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Your association and all the non-swimmers need you. Many activities of associations rely on volunteers. If you enjoy swimming and have your A-diploma, you can become an activity assistent. You assist in teaching swimming and ensure that participants enjoy it enough to keep coming back. Your main task is to ensure that children move in a safe environment and have fun while exercising. This can be during a lesson, training session, or event. You help children learn new things. Therefore, you should have some knowledge of what happens in the lesson. This need is even higher, if you don't participate in the sport or activity yourself. You need to familiarize yourself with some important aspects of what children or adults need to learn. You learn to interact with children of different ages. The choice of target group and specialization depends on your preference. You coordinate this with the project leader of ExpeditionRED.
The target groups are:
- Children aged 3-5 years with (one of) their parents. For children who do not yet attend swimming lessons, it is essential that they can still save themselves in the water. We practice this with the aid of Fibby, which is better suited to our goal than arm bands, corks, or vests. A child has much more freedom of movement and can use their arms and legs while maintaining balance. If a child can walk well, they can do this in water too.
- Children of swimming lesson age. You assist in the ABC diploma swimming of children, so that the instructor can focus more on the actual swimming or spend more time with a child who needs it.
- Children of primary school age. After obtaining swimming diplomas, we want to keep children swimming. This can be done in two ways: we introduce them to various aquatic sports such as water polo, competitive swimming, lifesaving, or fin swimming through the Star program. For children who are less interested in the sport, we offer a program with survival and other activities such as diving for rings or swimming with fins or swimming in open water outdoors.
- Adults. Adults, especially older individuals, swim mainly for social reasons or because they want to stay healthy. But often, after obtaining their diploma, they hardly swim anymore. That's why we offer an "APK" test. We assess what they still can and cannot sufficiently master. We have them follow a program to get them back to the desired level and test again after a while to see if it has been successful.
- Status holders and other adults who cannot swim. We take swimming for granted in the Netherlands, but in many countries, this is not the case. There are hardly any swimming pools. Water safety and the dangers of water are not well known. You can help familiarize this group of people with the dangers of water and what to do if something goes wrong.
You can also choose a specific target group if we organize activities for them in your area. Dealing with playful young children requires a different approach than with children who understand more and have better motor skills. And that's very different from dealing with adults or refugees. In the latter case, you also learn a lot about other cultures and have to use hands, feet, and examples to make clear what is intended.
To become an assistent, you must be older than 12 years old. We provide thorough training, covering basic theory and supervised practical application, which takes approximately 25 hours. Additionally, you must have completed the playlist: "ExpeditieRED: Teach Others to Swim, Save Lives - Discover How!" You have received the corresponding badges, which count for 10 hours. This means that within six months, you need to be actively involved for an additional 45 hours in your chosen activities.
The activities take place either at a club or at ExpeditieRED itself. If you are a member of a club, we collaborate with them to ensure alignment with their goals. We work with each club to determine their specific needs and desires, and to identify mentors who can guide you and ensure you feel comfortable in your role. Additionally, ExpeditieRED offers a program of workshops, courses, and events from which you can choose.
To facilitate effective collaboration with clubs, ExpeditieRED operates primarily in the Southwest Netherlands region.
Activities to complete
Complete the following activities, earn badges and you will see your playlist progress updated
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You carry out tasks assigned by the responsible person. This may involve preparing materials or completing formalities related to safety or the execution of an assessment so that everything is ready and can start on time and proceed smoothly.
Get activity badge
You carry out tasks as instructed to ensure the smooth running of the lesson or activity.
Tasks
Issued by organiser or scanning QR code
You make an appointment with a Pro4Sport supervisor to observe you during a lesson.