MetroTrade Monthly is a monthly newsletter from David Klotz, President of MetroTrade, with thoughts, updates, and reflections from around the company and industry.
I wanted to write something substantial this month to get everyone back focused on the markets after roughly five weeks of lukewarm attention, but thus far, the markets’ news cycle has been an extension of 2025. Trump is doing what Trump does; the stock market seems conflicted over whether AI is over-bought; it’s too early to tell what the Fed will do in 2026; no one is sure it is safe to identify datacenters as utilities; and the market structure bill is just getting chopped up and put back together by crypto lobbyists.
So, as my eyes drifted over the calendar, something stood out. Not my work calendar, but the family calendar. Over the next eight weeks, one child or the other will be at a swim meet for five of those weekends. Which means that I will be at a swim meet for five of those weekends, because I am a….parent volunteer. More specifically, both my wife and I are parent volunteers.
For the uninitiated, in the US, children’s activities cannot occur without an army of eager (or, in reality, reluctant/recalcitrant) parent volunteers. Sure, most organizations have one or two paid coordinators. Depending on the sport and level of competition, each team or squad also usually has a full-time coach and a handful of assistant coaches. However, the work of actually setting up the event, hosting the event, and cleaning up after the event is done by parent and grandparent volunteers.
As a firm believer in capitalism and free markets, the fact that night after night and weekend after weekend these events happen so seamlessly by people who are doing it in their spare time and for free never ceases to amaze me.
In our case, I am a volunteer swim official, and my wife is the volunteer coordinator for our swim club.
I’m not a particularly good official (I never swam competitively and am practically allergic to water as an adult), but I show up on time, I stand where I’m told, and occasionally I raise my hand when I see something that doesn’t look right. (I think that was exactly what my 2024 officials review form said.)
Nor was my path to officialdom particularly noble: I got tired of sitting in the hot stands and missing my kids’ heats because I was buried in my laptop or a book.
But once I got over the uniform requirement, I found I really enjoyed doing it. I get to be around my kids more, and more importantly, I get to hang out and be inspired by some of the most dedicated and committed people I have ever met.
Just to provide some context (and this is not a comparison but an example – I know other events are more intricate and difficult to coordinate), the club swim meet we are attending this particular weekend has:
- Seven sessions over 3 days – one on Friday evening, and three each on Saturday and Sunday.
- Each session is 2+ hours long, so 10+ hours of swimming on Saturday and Sunday.
- 562 heats.
- 4039 entries (so roughly 300+ kids swimming 2-3 events per day).
Managing all of this requires an incredible commitment and focus, because there are also 125 pages of rules to follow, and pretty serious consequences in terms of sanctions and fines if the meet goes over its allotted schedule.
Why do I specifically subject myself to this a couple of weekends a month?
- I like learning new things, and I learn something new every time I step on deck, whether it’s about my own kids, the sport of swimming, or learning how to manage people and processes in a non-work environment.
- I appreciate receiving real-time feedback on my performance. When you get to a certain point in your career, you stop getting real professional feedback, and people usually just periodically check some boxes during reviews.
- I like the change of pace and using different parts of my brain for a condensed and defined period of time. To accomplish what needs to be done amid the chaos of a kids’ sporting event, you can’t be carrying around the day-to-day to-do list and expect to be effective.
- I really like being responsible for one specific thing for a defined period of time. Real life (whether at work or at home) is usually a compromised list you may or may not get to complete, as a result of factors beyond your control. Volunteering is easy – show up when you’re told. Do what you’re told. Sometimes, politely tell others what specifically to do.
- I get inspired by the dedication and professionalism of the other volunteers. Many of the folks I work with have kids who have long phased out of the sport, and yet they remain volunteering because of their love for it.
- What else is there to do in January in northern Illinois?
So, if you are already actively involved in your kids’ activities, bravo, and keep up the good work. If your kids are just starting to get involved in activities, please volunteer more often. I’m sure the organization will welcome the help, and I promise you will get more out of it than you put in. And if you’re on the fence about getting involved, jump in the deep end and see how you feel.
At the end of the day, whether we’re watching markets or watching our kids touch the wall, we’re all just trying to show up, do our part, and hopefully leave things a little better than we found them. The skills that make a good volunteer—patience, attention to detail, the ability to stay calm when things get chaotic—aren’t all that different from the skills that make a good trader. And in both arenas, the people who stick around long after they “have to” are usually the ones worth learning from. So here’s to the weekend warriors, the early-morning timers, the parents running concession stands, and everyone else who quietly keeps these little ecosystems running. Your work doesn’t go unnoticed, even if it often goes unthanked.