Volunteer programmes presented at FISU Volunteers leaders academy

The first-ever forum of the leaders of the volunteer movement from FISU (International University Sports Federation) member countries continues at the Volga Region Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism. The forum brought together more than 100 volunteers from 91 countries.

As the half way of the event is already crossed, the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy is one step closer to its end. The participants gave a presentation on the volunteer programmes of their countries and put forward new ideas in the field of sport volunteering, gaining the points for every activity in the contest of the most active volunteer.

The winners of the contest will be given an opportunity to undergo the English trainings by EF at the best universities of the Great Britain and a study trip to Chinese Taipei, where the next Summer Universiade will take place in a month.

For more than five hours the assembly hall of the Academy was full of cheers and lively discussions, breaking the silence of the vacations.

Practically each delegate decided to use a chance and to speak in front of the audience. And not only in front of their peers but also in front of members of the International FISU Jury, who attended all the presentations and acknowledged the most impressive and interesting presentations with additional points.

"In my opinion, all participants presented themselves well. We saw the presentations of the true leaders as well as just some decent presentations. You could see the people gathered here are really interesting. Of course, there are much work left. In the countries where the volunteer movement is only growing, the recruiting processes only begin, but this is exactly the main objective and purpose of our forum –  to bring together the most active volunteers in the field of sport thanks to the educational programmes and group discussions," says Kole Gjeloshaj, FISU Director EducationalServices Director and Protocol Coordinator.

"Anyway it was a fantastic experience for us," said Pego Modise of Botswana. "We've managed to overcome our fear, stage fright and prepared a presentation about our countries' cultures, development of various sports and volunteer programmes. I think that the team presentations block was quite productive – we had the exchange of experience, thoughts, ideas, knowledge, we got answers to questions and put forward suggestions.”

A presentation delivered by a Senegalese representative, Ndeye Mbaye, was one of the highlights of the day.  The Africa-born volunteer decided to warm up the audience: before launching the slide show he switched on Senegalese folk music and invited everyone to join him for a dance.

"To be honest, I was nervous. I knew that there will be an opportunity for me to speak at the forum; I've been preparing hard but I didn't expect that I will have to give a speech in front of such a huge audience and the  jury made up of FISU's top executives. I think that the audience noticed my nervousness, although I tried to lighten the atmosphere by playing a lively song before the presentation," he concluded.

Apart from self-presentations, Day 4 of the forum was headlined by a presentation of the volunteer programme for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, group activities on volunteer management and lectures by JTA company expert, Anna Manuelian, who talked about communications and media relations at sports events.

"It makes me feel sad that the forum comes to an end. During the past several days we've become family. We've studied, had fun and spent time together. We've learned a lot and revised our opinions about volunteering, sport and life in general. We come back home completely different persons. And this is all thanks to our experience at the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy," Paula Vasconcelos of Brazil shared her impression of the forum.

The volunteer forum will run until July 8.