The Dead-end to Sochi 2014 - Winter Olympics!

Following the start of the London 2012 Games, my time in London as a spectator at the Olympic Games, and the excitement building up to my Games Maker Experience.......I decided enough was enough and I wanted to do it all again already! So 2 weeks before I headed to London for the Paralympic Games I submitted my application for Sochi 2014!!

Wednesday 15th August 2012 - Registered my interest & applied for Sochi 2014!
The application form was very similar to London 2012's - I'll update this part later :)

Monday 27th August 2012 - Invite to complete the English Test!
This led to a manic check of application status on the website the first and second time! But on the second time, I decided to check through my application form! Aha! My volunteer positions had been changed..... was this a good or a bad thing!


The application form wasn't too dissimilar to the London 2012 application form. Very similar layout and questions......very easy to complete and I definitely had enough to write for each question!!

"Dear Mr/Mrs Lazenby,

We are pleased that you wish to become a volunteer and play a part in the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi! Volunteers will be the driving force at the forthcoming Games, helping to create a uniquely hospitable and cordial atmosphere, and welcoming millions of visitors to Russia!"

"Your application has been completed successfully. The creation of your Volunteer Portal account is been processed."

English Test?? Ahhhh!! I'm hopeless at English - being more a maths and science person, I've never stressed over a language test so much in my life!

"Dear Nicola,

Thank you for your readiness to contribute to the XXII Olympic Winter Games and the XI Paralympic Games in Sochi as a volunteer. It is these volunteers who will be the main driving force behind the Games, creating the unique atmosphere of hospitality Russia is preparing to show millions of guests.

Knowledge of the English language is one of the key components of our success and, because of this, one of the steps to becoming a volunteer is a test of your knowledge of English."

This email was received 2 days before heading to London, with the excitement, I decided it would be best to wait until I came back to complete the test! I complete the test on Thursday 13th September 2013...... surprisingly I didn't receive confirmation or, a pass or fail 

Thursday 8th November 2013 - Invited to Interview!!

A nice surprise dropped into my inbox inviting me for interview! This was VERY exciting!!  

"Dear Mr/Mrs Lazenby,

You have been invited to the Interview_OCOG interview. With your valid User name and password, you can log-in to your personal application"

Selecting a time for interview took forever! Originally I didn't realise the time was in Moscow time, so booked a 9am interview.....in the UK, this equated to a 5am interview.....Oh no! I am certainly not my best at 5am! After a lot more time spent confusing myself, I decided to go for a 4pm interview Moscow time, this mean that my interview would either be at 12pm or 8pm.....with the 4 hour time difference!

I'd also decided I'd go back to my parents to have the interview, as I live in a shared student house, I didn't want to rely on my house mates not interrupting me, the internet breaking down, or my neighbours loud music not blasting out their music! 

Sunday 11th November 2013 - Interview Day!!

Now that I'm definitely not going to Sochi, and aren't under any sort of 'Volunteer Agreement' (mentioned later in the post!) I thought I'd share exactly what the interview was like....

To start with I was expected to produce my passport and show it on the camera. Having left my passport in Sheffield and returned to my parents house unaware I needed my passport, it's safe to say I didn't have it to produce!

It was very similar to the London 2012 Interview, but unique due to the fact the question were translated from Russian. "When have you lost your head?" Being one of them... It was very annoying that when I didn't fully understand the question I was being asked, it appeared that the girl interviewing me, didn't know English well enough to rephrase the question.This was very frustrating and lead me to think my interview was being recorded for someone to score it at a later date.

After a 'personal qualities' questioning, I then got handed over to a guy who was interviewing me from the Protocol team. This was a series of 'yes or no' questions, e.g. "Do you enjoy speaking face to face with people?", "Are you organised?".... nothing more was to be said other than yes or no... I found this slightly off putting but never mind! Towards the end I got asked a few questions that I was allowed to expand on. 

Throughout the interview, there was no follow up questions. Having interviewed for London 2012, I expected to be asked similar question and have follow up question/conversation about my answers, but this didn't happy. It was very much 1 question, then the next moving promptly on.

Note: I stated on my application form I didn't speak any Russian, hence the English Interview!

Saturday 17th November, Thursday 29th November - Personal Data Updated

On a few occasions I received an email like the one below....

"Dear Mr/Mrs Lazenby,

Your personal data have been updated.

The Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee"

Tuesday 25th December - BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER!

Having just ate my Christmas dinner, I returned to the living room to chill out in front of some Christmas films. I checked my phone and noticed this email....

"Добрый день!

Мы поздравляем Вас с наступающим Новым Годом и рады сообщить, что Вы успешно прошли все этапы отбора на позицию Ассистент Национальных Олимпийских и Паралимпийских комитетов и теперь переходите на следующий этап – Обучение!"

I presumed this was just a Merry Christmas email, but thought I'd best go and get my laptop to check it out. It turns out this the above actually means.........

"Good day!

We wish you a Happy New Year and happy to announce that you have successfully passed all stages of the selection to the position of Assistant to the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees and now move on to the next stage - Education!"

Wow!!! Really??!?! I'd been accepted?? I couldn't quite believe it, and put it down to the meaning being lost in translation. By boxing day I was wanting English confirmations, so I decided to email them.....

"Hello!

Merry Christmas and thank you for your email.

Would it be possible for you to email me in English? I have no understanding of the Russian language.

By using Google Translate I have read that I have been accepted for a role at the Sochi 2014 Games – could you confirm this in case what I have read has been lost in translation?

Kind regards,

Nicola"

Then I waited for my reply........Having originally applied for and been interviewed for the protocol team, it appeared I'd been moved to the NOC/NPC role!

Thursday 10th January 2013 - The confirmation!!

I was now back in Sheffield, as I was locking the front gate I heard my phone receive an email. Just as I was getting to the corner of the street I read it.....

"Hello, Nicola!

You are right, you are Assigned on the NOC/NPC Assistants position!

Sorry for our mistake! 

Next time we will send you English-version of a letter!"

Yiipppeeee!! If I hadn't have been in the street I'd have probably squealed with joy!! It was true!! I was going to Sochi....as long as I completed the training!

Here is the job description for the role I am set to carry out! Can't wait!

Tuesday 6th August 2013 - Training or maybe not!
This morning I woke up to an email in Russian detailing some volunteer training - after translating the email:

"Congratulations!

You have successfully completed training in your volunteer center and at the moment we are pleased to invite you to the portal training games, which collected all the necessary content for the Sochi 2014 Games, including test items and more - much more!

Click on the link and fill out all the information about yourself and before you open special sections with materials training courses on "My games", "My job" and "My object"

If you have questions on the use of the portal, go to the special section "About the service."

To access the site, please use the manual entry of username and password. In case of problems with login, please contact the technical service.

Team EXECT BUSINESS TRAINING"

I then logged into the volunteer training pages, only to find it was all in Russian! Google Chrome's Translate feature worked well on translating this, until it came to videos and Pdf's that required translation! 

Thinking something wasn't right, I emailed my functional area to double check the email was meant for me and if it was available in English. The functional area were amazing and emailed back within no time! :D

Turns out the email was sent to me by mistake as international volunteer training will be carried out in Sochi tight before the games!

Now I can sit back and relax whilst I wait for my travel dates and further information!!! :D

Tuesday 10th September 2013 - Volunteer Agreement Arrived!

Woop! Today I received an email with my volunteer agreement!!

"Dear volunteer!

We congratulate you on the successful passage of the stages of selection: tests and interviews. There is still a lot of interesting contacts, events, fascinating work at the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi.

Now you will have a very important stage - the signing of the agreement with the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee. Please pay special attention to this document. Filling the agreement is a prerequisite for obtaining a visa."

Completed my agreement - posted it 1st class, recorded delivery to ensure it gets there! Look like I'm one step closer :D

Thursday 26th September 2013 to Wednesday 2nd October 2013

After reading through my application form online again, hoping something had changed, indicating they actually still knew I existed, I realised that I was now available a lot longer than I originally expected to be, so emailed my functional area manager just to let her know.... 

This is when I received a response that literally changed my future:

"Nicola,

At this moment you are in the list of volunteers who are in “Reserve”. You have a great experience and we want you to come in Sochi. The only reason why we can’t tell you that you will be NOC/NPC Assistant – you don’t speak Russian language. Now we can’t promise you that you would come to Sochi."

Having spend since Christmas Day 2012 looking forward to my adventure to Sochi, saving my PhD grant to pay for flights and spending money.... it turns out I'm no longer wanted, based on the fact that I don't speak Russian! 

I feel the need to point out, knowledge of the Russian Language was never given as an essential prerequisite to volunteer at the games. I also never suggested that I knew Russian (see my application form for proof!). My only remarks on the language side of things was when I had a definite response to being accepted (i.e. my portal status changed) I would then look to learn Russian.

Originally I applied for a completely different functional area, but the Sochi Organisers changed my role following my interview. I had intended to begin learning Russian at a local night class, based on the fact I thought it would be personally useful for my trip, not essential for my role! 

You can imagine the annoyance I felt towards this response, if I'd have been informed that my acceptance required me to learn Russian, I'd have happily been learning Russian and would have a pretty good understanding by now! The other thing that really upset me, was the fact this response following an email from myself, how much longer would I have been living the false dream of being a Sochi 2014 volunteer before they would have informed me I was now only a reserve? 

I still have a lot of questions I'd like to be answered by the Sochi 2014 volunteer management team, as I feel massively let down by the whole process. Maybe this is 'just the Russian way' of doing things, but surely this is not the way the Olympic Volunteer Legacy of London 2012 should be being continued. Getting the hopes up of volunteers only to crush them, for me this is the organising team in Sochi abusing the power they have been given to recruit the Games Time volunteers. This is hardly following the Olympic and Paralympic Values!

I must add, although my storey appears to be pretty unique, after speaking with other London 2012 Games Makers, the storey of confusion, chaotic organisation and very little respect from organisers in Sochi appears to be consistent! 

It's been 13 days since I emailed Sochi for an answer to my only question, which they have failed to answer, by skirting around the question in previous emails. So unless I get a response, this is my final communication with Sochi 2014......

"Why was I told 10 months ago I had been accepted onto the team to find out now that I am not on the team because I don't speak Russian? You were aware of this fact when you sent me the initial email saying I had passed the selection process and all that remained was training before you welcomed me to Sochi. You have also accepted volunteers who don't speak Russian into the NOC/NPC role - so why am I different?"

::Games (maker) Over::

Thursday 17th October 2013

Talk about confusing - this has just landed in my inbox:

"Dear Sochi 2014 Volunteer,

It’s less than 4 months left before Sochi, Russia, will host Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2014.

We ask you to pass several learning modules prior to your work at the Games. And we are very glad to invite you to our distance learning portal: [website link]. Sign in right now:

Your login is: 

Your password is: 

That’s what you’ll find at the portal:

- general information about the Olympics, Paralympics, the host city, venues and sports (“My Games” module)

- description of skills we expect from an effective volunteer (“My Skills” module)

- job-specific information, your role and functions at the Games (“My Job” module)

- venue-specific knowledge and the related policies and procedures (“My Venue” module)

We also need to kindly draw your attention to the fact that this learning is mandatory for all Games volunteers, and you need to pass all necessary tests to have the online training completed.

Right before your first shift in Sochi or very soon after you’ll also have few onsite trainings.

We’re looking forward to see you at the Games!

Sochi 2014 Learning and Development Team"

Right before my first shift? Has my status now changed? I doubt it since I'm still under the impression I'm a reserve! This is just another confusion to add to that of Sochi 2014. It's fair to say that until I have confirmation I'm required in Sochi, I won't be spending my time completing the training!

Saturday 19th October 2013 - Volunteer Agreement Returned!
So even though I posted it, to the exact address given by the Organising Committee..... My volunteer agreement made it to Russian, but not to Sochi....and it now back at my address! Excellent! I'm afraid this won't be getting reposted until I know if I am actually going to get to Sochi..... So far my volunteer agreement as made it further than me!..... the storey continues!

BUCS Gatorade Nationals: Sheffield

Date: 22nd to 24th February 2013

Location: English Institute of Sport Sheffield (EIS)
Mission: British Universities & Colleges Sport Gatorade Nationals
Role: Volunteer Coordinator

Volunteering for the BUCS Gatorade Nationals began on Wednesday 20th February 2012, with a volunteer training session held at the EIS. On arrival I was issued with my stylish BUCS t-shirt - although I was slightly confused as to why my small t-shirt was definitely not what you'd usual class as small! Apparently this is due to it being a Rugby Brand......!!! Anyway....At the same time as my t-shirt I was giving the volunteer bible, detailing how the weekend would run, what was going on where and who to call, if all else failed!

The training session began with a ice breaker quiz, not being from Sheffield I pretty much failed this as they asked you to identify the athletes from an obscure photographs! I did however get Jess Ennis correct and guessed at they were all from Sheffield! The next part of the quiz was a 'What happened next...?' style video section. Again, I was terrible at this and it's fair to say I was definitely not the the winner of the quiz! I was pretty glad I was hiding at the back of the room!

Next up in the training (now the ice was broken!) the BUCS team went through a background to what BUCS is all about and why it is such a successful event - being a university student I already knew about BUCS and what they stand for so this bit wasn't anything new! The session went onto talk about the sponsors and what Gatorade would be up to at the event. For many events there are not a sponsor present in the way that Gatorade would be, so I was interested to find out how their involvement would affect the mood of the event. The final session was an introduction the staff and volunteer coordinators for the event to the rest of the volunteers! This is where I had to stand up and give a wave....only to receive abuse about my Sooty and Sweep Jumper...hehe! At the end of the training I was given my shifts for the weekend....nice 24hrs of my life in 2 days would be spent volunteering here...is it sad that.....I just couldn't wait for the weekend! :D

Overall, it was a pretty standard training session, 30mins long, nothing out of the ordinary with regards to content. What would have been greatly beneficial at the training session was to have a walk around the venue to familiarise myself and the other volunteers of the positions volunteers would be covered, so that it wasn't such a mad dash at the weekend - but never mind!

My volunteering for BUCS started on the Friday night at the VIP Launch of the competition. This event was held in Sheffield's Winter Gardens and was a very chilled affair in more ways than one! I'd been told to prepare a 5minutes speech on my volunteering experience, how I got involved with sports volunteering and the 'other skills' gained from volunteering! All day in the office at Uni, I'd had my BUCS T-shirt and smart trousers hanging up to ensure I was smart and professional looking, only to be asked multiple question about what my latest volunteer event was about!

I had prepared my speech in the week leading up to the event and knew I was the first of 3 speakers for the evening. Following myself there was Isobel Pooley an high jumper from Nottingham University, and Toby Thie, an athletics coach from Cardiff Met University - all sharing their experience of what it's like to be at a BUCS event.

My speech was typical of me, having gave a few speeches in my time I was totally at ease in front of the small gathering there for the event. My speech ran through my volunteering to date, including my London 2012 involvement along side my regular netball volunteering at Sheffield Stormers. As per usual, there were the odd bits of humour which seemed to go down well, especially the fact that I must be from the north since I was only wearing my t-shirt in a some what baltic winter garden!. Luckily I'd checked with the compare Alex as to how he was going to introduce me, otherwise part of my speech would have been dead in the water! 

When ever I volunteer at these events, people always presume I'm doing sports at University and all this volunteering is just to add to my CV when I graduate. How wrong could they be!! As I highlighted in my speech - volunteering for me isn't about the experience for my CV.

I won't bore you with the whole things, just the more interesting bits.....

"From hearing my experiences, like most people I speak to at sports events you’ll have presumed I'm heading for a career in sports, or at least something along those lines. This couldn't be any further from the true. I'm actually a civil engineer, now studying a PhD at the University of Sheffield.

Many of my friends don’t understand why I choose to give up my weekends, pay to stay in London, travel all over the country volunteering, when it has nothing to do with my future career. All my friends see of my volunteering experiences is the range of t-shirts, pin badges and baton I now own, but volunteering is more than that.

What my friends who haven’t volunteered before don’t see is that, volunteering, allows you to develop transferable skills which are applicable to any career path you choose. Whether I’m volunteering on a Saturday morning with Sheffield Stormers Netball Club, or in the middle of the Olympic Park doing a song and dance, I’m gaining vital life experiences and developing skills applicable in my everyday life and my university course, whilst also having an amazing time!

Volunteering develops skills, without you really noticing, such as your customer service skills whilst selling programmes, organisational skills, whilst coordinating a team of 30 volunteers and time management when it comes to those early starts! One of the greatest skills developed through volunteering is the ability to work as a team. Basically, being part of a group of people, from all different walks of life, coming together as one team to make an event run like clockwork – where else do you get such an opportunity?

I must admit, for me, the thing that makes volunteering most addictive, is the people I meet, the friendships I make and the totally unforgettable experiences I have to tell my friends and family about!"

[[Sadly, being the one giving the speech and my parents not being present, I was unable to snap a stylish photo of myself at the lecture in front of the BUCS Gatorade sign-age.......sad times as it would have been ideal here!]]

Following my speech it was excellent to hear the views of Isobel and Toby, gaining an inside into what these events mean to them, representing the other people involved in a BUCS event! After the speeches were all done and dusted there was a final chance to network, munch on the delicious canapés and finish off a glass of wine before my none stop weekend!

I had been hoping a representative from Sports Sheffield would have been present at the event as I'd hoped to have a chat about how the university supports sports volunteering. During my time at Sheffield, I've noticed a massive difference in sports volunteering culture between my time at Newcastle University and my  time now at  the University of Sheffield, so was hoping to have a chat with them, but today wasn't going to be my day!

My weekend began with a 8:15am start.....which lead to me being stuck in traffic outside EISS for a good 20mins - I'll never learn that there is ALWAYS more traffic on a Saturday when there is an event on, compared to my normal Saturday mornings coaching netball!

I'm always amazed at how the same venue can be transformed to look totally different for every event I volunteer at. I love the way a bit of branding can totally change what is usual deemed as 'normal' training venue for many athletes into something a bit more special!

Having not volunteering that long in Sheffield (in comparison to the hardy regulars!) spotting the volunteers I was coordinating that day was a bit of a challenge and as per usual I seemed very rude not knowing their names! I normally like to be able to use peoples names and have something to relate to them about as I'm quite an open and friendly personality, so the first few hours felt a little awkward for me. Saying that, it wasn't long before I'd learn everyone's names and issued them with a lunch voucher and a rota detailing their volunteer positions and when their all important lunch breaks were!!

This weekend, the volunteers were different to the usual crowd! Mixed in with the usual bunch of the Sheffield Council Volunteering team were some students from Sheffield's Universities and some Games Makers from Sheffield. It was good to have some new faces around and some refresh volunteers ready to get going volunteering in their local area - strengthening the legacy from London 2012 of creating a volunteer work force!!!

Having previously volunteered at events with a different event management team (I'll name no names...hehe), it was a totally different experience (and a massive relief!) to be volunteering with the BUCS team! I've never know an event management team by so relaxed and chilled out, and yet put on a successful event! It was great to be giving more responsibility to be left to do my job without constant radio/telephone calls about trivial things!

By the end of the Saturday, looking at the rota, there was only myself plus 1 volunteer down to be volunteering from 7:00pm till 9:30pm - thinking this was a little strange and maybe unnecessary I double checked with the volunteer manager who to my delighted said my thinking was correct and they'd manage without us for the rest of the evening as G4S were also covering the event! This meant........ EARLY FINISH!! By the time I got finished up and into the car I was relieved at the early finish. Although  if I'd have been needed I'd have happily stayed, but once I'd stopped being on the go I was most definitely ready for bed!

After a few hours of sleep (no thanks to my silly noisy neighbours!!!) I was back at EIS for 8am the next morning, ready and raring to  go! Again, it was a mix of volunteers from a variety of backgrounds, adding a bit of interest to the day! On the Sunday I was kept on my toes as the day wound down and volunteer positions were no longer needed, as they'd been specified, meaning volunteers were reallocated to different roles, and to some of the team, the joys of an early finish!

By 5:30pm all athletics competition has finished, with just some badminton still going on at the EISS. At this point I was relieved to hear I wasn't going to be required until 7pm as I'd previously been told! My bed was definitely calling after the busy, but totally enjoyable weekend!

To sum up my weekend of BUCS, I'd have to say it was an event like no other -what with the over sized t-shirts, relaxed (but successful!!) event management and the student vibe about the event. Not even the volunteers were the same as usual! The only thing which was the same as previous events was the volunteer packed lunches - the delight of a high calorie treat for the middle of your shift ;)



Giving my speech on the Friday night gave me a nice reminder as to why I volunteer in sport and what makes it most addictive! I couldn't help but reflect on this over the weekend, thinking about the points I'd made to all those gathered at the Winter Gardens. It was true, it's all about the people you meet and share the experience with, along with the practical aspect of using the skills gained from other events.....I even collected a BUCS pin badge to add to the collection, so my friends could see I did take "something" away from the event!


Hopefully the BUCS Gatorade Nationals will return to Sheffield next year...Fingers cross it won't be when Sochi for the winter Olympics, meaning I can get involved again!