Volunteering at the Women's Hockey World Cup London 2018
- KassaraRose
- Sep 4, 2018
- 11 min read
Updated: Jan 26, 2019
My experience as a HockeyMaker at the Vitality Women’s Hockey World Cup London 2018. Including my inspiration, the application process, the event itself and the joys, excitement, passion, improvements and value of the event.
Have you ever felt inspired to be a part of something due to those you see around you? Have you ever wanted to broaden your horizon by trying something entirely new? This is exactly how I felt when starting my journey to become a HockeyMaker and later when I became one.
In 2017, I attended both the World Para Athletics Championships and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics as a spectator. While I was there I saw hundreds of volunteers all dressed in pink helping the public, increasing the atmosphere and making the event as successful as it became. I signed up to become a volunteer at the Women’s Hockey World Cup London 2018 because of those individuals. As someone who absolutely loves watching and attending sporting events I was extremely excited about the possibility of becoming a HockeyMaker and contributing to the event’s success.
After completing my online application process and taking part in an interview I was then accepted to become a HockeyMaker. Once I was informed I’d been accepted as a volunteer I first attended two training sessions and was then assigned my shifts including which roles I would perform. My roles included shifts in logistics, spectator services and team services. As the process continued I started to feel nervous as I had never done anything similar to this before, it was a completely new experience which I had jumped at without question. I would have to interact with the public, meet new people and learn more about hockey as I’d never even really played the sport before. However, during the interview and training sessions I met some of those in charge and other friendly HockeyMakers who began to ease my nerves and my excitement was reignited.
During the first training session the day consisted of a lecture style talk at Loughborough University. As we arrived we signed in and waited for everyone else to arrive, giving me a chance to chat and mingle with other HockeyMakers. Once everyone had arrived we proceeded to the lecture theatre where the England Hockey team introduced themselves and we all took part in a head and tails themed icebreaker. As this was near the beginning of the organisation for the World Cup we were informed of the initial plans for the competition and the hopes for the overall event.
We were informed of how accreditation would work, what it would look like and where we would have to enter the venue. Next, England Hockey provided a list of key values they wished to accentuate during the competition and asked us to choose which one we felt was the most important. We were then separated into groups of each value where we had a discussion about why the value was important and how we could implement this value into the event. The discussion enabled me to chat to others and understand more about volunteering with England Hockey because many others were vocal about the family atmosphere amongst HockeyMakers.
After this we were split into smaller groups each for a different HockeyMaker role. I was placed into the spectator services group where we were given more information about what was expected from us and how we can keep a positive environment. A presentation of acting skills was also on show as the England Hockey team provided performances of example situations we may be put in, in order to show us the best/ most efficient way of dealing with difficult situations. Personally I found these examples beneficial as they provided laughs to create a relaxed environment while also providing me with vital information needed while volunteering.
The day before my first shift I attended my venue specific training (VST) at the arena. At the VST we were shown a map of the venue and surrounding activities, informed of emergency procedures, security procedures and encouraged to enjoy the event and keep spectator happy. The security talk included mandatory information on what to do if there was an attack on the venue, if there was unattended baggage and how we, as HockeyMakers, would have to body scan those coming into the venue. As someone who was entirely new to this whole experience I began to worry about how I would react if there was an attack or unattended luggage. However, the leaders reinforced that it would be unlikely to take place and that if we did see anything suspicious we could simply tell the paid security team and they would take charge of the situation.
One element which HockeyMakers were in charge of was wanding - body scanning spectators as they enter the venue to ensure they have no metal on their person. Wanding, to me, is vital to the safety and security of the venue as it could determine whether someone was carrying something which could cause harm to others. This responsibility scared me to begin with as who was I to know whether something seemed ‘normal’ or ‘suspicious’? The HockeyMaker leaders already understood this and reinforced that people did not have to take part in wanding if they did not feel comfortable, enabling me to relax as I knew they would respect my decision not to take part.
After the talk we were taken on a tour around the Olympic Park to show us the route where spectators would be directed to the venue and Fan Central. Within our tour the main area we were shown was fan central which was set up to include food stalls, activities for children, merchandise stands and a big screen to watch the games. As HockeyMakers we were told to encourage spectators into fan central as it would be a free area for people to relax, enjoy the games on the screen and hopefully for people of all ages to become inspired to play hockey.
During the tour I started chatting to other HockeyMakers; I met someone who also lived in Newcastle, frequent sporting volunteers and some of those who would also be working in spectator services. The tour around the venue began to settle my previous anxieties of not knowing where anything was despite being expected to direct spectators. It also allowed me time to meet other HockeyMakers working in spectator services so that when I arrived on my first shift I would see some similar faces.
After the tour we headed back to the arena where we were given our uniform at the HockeyMaker lounge. We were each given a bag containing our uniform which included two t-shirts, a jumper, hat and waterproof. Despite not being provided with trousers, shorts or shoes we were given a discount to order these online if needed. While collecting my uniform the realness of the event began to set in, I began to feel the excitement both for the event and for my role in making the competition successful.
Next up came the competition itself. As a HockeyMaker I started and ended with shifts in logistics where I helped set up the venue before and after the event and had one shift in team services helping set up and clean the changing rooms. The majority of my shifts were spent within spectator services where I directed spectators to the venue, their seats and increased their excitement and enthusiasm for the hockey. Within my spectator services role I was assigned different locations within the park, I had shifts on the ‘Vitality Extra Mile’, ‘Fan Central’ and the arena. The majority of my shifts within spectator services were on the ‘Vitality Extra Mile’ which was the walk spectators were directed to take in order to make it to the arena from the train station (Stratford and Stratford International).
For my first shift on the mile I was located on the ‘walk of stars’ which was the final walkway towards the arena. Throughout my shift I stood with another HockeyMaker and directed spectators towards the arena, informing them of what they were not allowed into the venue and what to expect when they arrived at security. I also made conversation with people and smiled in order to keep them as happy as possible while they waiting to get through security and into the venue. Seeing the fans pile in for all the matches along the ‘walk of stars’ showed me exactly how international the event was, with people having traveled from all over in order to support their country. While watching people travel past I couldn’t help but smile at everyone’s pure excitement for the hockey.
My next shift was located in the arena where all the action took place! At the beginning of the shift we were given a tour of the arena in order for new people to learn where everything was located. The tour was definitely beneficial for me as it helped me know where important things were for when spectators would undoubtably ask me questions. I was located at the north stand of the arena where I had to direct people to their seats and inform spectators where food, drink and toilets were ready for half time and the interval between games.
Throughout this shift and all others I was paired with someone else enabling us to chat during quiet times and organise breaks. I loved chatting to the people I would work with each day as they were often different people, all with fantastic stories and personalities. For myself and many others working in the arena was the most exciting as during quite times we were allowed to watch some of the matches and really feel the electric, noisy, passionate atmosphere of the competition. One of my later shifts was also in the arena where I was located in the entrance of the arena, again directing spectators and giving out high fives.
Many of my shifts after these two were in the same areas but different locations. For example, I was located on the ‘vitality extra mile’ for my third shift but was placed within Westfield shopping area where I provided directions to the arena, handed out ‘passports’ (activity/ collection books), wished people enjoyment of the games and informed spectators about the activities available at ‘fan central’. During my shift at Westfield there was a thunderstorm resulting in a pause of play. Due to our distance from the arena we were unsure what to inform spectators as we did not know whether play would be resumed. We directed the spectators towards the arena as the HockeyMaker I was with believed the play would have to resume due to the scheduling of the games. Thankfully the game was resumed so we did not provide any spectators with the wrong information.
For one of my shifts I was originally allocated to the ‘vitality extra mile’ however was reallocated on the day as they had too many volunteers on the mile but not enough within wanding. When I was told I needed to move to wanding I was initially worried as during training I had decided I did not want to help with wanding due to the pressure and responsibility. However, the person I was with was someone I had met on a pervious day and had already done wanding before. This helped to settling my nerves as he reassured me it was simple and enjoyable. Once I was shown how to work the wanding device and as more spectators came through I began to gain comfort and confidence. For me, after that shift I felt a sense of achievement for having taken on a task I was sceptical and slightly scared of performing at the beginning of the process. In addition to facing the challenge of wanding, after most spectators were through we were able to enter the arena ourselves to watch some of the second game.
After having to change one of my shifts I was allocated into a different role which meant I had to learn the ropes of team services. I only had the one shift in team services and was unsure what the expect going into the shift. When I arrived I learnt that I would be helping to clean and set up changing rooms including supplying water bottles, filing ice baths and putting up notes from fans for the athletes. The experience of a different role during the competition opened my eyes into how much goes into creating a large successful sporting event as I had never even thought about who would have to sort out changing rooms, ice baths etc. Although I only had one shift in team services the people I worked with that day were delightful and made me feel at ease despite being new to their team.
During my other shift on the ‘walk of stars’ I was given the responsibility of stamping people’s ‘passports’ for when they had passed the ‘walk of stars’ and taken a selfie at the olympic rings. Within this shift I was rotated to also work on the ‘hockey shy and urban dribble’ which were activities along the mile for people to try out hockey. The hockey shy required people to knock off coconuts with a hockey stick and ball while the urban dribble tested people’s hockey skills along a course.
Finally, for my last shift on the day of the final I was located within ‘fan central’ where I was first assigned to welcome people and occasionally had explain what was going on for those who were passing by. Later I was able to watch the final match on the big screen in fan central which was packed with hopeful fans wishing to get last minute tickets or those enjoying the atmosphere at ‘fan central’. Ending the competition with a shift in ‘fan central’ was wonderful as I could feel the excitement especially from fans who had traveled to feel the environment of the competition and cheer on their country. This also provided me with a sense of pride that I was a part of the team who were making the event so popular and enjoyable for the fans.
As the biggest event England Hockey had ever put on, overall the event was a fantastic success from the spectators’, HockeyMaker’s and the media’s point of view. However, as a first for England Hockey there are of course improvements which could be made in the future. These are my suggestions in order to make an even more successful and enjoyable event in the future.
From a HockeyMaker point of view I feel that shifts could have been managed slightly better with more clear and precise break times given to ensure people were definitely able to rest. Some individuals may not feel comfortable enough to ask for a break due to their personality so stay quite despite needing a rest. In addition, due to the long lengths of shifts a rotation of location half way through could help to keep HockeyMaker’s spirits high. For example, those on the ‘vitality extra mile’ could have rotated positions within Westfield or along the ‘walk of stars’.
While at the event as a spectator I felt the event was organised very well from the activities in ‘fan central’ to the efficiency of seating, food and security in the arena. However, from speaking to others some found prices of ticket to be more than expected especially for the last final fixtures. I’m sure England Hockey will definitely have learnt from this experience due to spectator and HockeyMaker surveys distributed through email. Therefore, I look forward to other England Hockey and hockey events in the future.
Now, some of you may be asking, why would you volunteer at an event over the summer to take part in tiring work for free? For myself, this was an opportunity to meet new people, be involved in a large sporting event and try something new. But as well as this, my experience as a HockeyMaker will undoubtably help me in the future.
Mainly, this experience will provide fantastic material for my CV when applying for a job later in life. From volunteering at the Women’s Hockey World Cup I have developed my skills within team work, communication, customer services and problem solving. It provides anecdotes which can be used in job interviews as evidence for the skills I have list on me CV or job application.
For example, when there was a thunderstorm and I was unsure what to inform spectators about the match I used my initiative and problem solving skills. By thinking logically about the scheduling of the event and the fact the game would be more than likely to resume enabled me to provide the correct information under pressure. These skills of problem solving, using your initiative and working under pressure are attractive attributes for you to have for a future employer.
Friendships one can make from volunteering are also endless as you are guaranteed to interact with people from different backgrounds and jobs. As well as friendship, you will always have the memories of your time as a volunteer, of how you stepped out of your comfort zone to take part in something inspiring and exciting.
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