Head Swim Coach

Position Summary:

Provides leadership, instruction and motivation of participants in a competitive swimming environment. Creates a safe and positive atmosphere promoting member safety and engagement, youth development and healthy living in accordance with YMCA standards, policies and procedures.

Essential Functions:

1. Knows and understands all emergency procedures and responds to emergency situations immediately and appropriately in accordance with YMCA standards, policies and procedures.
2. Maintains all required certifications in accordance with YMCA standards, policies and procedures.
3. Teaches sound competitive swimming skills through stroke development, in accordance with YMCA standards, policies and procedures.
4. Creates and leads age appropriate workouts focusing on technique, endurance and stroke development, in accordance with YMCA standards, policies and procedures.
5. Maintains accurate records of attendance and progress as required by YMCA standards, policies and procedures.
6. Organizes and schedules all practices and coordinates the recruitment of volunteers.
7. Coordinates and executes swim competitions and meet registrations.
8. Performs daily equipment checks and ensures appropriate equipment is available.
9. Attends all staff meetings, swim meets and swim events, functions and trainings, as required by the Aquatics Director, YMCA standards, policies and procedures.
10. Provides leadership and guidance for Assistant Swim Coaches, volunteers and parents through effective, consistent and timely communication.
11. May be required to conduct stroke booster clinics.
12. Reports suspicious and inappropriate behaviors and policy violations.
13. Follows mandated abuse and incident reporting requirements.
14. Meets timelines and deadlines related to supporting systems and employee compliance. Example includes but is not limited to Kronos Workforce Ready for review and approval of time sheets.

Qualifications:  

1. Minimum age of 21 years. Must be a minimum of 5 years older than the oldest youth participant.
2. Minimum of one year of swim instruction/swim team instruction experience.
3. Demonstrate Swim Instructor skills in accordance with YMCA standards, policies and procedures.
4. Current/or must obtain prior to first scheduled meet: American Red Cross Safety Training for Swim Coaches or American Red Cross Safety Training for Swim Coaches online course content and one of the following YMCA certifications; YMCA Aquatic Safety Assistant (YASA) or YMCA Life Guard. 
5. Current/or must obtain prior to first scheduled shift:  ASHI certification for CPR for the Professional Rescuer, Basic First Aid and Emergency Oxygen and YOTS Child Abuse Prevention Training, Information Security and Awareness, Workplace Harassment and Bullying, Universal Precautions and New Staff Orientation Assessment.
6. Ability to relate effectively to diverse groups of people from all social and economic segments of the community.

Language Skills:

Ability to read, interpret, retain and teach safety rules, maintenance instructions and aquatics education manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of children, parents, members and other staff, as well as in one-on-one situations.

Mathematical Skills:

Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions and decimals.

Reasoning Ability:

Ability to apply common sense, understanding and sound judgment to carry out instructions in written, verbal or diagram form, including assisting with curriculum learning.  Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations. Ability to maintain confidentiality. Ability to be sensitive and alert to the needs, feelings and safety of others. Ability to follow YMCA policies and procedures and state health department code requirements.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, talk and hear. The employee frequently is required to use hands to handle and/or feel objects, tools and/or controls; climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch and/or crawl.  The employee is frequently required to reach with hands and arms and taste and smell.  The employee must frequently move and/or lift up to 50 pounds. Must possess adequate vision and hearing to safely monitor an aquatic environment and children.  Ability to remain alert, continuously scan all areas of the pool with clear vision and perform strenuous physical tasks necessary for a water rescue. Ability to hear voices, distinguish distress signals and communicate verbally, including projecting voice across distance in both normal and loud situations.

The YMCA of Greater Houston provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.