#8 Let’s hear it for the Pivoteers!

As we creep closer and closer to that much anticipated opening ceremony it’s easy to forget the sheer enormity of putting on an event of this size.

I believe the actual bid to host the World Cup was submitted 6 years ago and a hell of a lot of work would have been put in to that bid, before Liverpool was even given the green light! There will be hundreds of people ‘behind the scenes’ who have gotten us to this point and can proudly say ‘yes, I had a part in that’ and I take my hat off to them!

Unless you’ve been involved in event organisation of this magnitude I doubt you can fully comprehend the sheer amount of work and effort put in to make it a success. I find organising local tournaments for 10+ teams stressful! You can never please all the people all of the time!

No doubt there will have been blips along the way - occasional errors of judgement in recruitment, keys locked in vans and the odd website melt down but actually 90,000 tickets sold and ticket sales exceeding all expectations, tells its own story!

You also have the people behind the teams - those 16 nations don’t just hop on a plane, rock up at the M&S arena for their first match with everything falling into place at the last minute! It will take months of meticulous planning to get everything just right and that’s before you start on the specifics for the players and coaching teams!

The real heroes of course are the ‘Pivoteers’ - the name given to the volunteers who will be selling programmes, directing crowds, flag waving and acting as ball girls at the World Cup. What an honour to be chosen and I hope every single one of them will have the best experience possible, their selfless act of volunteering surely deserves it.

I had the honour of leading a group of young volunteers at the World Netball Series (pre Fast 5s!)  in Liverpool in 2010. They were awesome and an absolute credit to the college I was working for,  at the time. It’s worth bearing in mind that they paid for their own accommodation, food and drink for the tournament and were never guaranteed watching any of the matches. They did have an amazing experience and memories that will last forever, I’m sure  will be no different for the Pivoteers!

For me though, these volunteers should be called Pivotals! As with all Netball, up and down the country, the game  doesn’t happen without extraordinary volunteers.

So, if you’re heading up to Liverpool (and from feedback I know a lot of you are!) please take a moment to show your appreciation. Whether it’s a high five or a simple thank you, those Pivoteers are pivotal to the event and it couldn’t be done without them!