Volunteering at the Greater Manchester Youth Games 2005
My preparation for the 2005 Youth Games began some weeks before the events of June 11 and 12, at a venue on Pink Bank Lane in Manchester. I had been taking part in the sports journalism course in Rochdale through Greater Sport, where I had been approached to do some volunteer work.
Jill Mayers, volunteer co-ordinator for Greater Sport, was one of the planners for the event and was very keen for the event to do well.
The training night was basically a run through of what would happen during the weekend. It looked pretty daunting to me. Buses running at regular intervals to ferry competitors around as well as volunteers? Would it work? I was slightly sceptical!
Many of the volunteers on the training night were a lot older than me, but they seemed very experienced and confident. Everything it seemed, looked great on paper, but would it work on the day.
When the Saturday arrived, I turned up bright and early in Bolton, and was given the job of car park attendant, but with not many cars to co-ordinate I was moved back to the main gates with my volunteer partner Phil. Our new role was to check people coming into the ground with cameras.
As the day went on, seeing all that was around me, I was proud to be part of the event. Then organisation and hard work that Jill and her colleagues put in to make the event possible, would probably never get noticed by the general public.
But I couldn't fail to be impressed by everything I saw, and in the breaks that I go, I managed to catch as many of the events taking place as I could.
Well done to Jill and thanks for asking me to help!
My preparation for the 2005 Youth Games began some weeks before the events of June 11 and 12, at a venue on Pink Bank Lane in Manchester. I had been taking part in the sports journalism course in Rochdale through Greater Sport, where I had been approached to do some volunteer work.
Jill Mayers, volunteer co-ordinator for Greater Sport, was one of the planners for the event and was very keen for the event to do well.
The training night was basically a run through of what would happen during the weekend. It looked pretty daunting to me. Buses running at regular intervals to ferry competitors around as well as volunteers? Would it work? I was slightly sceptical!
Many of the volunteers on the training night were a lot older than me, but they seemed very experienced and confident. Everything it seemed, looked great on paper, but would it work on the day.
When the Saturday arrived, I turned up bright and early in Bolton, and was given the job of car park attendant, but with not many cars to co-ordinate I was moved back to the main gates with my volunteer partner Phil. Our new role was to check people coming into the ground with cameras.
As the day went on, seeing all that was around me, I was proud to be part of the event. Then organisation and hard work that Jill and her colleagues put in to make the event possible, would probably never get noticed by the general public.
But I couldn't fail to be impressed by everything I saw, and in the breaks that I go, I managed to catch as many of the events taking place as I could.
Well done to Jill and thanks for asking me to help!
Author: Paul Taylor
Rochdale iJourno group
posted by iJourno at 8:24 pm
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