Odyssey by Numbers - Thank you!
It takes a whole squad of people to make athletics happen in the Odyssey Arena.
As well as all the staff and technical officials who work tirelessly to ensure all the event systems are in place and working on the day, the ANI Volunteer Squad, placement students and trainee officials take care of the roles you can’t always see, or wouldn’t think about.
A conservative count tallies the number of volunteer roles over last weekend’s event as:
Over 200 technical officials
4 x team manager check in
14 x athlete check in
2 x media check in
8 x programme & merchandise sellers
40 x basket carriers (to look after athletes’ belongings)
30 x sports massage students
10 x start list & results runners
2 x media assistants
3 x arena assistants to help the officials (or 23 if you have Grosvenor Grammar helping as we did!)
10 x primary school event coaches
4 x results team
On each day there were also 10 ANI staff, Athletics Ireland staff, 2 physios, 2 athletics first aid, Odyssey first aid, 5 drug testers, a catering crew, 50 TV crew, Odyssey Staff at every door in and throughout the arena plus tech support, mechanical support, wiring, box office… and that’s bound to be forgetting something!
So I make that around 320 volunteer roles and at least 120 organising staff.
Athletics NI has received some fantastic feedback about the 2012 event, and wishes to extend huge thanks to everyone who played their part.
Hopefully the above list highlights how important the volunteer commitment is in putting on an event like the Woodies DIY Irish Indoor Athletics Championships, and we are always looking out for new recruits for all our events.
To register on the ANI Volunteer Squad, or to learn more about becoming an event official, please email Jenni Robinson on info@athleticsni.org
If you would like to volunteer within day to day athletics, why not contact your local club? Visit www.athleticsni.org/Clubs
