UEFA EURO 2012TM VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER

February 2011 # 4 The year of discovery and great achievements has successfully started. In January we celebrated 500 days to kick off and welcomed new Friends of Euro. The next important milestone is about to come – the Ticket sales launch in March. The ticket portal is now open on uefa.com for you to register your account.

Each month we see the increasing interest in applying to the UEFA EURO 2012™ Volunteer Programme. Thousands of people are expressing their wish to become a volunteer. There is still a long way to the Tournament, but the start of the application process to volunteer for UEFA EURO 2012™ is almost around the corner. Become our Volunteer Programme messenger – make our website and newsletter known to your friends so they can take part in this unforgettable event!

We may support different teams but we all love football and it unites us and helps to move toward a common goal – the success of the UEFA EURO 2012™ in Poland and Ukraine.

“Not a job but a privilege!” Volunteering is not a job but a privilege. Those were my emotions as I caught the 16.35 flight home from Johannesburg International Airport in July 2010. Working at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa was a boyhood dream come true. Never had I thought it would be possible to do a job and feel overwhelmed every day. Watching legends of the game from my television set in to working alongside them was an indescribable feeling. Experiencing the match day buzz as I assisted fans with issues allowed me to have a great insight into the organisation of a major sporting event. Never would I have imagined the technicalities that went into staging a football match, a match that billions of eyes around the world would judge.

The organising committee relied on every volunteer to help make written by Matthew Legg – a volunteer those judgements positive. On non-match days I was based in in Ticketing at 2010 FIFA World Cup in Soweto at the FIFA Ticketing Centre where I assisted supporters South Africa™. buying and collecting tickets. This is where I experienced the other buzz, meeting supporters from all over the world! Hearing stories from Chile to New Zealand and from Korea to Ghana, the tales were incredible. Working in ticketing allowed you to feel the emotions that the players feel during 90 minutes. Elation, despair and exhaustion greeted me on a daily basis from fans desperate for the right ticket to the right game. Being a volunteer allowed me to experience all this and more. You arrive with a hundred questions and you leave with a hundred friends.

VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER

February 2011 # 4

Volunteers Centre Spot

In what way will the Official UEFA EURO Are there other volunteer programmes for 2012™ volunteers benefit from taking UEFA EURO 2012™? part in the Programme? There is only one official UEFA EURO 2012™ The value of volunteering is immense and Volunteers irreplaceable. One way to demonstrate the Programme. We importance of volunteering is to ensure are looking for volunteer contributions are recognised, valued volunteers to and accounted for. work at official UEFA EURO 2012™ Volunteers will enjoy UEFA EURO certain benefits including professional training, 2012™ sites such insurance, an official UEFA EURO 2012™ as stadia, hotels Volunteer Certificate, meals and beverages and airports. For more information please visit the while on duty, UEFA EURO 2012™ Volunteers Programme web Adidas uniforms page. that can be kept The Host Country and Host City governments will after the end of also recruit volunteers to support activities and the Tournament welcome visitors to Poland and Ukraine. and UEFA EURO 2012™ souvenirs. Volunteers will also get a chance to enjoy an exclusive programme of social events before and during the Tournament.

Being a ticketing volunteer. UNICEF & Football. Do you want to be close to football fans? And UNICEF has been associated with football for maybe you also like meeting people from several years. A partnership was agreed between around the the charity and FIFA in 1999 to use football to world? Then prevent children from being recruited as child the ticketing soldiers and to inform them about the dangers of volunteer HIV/AIDS. Football is the universal language of position is scores of millions of people around the world, just for you. including children and The ticketing teenagers. Young people volunteers play in car parks, war will be the zones, on street corners first point of contact for ticket-holders at all - wherever there are eight Host Cities. They will provide information young people, it seems and customer service for ticketing matters at there is football. the stadium and around ticket checkpoints. Many of UNICEF’s local ambassadors are world- They will also be responsible for checking seats class footballers, including David Beckham, Iván to prevent seating problems on match days Zamorano, Slaven Bilić, Oliver Bierhoff, Francesco and assisting the ticketing team in dealing with Totti. Discover more on the Football section at problems. UNICEF web page.

Did you know that…?

 … the first European Championships in football were held in France in 1960, and none of the winning countries exists any longer? The former Soviet Union won gold, Yugoslavia took silver and Czechoslovakia went home with bronze.  … Bidone d'Oro, Italian for the "Golden Trashcan", a play on Ballon d'Or, is a tongue-in-cheek prize given to the worst footballer in each year?

VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER

February 2011 # 4

Dribbling towards UEFA EURO 2012™

Friends of UEFA EURO 2012™

“500 days to go” was an occasion to announce new Friends of UEFA EURO 2012™. In Poland four new Friends were introduced: famous actor and singer Bohdan Łazuka; Marek Kamiński, explorer, the first person to reach both Poles in one year; Jan Mela, explorer, the first disabled person (and the youngest – being 15 at the time) to reach both Poles; and former Polish national team coach Antoni Piechniczek. The Friends of EURO group expanded also as the City of Wroclaw presented its nominations: Polish and Manchester United FC goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak, crime writer and linguist Marek Krajewski and Polish film and theatre actress Magdalena Schejbal. Learn more about future Friends of EURO in February on uefa.com and in the next issue of Volunteer Newsletter!

On 25 January 2011, three celebrities joined the honorary club of Friends of UEFA EURO 2012™. Olesya Telizhenko is the fashion designer who won the bid for the development of the ornamental pattern for the UEFA EURO 2012™ hostess uniform for. The two other Friends, Oleksandr Pedan and Sergiy Pritula, are TV hosts and popular showmen. They will be on the jury of the Ukrainian football fans creativity contest - “Let’s support our national Team – let’s create history together”. You can also join the exclusive group of the UEFA EURO 2012™ Friends by taking part in the contest. Hurry up as it is already under way!

Scoring opportunities

1 March 2011: UEFA EURO 2012™ tickets on sale.

25 June – 4 July 2011: Special Olympics World Summer Games ATHENS 2011. Click here if you wish to volunteer during the Olympics.

26 June – 17 July 2011: Around 4,000 volunteers will assist in running the FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011™. Wish to join the Volunteer Team? Apply here.

Extra time

Sport volunteering in Belgium Sport voluntary activities in Belgium are on the rise, with volunteering remaining popular among different age groups. According to the European Volunteer Centre, Belgians devote on average 5 hours weekly and 40 hours yearly to non-paid voluntary activities. In 2006, a detailed legal framework was established to define voluntary activities at all levels, stating that: volunteering activity should be unpaid, society-oriented, benevolent, and different from the execution of a professional activity. Among those who regularly volunteer in the sport sector the majority are men, at 83.1%, with only 16.9% of women.

VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER

February 2011 # 4

Exclusive

Leszek Blanik, Polish gymnast, World and Olympic champion in vault, Friend of UEFA EURO 2012™ It is natural that during such important sport events as the European Championship, the World Championship or the Olympic Games numerous groups of volunteers are on board. For me, their presence was particularly strong during the Olympics - both in Sydney and in Beijing. A great number of enthusiastic persons were there to help us in moving around the Olympic Village and at all sport venues. They assisted us unselfishly, with high commitment. Without the volunteers who give us their time and their hearts the final organisational success of any sport venture would be impossible.

Sergiy Prytula, Ukrainian showman, TV host, Friend of UEFA EURO 2012™

Being a volunteer is prestigious around the world. Famous people traditionally join the volunteer movement. Now it is possible in Ukraine. UEFA EURO 2012™ Volunteers Programme opens a fabulous world of possibilities and provides the chance to join the creation of history and do something good for our country. You can get new exciting experience, practice foreign languages, and test yourself. I wish all the volunteers to be inspired by personal victory over the circumstances and winning of the Ukrainian national football team.

Links

UEFA EURO 2012™ Volunteers page

Contact us! Questions? Comments? Stories about your sports volunteering experience? Ideas? Write to us! [email protected]

If you do not wish to receive UEFA Volunteers’ Newsletter, please send an e-mail to the Volunteer Team. In the subject line write: ‘Unsubscribe’.