Coordination of Official (COA) Checklist

Congratulations on your role as Club Official Administrator (COA) for your club! The NB Officials Committee (NBOC) has created this “checklist” as a way to assist you in understanding your role. The main responsibilities are registering & activating your club’s officials, developing your club’s officials and managing your club’s officials’ profiles & information.

Registration & Activation of Officials

The following steps should be completed at the beginning of each season:

  1. Register yourself as the COA.
    1. Complete the Additional User Declaration form. In this form, you to fill in your own name as the COA for your club and have it signed by the president of your club.
    2. Email the completed form to info@swimnb.ca and the Executive Director will provide you with the credentials to access the RTR (Registration Tracking and Results) system.
  2. Register your club’s officials.
    1. Email all previous officials and current parents of your club and request they complete the Officials Registration Form.
      English: https://www.swimnb.ca/forms/official-application/
      French: https://www.swimnb.ca/fr/formulaires/demande-dactivation-pour-un-officiel/
      (You will receive an email each time an official from your club completes it, letting you know they intend to officiate this season)
    2. Log into the RTR system and “roll over” the club’s officials from last season into the new season.
  3. Activate your club’s officials
    1. For any new officials that have completed the form, create a new official account in the RTR and send them their login credentials, via the RTR, in order to update their information and confirm registration.
    2. For returning officials that have completed the form, send them their login credentials, via the RTR interface.
    3. For officials transferring from another club that have completed the form, request a transfer from their previous club and once approved, follow the above step to send them their login credentials. (It is a good idea to send a direct email as well as these system logins often go to the recipient’s junk mail)
    4. Remind all officials to log into their official’s profile, verify their information, and submit the consent form in order for their account to be fully activated.

FYI: Swim Ontario’s RTR User Guide for COA is a great resource for information for COAs on how to use the RTR for all the tasks listed above.

Development of Officials

As COA for your club, it is important to actively promote officiating to parents as a way to contribute to their club and to the sport of swimming and to then to provide opportunities for development and growth to these officials to assist them in moving through the officiating levels 1 through 4.

  1. Promote officiating to parents.
    1. Communicate to your membership frequently by email and in person on how to get involved in officiating.
    2. Communicate to your membership regarding the meets your club is hosing that season and the importance of having good representation on deck.
    3. Ensure your club’s officials participate in “away” meets as well, by encouraging and reminding them to sign up to assist the host club’s running of the meet.

      Note: The expectation is that each club will provide officials at home and at away meets to support their own club and other host clubs and to ensure fair representation to N.B. swimmers on deck. It is important that the COA actively promote officiating and recruit new officials each season.
  2. Provide opportunities for development to your officials.
    1. Online learning via the e-modules can be found here Login – Swimming Canada. New and returning officials can register and sign into the Learning Management System (LMS). When a clinic is completed by an official in your club, an email will be automatically sent to you, as COA, to advise of this and it will be reflected in their profile in the RTR.
    2. In-person learning. Although e-modules are available, attending an in-person clinic such as “Level 1 – Introduction to Swimming Officiating” and/or “Timekeeping” is often the best way for new officials to retain knowledge. In-person also provides an opportunity for a Level 3 in-training officials to give that clinic, which completes a requirement for their own development.
    3. Share the Officials Certification Pathway with officials in your club so they understand the requirements of each level, and encourage them to take initiative in their learning and progression.

Management of Officials Profile & Information

It is the COA’s responsibility to ensure that information regarding your officials’ registration and activity is complete and up to date.

  1. Update their accounts with in-person clinics taken during the season.
  2. Update their accounts with successful on-deck evaluations that are signed off on by a referee at a meet.
  3. When you recognize an official has met the criteria to complete a level, request approval via the RTR to certify that level with Swim NB and begin an “in-training” new level in their profile.
  4. Distribute “Level pins” to officials who have achieved a new level of certification. Requests for pins can be done by email to itsupport@swimnb.ca

Other Duties

The responsibilities listed above are those identified by Swim NB as being essential to the role of “Coordinator of Officials” of all swim clubs in the province. The COA is the representative for officials in your club and in this role, you are part of the “New Brunswick Officials Committee” (NBOC).

There could be other duties assigned to a COA by the club itself that often include:

  • Creating and managing sign ups (Sign Up Genius) for meets that your club hosts. The COA will ensure there are enough officials to run the meet and work with the meet referee to ensure the officials are in the correct position)
  • Manage the officials’ toolbox to ensure materials for meets you host are available. i.e. stop watches, warm-up safety procedures, pencils etc.
  • Provide an officials’ “update” to the club’s board of directors.

The NBOC recommends that you discuss these duties and any additional ones with your club board. These duties fall outside of what is required by Swim NB, however are very commonly handled by the COA in each club.