People. In particular, volunteers. At the London 2012 Olympics, the Games 
Makers were the heart and soul of the Games. The world remembers the purple and red uniformed people who smiled, laughed and sang their way through the event. Their enthusiasm, commitment and organisation let the athletes, coaches and officials do their job uninterrupted.
In Scotland – we aim for the same standard. We want the athletes to play the game without having to worry about anything else. And we are generally successful with this. If you have ever played in a Cup Semi Final, Finals Weekend or any of the amazing International matches/tournaments we have hosted, then hopefully you have experienced this.
It doesn’t happen by magic though – it needs people. It needs volunteers. Volunteers that are willing to give up a short amount of time to help out. Sadly, in recent years, we have been limited in the number of people from our clubs and associated members who are willing to step up and offer some of their time. Without people doing this, we can’t run our events to the same high standards as we have done in the past.
So this article is a plea to all members and non-members. We need your help! Even if it’s a short amount of time, or for a full event. It is hard to ask for people’s time without offering something in return. All I can promise is that you will enjoy the experience – we have a great bunch of people in Special Events who will keep you laughing! And you get your travel expenses covered as well. Oh, and you get the best seat in the house for some top volleyball!
We are changing our Special Events Commission now – we have a
commission who will all have a responsibility for an area of events. Then we will have sub-teams. People we can call on to help us out at the various events we run throughout the year.
Our new Special Events looks like this:
For our events, we will have Events Sub-Teams and this is where we need to help and enthusiasm from the membership. We are looking for people who are willing to give up a little bit of time, throughout the year to assist in some of our major events. You don’t need to have experience – we’ll train you! You just need to have a little enthusiasm and be willing to dedicate some time to a sport that you love!
Our Events Sub-Teams will be:
| Team Name | Role |
| Field of Play | Looking after court and the court side assistants and the equipment |
| Athlete Services | Looking after the athletes from entrance, changing, match and then exit |
| Administration | Selling tickets, looking after spectators, collecting score sheets and updating websites |
| Statisticians | Using laptops and cameras to record statistics on games to give MVPs. |
| Venue Team | Lay the taraflex, set up the venue, liaise with the venue |
So if you are interested in helping us out, please get in touch. Even if it’s just a small amount of time you can offer – every little helps. If you want the standard of events to remain high in Scotland, please help. Give back to your association and be part of a great team!
The upcoming events that we need help at are:
Cup Semi Finals – Sunday 7th April 2013 at the Pleasance in Edinburgh
League Playoffs – Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th April 2013 at Wishaw Sports Centre, Lanarkshire
Finals Weekend – Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th April 2012 at Wishaw Sports Centre, Lanarkshire
Please get in touch to offer some help. You can email us at scottishvolleyballevents@gmail.com or get in touch via Facebook at www.facebook.com/scottishvolleyballevents
I look forward to hearing from you – remember volunteers are the heart and soul of any event. Be that heart and soul!