Sports volunteering, my story

Where did the idea for sports volunteering come from? What did I start with? Am I still contributing? What role do I like the most?

Sometimes I do get questions like this. That’s why I decided to put the whole story together. To answer these questions and to present my experience.

I have been active in sports volunteering, with greater or lesser intensity, for over 8 years. Perhaps you can pick up a piece of this story for yourself as a little inspiration?

How did I start?

I have been a sports fan ‘forever’, and watching sports accompanied me even in my childhood. Over time, I happened to see live competitions, and such a breakthrough trip for me was the London Olympics.

The topics of sports volunteering and sports travel overlap, but I would like to focus on volunteering in this post. The history of my sports travels as a fan will be available in a separate post.

But it was all ‘only’ as a fan. Why didn’t I apply for volunteering anywhere?

I have no idea!

Really, I guess it didn’t occur to me. The strange thing is that I had already been involved in a ‘different’ volunteering activity much earlier, during my studies. These were the so-called ‘work camps’ or ‘volunteer camps’. Very cool and interesting form.

There wasn’t much talk about sports volunteering back then either. Social media and the Internet in general were not that developed. This is also one of the reasons why I share this type of information on my blog, as I would like it to reach as many potentially interested people as possible.

The Games in London are in the year 2012, which is also the year of the UEFA Euro in Poland. It was then that the idea of volunteering crossed my mind for the first time. However, I quickly abandoned it, because I thought I would not take a whole month off. Today, I know that it was a mistake, and I wouldn’t have needed to take so many vacation days.

Fortunately, I fixed the mistake a year and a half later. 2014 Men’s Volleyball World Championship in Poland. My love for volleyball reached its zenith, and I felt more and more that I didn’t want to just sit in the stands. I waited impatiently for the recruitment announcement. I applied, and I got in.

Beautiful September

September 2014 – what a month it was! Three weeks of news, challenges, adventures, and emotions.

I saw the opening of the championships at the National Stadium and the finals (yes, the final in Katowice ended with a gold medal for Poland) as a fan.

And the main phase of the championship was my first sports volunteering experience!

Immediately at a high level, because I acted as a volunteers’ coordinator. Which may seem strange ‘without experience’. My experience in work camps and professional experience, also working in foreign languages, helped me in this.

It was only four match days, but it was incredibly active. Poland did not play in Bydgoszcz, but the arena was full, because good teams such as the USA, Argentina, and Italy played.

I gave myself this volunteer work as a present for my 30th birthday, and I think I couldn’t have given myself a better gift. It caught me. I was drawn to volunteering itself, the atmosphere, and the fact that so much is happening thanks to it. I knew it wasn’t over and started looking for more options.

More events, mainly volleyball

In March 2015, I went to Berlin for the finals of the Volleyball Champions League. It was still the Final Four formula, and Polish teams Skra and Resovia played each other in the semi-finals. I suspect that it helped me get into volunteering because of the Polish language. I was given the ‘responsible’ task of ‘watching’ and helping in the Resovia fans sector. They are experienced fans, so it was not a difficult task, and they found their seats without any problems;) So my job was mainly to remind them not to stand on the stairs (evacuation route) and, well, meanwhile I could look at the game too.

One of the pictures that stuck in my memory the most from this trip was the break. I had dinner in the staff canteen. I’m eating a potato salad, and the team of Zenit Kazan suddenly appears. At that time, the world’s biggest stars, Matt Anderson, Mikhailov, they just shortened their way to the locker room. Well, so what? Nothing! Seriously, they came, went, and I finished my dinner and went back to my work station. However, I remember this funny moment to this day, and volunteering is full of such small moments!

This trip also brought me a lot of thoughts and broadened my perspective on sports volunteering. I met volunteers who were not interested in sports or volleyball at all. Some did not even know who the world champion was or that the German team had won bronze the year before. They said that they are here because of the event itself, because they like volunteering, the atmosphere, because they want to do ‘something’, because they always work here in the hall. Others were there mainly for college credits.

It turned out that you don’t have to be a crazy sports fan to act. Do I agree with this approach? I will write about it in the other article.

Coming back to the next events: for some time, I focused on smaller events in Poland. I helped during the final of the Polish Cup, and, above all, during the league matches of Trefl Gdańsk. Also Wybrzeże Gdańsk, so male handball league matches. How did I get there? I simply wrote an email asking if they needed help. It even turned out that volunteering already works, and yes, they needed help. I was active for three years, I met cool people, with whom friendship often went beyond the arena. Here the tasks are usually different, setting up an arena, competitions for supporters during breaks, or accreditations to journalists.

Team Guide, that sounds proud

January 2016 is the European Men’s Handball Championship, taking place in Poland.

This is where my adventure in the role of the Team Guide began. Sometimes referred to as Team Host, Team Liaison Officer or Team Attache. You probably won’t be very surprised when I say: yes, this is my favourite role.

A bit crazy because there’s a lot going on all the time. Buses schedules, meals, trainings, laundry, and even hospitals in case of injury. The Team Guide stays with the team practically all the time and is the link between the team and the organizer. To be able to do this job well, it is worth having experience in sports events, being able to act quickly, and communicating in other languages. Certainly in English, but often you also need a second language, i.e., the language of the team.

Since then, I have been Team Guide 9 times, mainly in handball and mainly for Balkan teams (due to my knowledge of Croatian and Serbian languages), but not only. There were Spanish and Dutch teams, I also helped during the rugby tournament and Nordic skiing.

Frost, a Finnish roll, and a medal

I have to say a few words more about the Nordic World Ski Championships. The championship consists of three disciplines: cross-country skiing, Nordic Combined, and ski jumping. In 2017, the tournament was held in Finland, in Lahti. It was a very interesting two weeks. I acted as a Team Guide of 4 national teams (all disciplines) of Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia. As you can probably guess, the largest group with the greatest chance of success was Slovenia.

The visiting volunteers had a dedicated place to stay in a cultural centre building. We slept in large rooms, on mattresses that we had to bring with us. A flat Finnish roll was served every day for a small breakfast.

The opening of the championships was the most memorable for me, among other things, because of the huge cold, wind, and snowstorm. My team delegations hid for coffee while I stood by and made sure we lined up back on time. I think I had 4 layers on my legs dressed, and they still didn’t help.

The second thing I remember the most is the Polish gold medal in team jumping. Seeing it live and up close doesn’t require any additional commentary.

For the next few years, it was league volunteering, Team Guiding or the European Championships in volleyball, where I worked in the Media. One of the tasks was to collect post-match statements from the players, a very interesting and stressful task!

Sometimes Covid, sometimes recruitment

The year 2020 was supposed to be crazy volunteering for me. Olympics in Tokyo (for which I managed to get accepted!), Euro football, during which I was supposed to help in Scotland.

Well, we know what happened. The pandemic came, and both events were postponed until a year later. However, in 2021, they continued to take place with restrictions in stadiums, and for travellers. All international volunteers were kicked out of the Olympic Games, and I had to give up Euro myself because of the crazy quarantine rules. Ah, it was really disappointing, especially the Euro situation.

Despite the difficult situation at sports events, I managed to gain new experience. The final of the football Europa League took place in Gdańsk (in May 2021, postponed from 2020), and I acted as a volunteer recruiter for this event. Many interviews with interesting candidates, with so many different motivations. I also acted during the event itself as a Team Leader of teams operating at the entrance gates. It was interesting, something new, but I admit that I prefer to work more inside the event than with the fans.

Back to the roots

In 2021, there were also European Championships in volleyball, and I again worked in the Media Office. The year 2022 was a time of more trips as a sports fan than a volunteer.

However, I started 2023 with a bang. World Men’s Handball Championship. Back to the roots: Team Guide, the same team that I took care of during Euro 7 years ago.

Intense time, and certainly another great adventure.

Sports volunteering is not a job for everyone. But if you’re reading this, it means you’re a little more interested in it than any other person. Take what you want from this story and act!

Just watch out, because… it’s addictive!

See you at the halls and stadiums!