Blog: 'I hope to take in the football... but it’s the volunteering that counts!'
The English Federation of Disability Sport (EFDS) website features a blog post every Friday through the year.
June's theme is Volunteering. This week, Leon Taylor, a volunteer from Derby, discusses being part of the Cerebral Palsy Football World Championships and the busy time ahead at the tournament.
Leon’s blog:
This week you will find me volunteering at the biggest disability football tournament ever held in England.
From 16-28 June the Cerebral Palsy (CP) Football World Championships is being held at St George’s Park, near Burton-upon-Trent.
The facility is the training base for all 24 England football teams. The current competition is the first ever competitive tournament to be held there, with the hosts joined by 15 other international teams from across the globe.
A number of months ago an announcement was made which invited people to apply for a whole variety of volunteering roles at the CP Football World Championships. The roles on offer included venue assistant, ticketing assistant, team liaison officer, tournament information officer, tournament football co-ordinator and drivers to name but a few.
However, the one which really stood out for me was that of Media and Communications Officer. While my day job is that of trainer for a housing organisation, I have always had a passion for being involved in communications. My awareness of this area of work has increased over the years as I have developed good links with the local media – I have represented Great Britain and England as a CP footballer over a number of years.
The application process required me to put forward my preferred role(s) and explain why I thought I would be a suitable candidate. Some weeks later I underwent a telephone interview, which involved detailed questioning of me by a representative from the Football Association.
I soon received an email which, very excitingly, confirmed that I had been accepted as a member of the team and I was invited to a training day at St George’s Park, which would provide me with an opportunity to find out more about the tournament and my specific role.
At part of the training I was taken on a tour of the facility and then collected my volunteering kit, and I also enjoyed an opportunity to network with other volunteers.
My shifts for the tournament were soon finalised and I couldn’t wait to start on 15 June.
I’m finding that the role is very diverse in nature. I help with all areas of media and communications, including dealing with photographers, journalists, reports and film crews. I will be helping with press, photo and TV requests, along with the mixed zone and press conferences.
I hope to take in quite a lot of the football action too, but of course it’s the volunteering that counts!
