may require 300+ volunteers. Without volunteers, meets cannot be held at our home facility and travel to other pools will be required. Addi onally, if we are unable to host these large meets ongoing, monthly tui on for families will need to be raised in order to cover our opera ng expenses. The money raised at these meets enables the affordable monthly dues we enjoy at HSA.
Anyone age 15+ (some roles available for younger volunteers with parental supervision). Parents, grandparents, siblings, former swimmers, and close rela ves. Some roles require a background check (e.g., USA Swimming Officials).
Roles include mer, concessions, awards, deck marshal, announcer, IT/AV, hospitality, meet management, cer fied officials, and more. Not every role is available at every meet.
Each volunteer session worked reduces these fees. Some roles carry higher credit values and even positions that allow you to earn additional money to apply to your tuition and meet fees.
The number of sessions per meet varies. Additionally, not every volunteer position will be needed for each meet we host. Below is an estimate of the number of roles for the meets we typically host.
Total Rocket Meet Opportunities - 140
Total Non-Rocket Meet Opportunities – 2,010
When signing up to volunteer for a session, members are requested to be considerate to other families and limit sign-ups to 2 sessions per family when sessions are initially posted. This is applicable to volunteer positions posted on the HSA website and SportsEngine Motion App (e.g. timers, concessions, awards, marshal, runner). If there are positions available 72 hours prior to the first day of the meet, families can sign up for additional sessions. HSA reserves the right to adjust the volunteer sign-up to ensure fairness for all families.
Yes, however, you will only receive credit for one session.
Yes. HSA provides orienta on and training tailored to each role, including safety, equipment use, and event procedures. Specialized roles (like officials and Colorado ming operators) require more formal training. HSA will be happy to reimburse you for fees associated with being trained once the minimum apprentice sessions have been completed. These fees include USA Swimming registration, testing, and background checks fees.
Notify the Volunteer Coordinator at Huntsvilleswimvolunteers@gmail.com at least 48 hours in advance. Emergencies (e.g., illness, accident) are exceptions, but communication is required. Failure to show without notice results in a $100 no-show fee. You may also find a replacement volunteer (with coordinator approval).
Yes! The HSA board spent months diving deeply into our volunteer needs and rigorously reviewed our needs vs. the families available to fill those needs before determining these requirements. However, if as the season progresses, we have more volunteers wanting to help than we have session roles (this is a great problem to have!), we have many options to increase the number of volunteer opportunities (e.g., splitting mer sessions in half, so offering 2 mer opportunities per session for some of our longer sessions).
To sign up for the training necessary to fill some of our other roles, please visit this link and reach out to the listed point of contact for the role you’d like to work. They will help you become trained in that role and help you sign up to volunteer at an upcoming meet.
Yes. The volunteer requirement is 4 sessions during the short course season and 2 during the long course season, this is to ensure sufficient volunteers for the meets during both seasons. If a family works more sessions during the short course season (or long course season), those sessions will earn credit as sessions above the requirement at a flat rate of $50 per session.
With the exception of a family with a swimmer in a Seasonal group, if you have another swimmer in Discovery, Endeavor, Apollo, or Voyager AND a swimmer in Explorer 1, 2, or 3, you are responsible for the volunteer requirements as outlined for Discovery, Endeavor, Apollo, or Voyager.