The volunteer corps of the 2nd Winter Children of Asia International Sports Games has completed its work. Behind many trials and difficulties however positive emotions and pleasant memories prevailing. A lucky opportunity to become a part of such a big event fell to Mr. Alexei Limarenkoof the 2nd year student of the Mariinsky Pedagogical College named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna.
Alexey shared his impressions of working on games with us in an interview.
What encourage you to participate?
I am the leader of the Molodist volunteer group in our college. With the detachment, we are actively engaged in volunteer activities, participate in events of various sizes, and hold promotions. Volunteer work provides an opportunity to prove oneself, develops communication skills, a sense of responsibility, and the ability to work in a team. Having a college volunteer experience, I decided to apply for the Children of Asia Games as a volunteer.
How did you become a Games volunteer?
I had to pass the selection: online testing and interviews. Experience in volunteering, knowledge of the volunteer code, level of English languege, stress resistance and other personal qualities were taken into account. A month has passed since the interview and the announcement of the final list of volunteers who successfully passed the selection. For a whole month, it was the most intense and exciting. The day comes when the cherished letter came to my mail: “We are pleased to announce that you have successfully passed all the stages of selection and have been approved as a volunteer to participate in the 2nd Winter Children of Asia International Games 2023 in Kuzbass in the ORGANIZER CITY: KEMEROVO.” So I ended up among the invited volunteers.
What was your job as a Games volunteer?
For volunteers of volunteer corps, training was organized in two blocks. The first one is an acquaintance with the history of the Games, with event volunteering, as well as with the volunteer code. The second part is functional training, where we got acquainted with our roles in the following areas: press center, attaché, hospitality, transport, volunteers at the Snezhny and Pine facilities, the Kuzbass Ice Palace.
We were accredited at Kuzbass-Arena and we were given a uniform. Meals, accommodation, equipment were provided to us free of charge.
I was selected for the Hospitality Volunteer Team. We met at the airport named after A.A. Leonov in Kemerovo delegation of athletes and team representatives. We created a festive atmosphere, in the hall of the Ice Palace, together with the mascot of the games, the lynx Tikhonya, we met participants and guests, helped to navigate the corridors of the Kuzbass Ice Palace and numerous thematic locations: a virtual reality zone, a photo zone, an exhibition of children's works dedicated to sports, and others. We also navigated the guests at the opening and closing cermonies. Our coordinated actions, friendliness and responsiveness depended on what memories and impressions our guests would take away from Kuzbass.
Could you please describe the most emotional moments from past Games
I managed to meet many interesting people, learn about the places where they live, get invitations to visit. And most importantly, I made many new friends from Moscow to Vladivostok. This was my first international event and I can tell you this, volunteering is not a job, volunteering is done by calling from the heart and with an open, kind soul! I really hope that we will meet many volunteers at the Children of Asia Summer Games.
Source: Mariinsky Pedagogical Collegenamed afetr Empress Maria Alexandrovna.