From the fairy godmothers Union and all your troubles can soon be gone! Of course, in the real world, there is no magic wand to turn our ALSAA Pool into full Gala mode on May 22nd! (by Maurice McCrohan).
There is a gala committee (that I am not privy too), which sets things in motion months in advance. From hiring in equipment to visiting local businesses for spot prizes and sponsorship to the painstaking task of noting down the entrants list with additions/deletions ad infinitem! But things only fall into place with lots of volunteer helpers giving up their time. My involvement kicked in the night before with helping get the pool, bank and other areas set up for Sunday morning.
We had a window of around an hour and a half to work with before the pool closed. I arrived to see the gym area looking like Iron Mans laboratory! a mass of cables and wires for the timing system ! I can just about change a light bulb, so I opted for the “navvy” type duties of lifting table sand chairs, whilst hoping that the engineers among our swim parents would show up. Luckily a few qualified engineers arrived with their toolboxes and they sparked into life, as comfortable with cabling as tying shoelaces!
There were all sorts of big long poley things along the side of the pool, which are used for life saving classes etc, which had to be moved out of the way to protect swimmers from trip hazards. The club room, front tables and timing system were set up .An inspired decision was made to keep the gym area free from swimmers with the line up area moved to the family changing area. The HQ was freer of distractions on the day and things moved quicker!
We arrived down early on gala day keen to help out, but also to be assured of a parking slot. Obamas visit did not affect parking near the pool. But the numbers of swimmers versus the space available was going reach-tipping point about 8.15am when the bulk of swimmers started arriving. Noeleen was setting up the raffle/cake table, while I was showing arrivals the lay out of the pool. I was curious to be getting positive comments that the parking was great! Then Stephen and Joe arrived in shivering with the cold! There had been a build of parking outside, but with an airport staff pass they commandeered a parking barrier and found extra parking for 140 cars!
Inside, there was more of a bottleneck on the bank upstairs as the canteen was not going to be ready until 9.30am. If we had the facilities to provide coffees for the arrivals between 8am and 9am that stage, the coffees would have sold like hot cakes!! Talking of hot cakes, the cake stall was a hit with the swimmers! No sooner did Noeleen (and helpers) look like they were running low, another parent would arrive with a tray of cakes! Each richer and creamier than the last! like a Come Dine with Me meets the ACE OF CAKES!.
The parent cake providers were far too modest to take any credit. The vote for the most popular with the swimmers was a tray of cakes that arrived at lunchtime (from someone who clearly had contacts in a patisserie?). We could have sold them for any price such was the demand! Although I am not sure the calorie filling creamy delights helped any afternoon PBs! The rumoured tactic was to sell the fattest, creamiest, chocolaty cakes to non Aer Lingus swimmers to slow them down, but am not sure we would be that mischievous?
My duties than turned to that of time keeping. We had the luxury of two of us per lane, unlike the major galas where we are all multi – tasking these days! There were a lot of very young swimmers, but none seemed troubled by the occasion! The races went smoothly with no hitches! In the line up zone, our engineering strategists devised a queuing flow that would make an American theme park proud. I feel line up must be the hardest to control when numbers are so large and we had many young swimmers racing!
Our MC Odran’s voice did not waver all morning and Sheila’s arms did not cramp up with reaching up to pot so many medals around so many swimmers necks! The cramped audience on the upstairs bank were somewhat relieved when the canteen area opened to give more space to sit down, plus much needed coffee for the early starters. The volunteers were kept supplied by Phillip Potters coffees, plus sandwiches from the clubroom.
My Gala report kind of ends at half time as Sinead had a double booking in the afternoon with her dance/drama group end of year show! Some of the volunteers were replaced with a fresh batch, whilst others stayed on for the full day! Gareth O’Brien coined a new swim parent’s phrase, timekeepers thumb from the repetition of the stopwatch and the timing board buzzer! Margaret , Debbie and Denise to name three did two full sessions time keeping finishing up at 7.30pm,which was a great effort and very tiring!
The raffles and prize giving went well! A bit like the cakes, we gained lots of new prizes on the day! The swimmers enjoyed themselves, which is the most important thing! All had a good time. Many of us were impressed by compliments we received from other clubs and supporters regarding the gala organisation. I was only involved as a helper, but even compared to last year, there were far more
parents helping out. So its no real surprise that things ran better! The patisserie industry contacts for the cakes and Stephen’s airport car park pass for parking space were great assets!
But ultimate credit must go the gala organiser, (our fairy gala godmother you might say!) Margaret O’Brien for arranging such a successful event! If you have any gala memories you wish to share, please respond!
Cheers!
Maurice
Related articles
- Catrina Will Make Waves at the Celtic Tri-Nations! (alswimclub.com)
- Our Newest Recruit… (alswimclub.com)
What a great sum up of our “This is how a gala should be run” presented by Margaret O’Brien….
With special guests and believe me every guest was special. Didn’t Margaret control us well, making sure we where we were supposed to be at all times and briefed us very well as to what our job on the day was. Three cheers, Hip Hip Horray, Well done on the article Maurice.
thanks guys.
would have posed for the photo above if you has asked….NOT
Margaret