Riat Ismagilov. Lord of the Volunteers 09.07.2010

He’s got rich experience in participating in the 2009 Universiade in Belgrade (Serbia), the Silk Way Rally, the Champions League matches, the sports forum “Russia – Country of Sports”, the Farewell Bell, the Field Hockey World Cup Qualifier, the Towards the Universiade 2013 Volunteer Camp, FISU CT Chairs reception and in many other events.

Despite all his merits the young and ambitious student of Kazan State Technical University does not want to rest on his laurels but takes on new work and looks to the future optimistically.

At the European Universities Beach Volleyball Championship he is assigned as the coordinator of volunteers who work at the courts. Riat talked to us about peculiarities of his job, foreign guests and heat wave in Kazan during one of the breaks in the games.
- A volunteer has a broad meaning. Can you tell us what duties are imposed on you at this Championship?
- I’m the coordinator of all the volunteers who work at the playing areas. There are three courts and I coordinate about 50 volunteers. Of course there are volunteer attaches and volunteer interpreters as well but I supervise only the volunteers that work on the playing areas.

- What are their duties?
- The most important volunteers are those that give balls to the players. The matches are intense and the balls often fall outside the court and my volunteers deliver balls to the players and run after the balls out of the court so that the matches run smoothly. It seems easy but in fact it’s extremely hard to work a few matches in a row. The main thing here is that the coordinator is to supervise the volunteers, organize reliefs and ensure that the young people have a rest and drink more water. Besides my volunteers are responsible for the main scoreboard and change the score so that the spectators can keep track of it. They also surface sand on the courts with special tools.
Above all this the volunteers keep the court lines clean and thus make the referees’ judging of the balls in or out of play easier and also supply the players with cool water.

- Having watched your volunteers work on the court I get an impression that they know the rules of the game perfectly. Did you recruit young people who are strong in beach volleyball or conduct some training?
- On the threshold of the European Universities Beach Volleyball Championship the Universiade Executive Committee gave a complex training to the volunteers. We got to know the major rules of beach volleyball, our duties at the tournament. We’ve worked at the courts where we were told about twists and turns of the game. As a result we faced the European Championship well-informed and deeply versed in this sport. Besides the volunteer backbone that worked at the European Championship was tested during the Russian national tour that was staged some time ago.

- I believe being a volunteer means communicating with sportspeople. So how do you get along with the European athletes?
- Of course we mingle with the athletes. They are satisfied with our work. They are also interested in our country and our ancient city as well. They are under the impression of the fact that three years prior to the Universiade we have volunteer movement and the volunteers take active part in large-scale events.
We have a close cooperation with the EUSA representative. In general we have a friendly atmosphere on the courts. Most of those athletes who arrived in Kazan are likely to come in our city in 2013 and we will be glad to meet them at our Universiade.

- In the frame of the volunteer movement you had a chance to participate in many large events both in Russia and abroad. In this context it can be easier for you to assess the current Championship. What do you think about this large sporting event?
- The volunteers enrich their experience, take account of small errors and comments and people develop trust and respect to them. We are pursuing our goal of staging the 2013 Universiade on an unattainable level.

- You occupy a rather high place in the volunteers ranking. In what capacity do you see yourself at the 2013 Universiade?
- There was a contest among the Universiade volunteers following which a few young people and I were offered a job in the Volunteers Department of the Kazan 2013 Executive Committee. On September 1 my dream will come true and I will join the ranks of this mighty organization.

Volunteers that surface sand

- You’ve managed to achieve good results in volunteering for a short period of rime. What’s the secret of your success?
- I cannot say that I’m a cool volunteer! (smiles). I’m like any volunteer of the Universiade. I think that the key is not to do anything in a rush, be steady in purpose, volunteer at all the events, show best qualities and seek self-improvement. You needn’t expend super efforts, just show a good and steady performance. In my opinion each volunteer needs some kind of portfolio where he or she will accumulate volunteering experience. In this case a volunteer will be ready for the World student games and will approve himself or herself.

Anton Glukhov, special correspondent of press-center
VII European Universities Beach Volleyball Championship