In Limbo At The Moment!!

What a strange feeling. After the euphoria of being involved in the Olympics, I am now at home waiting to go back to the Paralympics. So now in a hollow between to periods of huge excitement. If the Paralympics turns out to be half as good as the Olympics, something that I personally feel will be an understatement, then it is going to be fantastic. Only slight downside to it all is that my shifts are all for the run up to the Paras and I actually finish the day before the Paras begin. Think I will have to ensure that I hang around for a couple of days after my shifts finish and see what I can get to watch with my "access all venues" accreditation pass. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Olympics - What A Fantastic Day

Last Thursday I attended a Test Event, The London International Basketball Invitational, at the Olympic Park as part of my efforts to become a Gamesmaker volunteer. What a day it was. The Olympic Basketball Arena is a magnificent sight both from the outside and the inside. Going into this 12,000 seat arena was enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck.

This was the first Test Event to be held in the park, most of which seems to me to still be a building site, although that is not surprising as it is a huge area, and as such the eyes of the whole Olympic organising committee were on the event. Needless to say it went without a hitch as far as I am aware.

The day consisted of an orientation period within the arena, including the front-of-house, the arena itself and the back-of-.house. This was followed by some role specific training and then we took part in several scenarios designed to build personal confidence in the volunteers and also to develop the teamwork necessary for us to do the job. After a lunch-break we watched the game between France and China, which, althought the arena was less than half-full, really brought home the excitement and atmosphere that we will be working within. Brilliant.

All in all a really worthwile experience and one that has made me even more determined to gain selection as a volunteer at the 2102 Olympics. Fingers and everything else crossed that sometime between September and Christmas I will have my place confirmed.

Olympics - Big Day Nearly Here

Imagine my excitement when I switched on the TV this morning and saw a piece on the International Basketball competition taking place in the Olympic Basketball Arean in the Olympic Park. Why should I be excited? Well on Thursday I will be there taking part. I won't be playing basketball I hasten to add but I will be there as part of the Test Event Team as I am in line for selection as a volunteer.

As some of you will know I have been selected for training as part of the Anti-Doping Team for the Olympics. Thursday will be a huge step along the road for me as I will have the opportunity to do this for real and show what I am capable of. Fingers crossed all goes well and I am successful in my attempts to be selected for the games themselves.

My excitement was heightened further at lunchtime when I received a phone call from Rod Whiting at Radio Lincolnshire. They want to do a piece on me and have me talk about the event live sometime on Friday. I recorded a short piece for them today. Have to say that I dried up at one point. Honestly I did. This will come as a real surprise for those that know me. Hope that doesn't happen when I go live on Friday.

Roll on Thursday. It can't come quickly enough.

The Olympic Dream Gets Nearer!

As my regular readers will be aware I have applied to be a volunteer at both the Olympics and Paralympics next year and am being considered to be part of the Anti-Doping Team. I have blogged about this previously and if you wish to see how this has progressed or is progressing you might like to take a look at my previous dribblings at:

http://steveodare.blogspot.com/2011/01/me-at-2012-london-olympics-i-hope-so.html

http://steveodare.blogspot.com/2011/02/me-at-2012-london-olympics-big.html

Back to the present. Things are, rather excitingly, moving on. I have been invited to take part in a Test Event in August that will take place at the Basketball Arena on the Olympic Park itself.

The event itself is the  London International Basketball Invitational which is a truly international sporting event with not only the GB Team taking part but the national sides of Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia also.
More details of the event can be found here:
http://www.hoopsfix.com/2011/05/london-international-basketball-invitational-announced/

To say that I am excited about this prospect would truly be an under-statement. What will I be like if I actually do get selected as a true Olympic volunteer? Doesn't bear thinking about to be honest!

Prior to the event I have to attend some training which will take place at the Hackney Community College in London. Starts at 9.00 am. Looks like a very early start for me travelling from Skegness! The things I do for Queen and country!

I am hoping to learn an awful lot more about how an Anti-Doping team works and to gain experience of working behind the scenes at a large international sporting event as well as proving my mettle to those who will be making the final selection for the volunteering roles.

I will update again once it has all taken place. Wish me luck!!!

A Fantastic Coup For Skegness

I don't know if it is me being thick, no comments thank you, but I have only just realised just what a fantastic coup for Skegness this years SO Festival is going to be as Games Time comes to Skegness between 22nd and 24th July.

Games Time is very much linked to the London Olympics of 2012 and as such will have some fantastic publicity.

As I understand it Skegness was selected from a large number of applicants to stage this fantastic event along with 4 major cities in the UK. For Skegness to beat of bids from some of the major cities in this country is a fantastic achievement.

Apparently, last years SO Festival attracted an extra 30,000 visitors to the town and an extra spend of £1.25 millinon came into our economy, not counting accommodation costs. I would expect this years festival to be an even greater success bringing with it further good economic news for our town.

Let's all work together on this and make it a fantastic success and make it something that will further enhance the standing of Skegness as a cultural destination following on from the successes of 2009 and 2010.

Me At The 2012 London Olympics - The Big Interview

Big interview was yesterday at the Excel in London. What a day!!!!
I left myself 4.5 hours to get "dahn the smoke" for what should have been a 3 hour drive. Thanks to a lorry fire near Cambridge those 4.5 hours were not enough as both the A14 and the M11 were closed for most of the day. My decision, carry on straight down the A1. As in all decisions you found out whether you were right or wrong. Guess I was wrong then. Huge holdups caused by all of the traffic being diverted away from the Cambridge area plus the ubiquitous road-works made for a crawl rather than the relaxing drive I was looking for.

As a result, at 12.30 pm, when I should have been sitting down calmly to be interviewed for a post on one of the Anti-Doping Teams, I was still careering around the M25, within the speed limit of course, cursing lorries, road-works and life in particular.

Finally arrived at the Excel, a marvellous building which is situated right on the Thames in Docklands, at nearly 1.00 pm, fearing the worst. Full of apologies I presented myself to the reception area and I have to say the staff could not have been nicer. From then on, it was all rush, rush, rush. My original time of 12.30 was the last slot of the morning for interviews. As everyody else was already moving around the system I would have to do the whole thing on my own and not as a part of a group as planned! Now not only feeling flustered but also embarrassed!!

So it was off to a film-show about the process, during which I had to play Rock,Paper, Scissors which is a bit surreal when you are on your own. From there, after having Eddie Izzard wishing me luck for my interview, he was in the film and not there in person, it was straight into Interview Pod 8. Still breathless and to be honest in a bit of a whirl.

The interview was not at all what I was expecting. It took me a couple of minutes to realise that it was very much of the happy-clappy variety, full-on up for the Olympic experience, positive to the Olympic ethos and "Welcome the world to London". Once I picked up what was called for it all started to fall into place. Funny really, I was enthused by the interviewer and really got into it. Lots of questions about past experiences, giving examples of behaviour under certain situations and proving that I was a genuinely nice guy. (No comments thank you). After half and hour or so. Done. Finito. Ende.

After that it was into the exhibition area, full of interesting facts and figures about the London Olympics and history of the Olympic movement. I was told I should have seen all of this before the interview but because I was late I had to wait until afterwards. It would have been better, given some of the questions, if I had seen it first but "too late" was the cry.

How did it go? Difficult to say really. I think I did okay and I definitely gave it my best shot. One thing I will say is that now I have done it I will be absolutely gutted if I am not offered a position. The whole experience has made me want it more and I didn't think that was possible.

When do I find out if I have made it as a volunteer and a Gamesmaker? As I understand it, November. Better not hold my breath then but it is a long time to keep your fingers crossed.

Here's hoping.

Oh. By the way. Roads were fantastically clear on the way home and did it in well under 3 hours. Life can be like that sometimes can't it??

Me At The 2012 London Olympics. I Hope So!

I decided to volunteer as a Gamesmaker, bit of a twee name, really a volunteer to help out, at the 2012 Olympics and the Paralympics. I thought that this would be an opportunity of a lifetime to be involved in something like this. I signed up for this months ago, hoping that I would get selected as one of the 70,000 (I think) people that they would need to run the games. Having filled in the appropriate forms on-line, it was then a case of sitting and waiting to see a. If you get through the initial selection and b. To see what would be on offer. You are offered a specific role which is not negotiable, take it or leave it. As I understand it this could be just about anything from working in the stadium itself, helping out with the actual events, to being a car park attendant.

I was very pleased to receive an email yesterday inviting me to an interview at the Excel in London Docklands to become part of the Anti-Doping Teams. Really pleased with that. Sounds very exciting and dealing directly with the athletes it will put me at the heart of the action. I hate the use of drugs in sport as it turns the events from being the ultimate in human endeavour to being nothing more than a competition for the scientists producing the drugs and it has very little to do with the athletic ability of those that are using these products. Those that take the drugs are cheating not only their competitors but also themselves.

Just hoping now that I impress enough at the interview to be given the role. Only 3 weeks to wait before I attend so fingers crossed.

I will post an update when I have more to tell.