A volunteer – The backbone of your event
I am deeply saddened by an incident that happened in Kerala yesterday. As per reports a student volunteer was seriously injured as a hammer thrown by a contestant struck his head, while 3rd Kerala State Junior Athletics Championships was under way at the Muncipal Stadium in Kerala. He is currently battling for life at the Kottayam Medical College. The sports event has been postponed in the wake of this accident.
As sports in India grows the number of events in the field also grows. Major games and events happen all around the country which attracts thousands of viewers and sportsmen. But do we realize that volunteers are the backbone of these events? We need dedicated volunteers for each and every event. But are we giving enough attention and credit to them? They are not just people running around the space, they are glue that holds your event in one piece and makes it a success.
I recently met someone during a swimming event. He was the VP of a prestigious company and had taken 15 days off from work to volunteer as the VIP seat coordinator. I was overwhelmed when he said ‘it doesn’t matter what role I get to volunteer in, as long as I’m giving back to sports’. It is with this spirit that most people come forward to volunteer.
My one requests to event organizers is to value your volunteers and give them the right training/instructions before sending them out to the field. They should be well educated about the role they play during your event. Feel responsible for each of your volunteer and provide them a safe environment to work. With deep grief wanted to let you all know that the student #Volunteer injured during Kerala school athletic #passed way today How it happened Hammer throw competition for girls was being held adjacent to the area where .javelin throw competition for the under-18 boys was on. The field for both the events were the same. After a javelin throw competitor completed the throw, a hammer throw competitor was given the opportunity. As two competitions were going on at the same time, volunteers picking the hammer and the javelin were on the ground and this proved risky despite standard alerts..
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5 年Your consciousness of your surroundings is outstanding. Wonderful to know your there best advocate looking after there best interest. Blessings! Savette Perez LMT, NLP Practitioner
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5 年Wish him a speedy recovery and very well said Paul. It's about time people in our country value the efforts and dedication of kids like Abheel. There is a tendency for event organizers to take volunteers for granted which should no longer be the case.
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5 年My heart goes out to the Volunteer - Abheel. Some Precautionary measures would have helped. Sure Its an enormous effort for Volunteers and management for conducting such mass events. However, its definitely an awakening call for most of the Volunteers and more critically the management to lay down measures.
MSc in Performance Coaching, High-Performance Career and Athletic Endurance, UESCA, Agile Scrum Master, Six Sigma Master BB, Founder KaysFIT Academy, Founder and Race Director of OOTYULTRA, Bison Ultra, Madurai Ultra
5 年Volunteers are the backbone. Well said. It is mandatory to have adequate safety measures put in preventing such accidents.. Hope the injured volunteer is doing fine and can function like before.
Passionate Sports Professional | Creating Impactful Sports Initiatives
5 年Very well said Paul R., It is really important organizer needs to give feeling to volunteer is welcomed, informed and trained for what task he is assigned. Orientation will give just basics of the work volunteers are assigned, with orientation organizers need to provide specific training for each volunteer that addresses the particular job they will be doing to avoid any issues.