Being on the Ecclestone Pool Committee gives you an opportunity to guide the future of our pool community. Ecclestone has a history dating back to the 1960's when local residents paid a small amount of money for a share in the Ecclestone Pool. For approximately 40 years, a host of volunteers has managed aquatic and community events for our members and area residents. Joining the Ecclestone Pool Committee makes you a part of a long tradition.

Time Commitments

It's usually the first question the Committee are asked: How much time will I have to commit? The committee typically meets 5-6 times per year and bi-weekly or weekly in the summer.

Immediately following the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held each November, the committee has a meeting to strategize for the upcoming year, to get information turned over to new members from the last year's committee.

Another meeting will typically happen in February or early March to get ready for the membership drive which starts in April. Committee members are usually part of the registration day which happen the first week of May and then will meet again late in May just before the opening of the pool.

There are typically bi-weekly or weekly meetings during the pool season and another following the close of the season to organize staffing for the upcoming year and to prepare for the AGM in November.

Each position has certain time requirements but all these positions are typically filled by members who also work full-time. This is typical of the approximately 40 West Island pools where these volunteer positions are common.

Ecclestone Pool Committee Positions

There is no hard and fast rule over what positions the committee may have. In past committees there have been different posts which have been created for particular needs or which have been made to make place for people to participate in a particular manner. Of the posts which must be filled each year, the President, Treasurer and Registrar are critical. You'll find some of the descriptions of the posts below.

President

The president's primary role on the executive is to coordinate the actions of the various volunteers and staff. Our pool season is really only 11 weeks long and most of the president's work comes in the other 41 weeks of the year working with the committee to hire the next season's staff and then to coordinate with the volunteers both on the committee and otherwise and the staff to ensure all of our programs are delivered when expected. The president also must organize the once-per-year Annual General Meeting and ensure that the reports from the various committee members are presented at that time.

Past President

This post is an automatic responsibility of the outgoing president and is filled for a period of one year by being available to answer questions. The past-president will make themselves available to be at committee meetings (upon request by the president) and throughout the year to the committee at large to ensure a smooth turnover and to offer advice on how certain challenges have been met in the past. The Past President is not typically a performing member of the committee with operational responsibility.

Vice-President

He or she is only a <em>heartbeat away</em> from the presidency but the role of the vice-president is to assist the president wherever needed. As volunteers, no one person should have to manage alone and the vice-president often takes on projects during the year. A vice-president is sometimes learning how the pool functions in order to take over as president one day.

Secretary

The Secretary's role is to maintain records of the various decisions taken during the year either at committee meetings or at the Annual General Meeting and to present those minutes when required at future meetings. While not a labour intensive position, the secretary's role is vital in an organization made up of part-time volunteers and seasonal staff. Our secretary is our 'corporate memory'.

Treasurer

Someone has to keep track of the money. Our association is not a profit-making venture but during our 11 week season, a lot goes on that either brings in funds or pays them out. The treasurer's main responsibility is to ensure the financial viability of the pool. This requires working with the committee on the annual budget and then tracking money in and out of our bank accounts. Registration time and pool startup time is, of course a busy time for the treasurer who must make regular bank deposits of the membership revenues we collect. As soon as the season is complete, the treasurer must complete the year's financial report in order to present it to the members at the Annual General Meeting in the fall.

Registrar

The Registrar is responsible for the membership. Most of the registrar's work happens in the pre-season, preparing whatever marketing the pool will do (brochure) and ensuring that as many returning and new members will register as possible.

Maintenance Director

The Maintenance Director is responsible for ensuring that 400,000 gallons of water are actually fit to swim in. From a few weeks before the pool opens until a couple of weeks after the pool closes, the maintenance director coordinates different member-volunteers and the pool staff to prepare the pump facility, the physical building and the various mechanical aspects of our pool to ensure that it is in great shape for our short summer season. The maintenance director also coordinates activities between the city and our regular contractors to affect work and pool improvements both during and after our regular season.

Liaison

The Liason person is the membership's and committee's liaison to our summer staff. Our staff is made up each year of young lifeguards who have met some stringent training requirements from the Royal Lifesaving and elsewhere but who may not have had much work experience otherwise. The Liaison is the staff mentor, working with them to review programs, deal with human resources issues and to represent the staff to the executive committee. The Liaison also deals with any issues members and or committee members may have with the guards while at the same time representing them to the members ands or committee. Usually this person has either been involved with lifeguards by being one themselves as a teenager or as a parent involved with the swimming community all winter.

Social Director

The Social Director is responsible for coordinating the volunteers who organize the different social activities that the committee schedules each season. This includes any adult parties and family events, the opening-day BBQ and fun-days that the pool puts on each summer.

Canteen sub-committee

Our canteen is a hubbub of business for our 11 week season. The Canteen committee assembles a team each year to handle purchasing, volunteers to open, sell food and BBQ during competitive home meets. Many volunteers work in the canteen during the season but the post of Manager is critical as this tiny business within the pool requires coordination.

Aquatics

This position may be combined with the vice-president's or may be separate. This person ensures that we have timers, ribbon people, officials, ribbons, stopwatches and so on during our meets and events (Time-trials, synchro or water polo events). They also attend any North Shore Aquatics Association (NAA) meetings that need representation from Ecclestone Pool.