Volunteers, the Heart of the Universiade

TRENTINO – Volunteering is an essential part for the smooth running of an event like the Universiade. Due to the large number of volunteers and the importance of its work, its management is organized in different phases and requires months of work.

The ultimate goal is to have enough human resources depending on the needs of each operational area and the event budget. Gualtiero Chini is one of the managers of volunteering in Trentino 2013.

Together with his colleagues, he has selected about 1,700 volunteers from over 2,000 applications: “In order to optimize the volunteers management we have asked mainly for the highest availability” he explains. Volunteers must be available to lend a hand “in the morning, evenings, weekends …”

Along with availability, another requirement for volunteers is to have accommodation around the sports facility where they work.

There are two types of volunteers in the Universiade: those who have been recruited by the organization for general tasks, about 700 with headquarters at Trento, and those belonging to each of the facilities. “We have places with tradition in organizing high level competitions events, therefore they already have a good network of volunteers, recruited and managed directly by the venue and competition managers” says Chini.

60% of the volunteers are students, and among them, 20% are foreigners: “Most of the international volunteers who are foreigners were already enrolled at Trento University.” Besides having accommodation in Trentino, international volunteers have had to establish a fluid Italian. For this reason, the organizing committee rejected some international applications, a good number of them from Russia.

During the 10 days of the Universiade, volunteers gain knowledge and experience in their respective areas. The Organizing Committee and FISU distribute after the event diplomas accrediting the work of the volunteer in the Universiade.

Javier Morales, FISU Young Reporter