A one-day seminar, entitled ‘Engaging Skilful Volunteers’, was held recently at the Corinthia Palace Hotel in Attard.
Signalling the start of a series of events leading to the Maltese EU Presidency, this seminar, organised by SportMalta, covered a number of issues related to volunteering in sport.
More than 100 participants, mainly members of local sport associations, SportMalta employees and foreign guests, attended the event which was enriched by presentations from a number of experts who focused on numerous topics linked directly and indirectly to volunteering in sports.
Thierry Zintz, from the University of Louvain in Belgium, stressed the importance of ensuring good governance at all levels of administration, including volunteers.
Professor Zintz said volunteers are vital to the running of sports organisations and as such should be trained in managing with transparency and accountability.
“The characteristics of good governance will help the organisation to implement decisions and follow processes that make the best use of human resources (including volunteers) among others, leading to the best possible results for the same organisation,” he said.
Another interesting talk was given by Miriam Teuma, CEO of Aġenzija Żgħażagħ. She spoke about the significance of having competent volunteers in such an important sector and also highlighted the link between youths and sports as both require the support of persons willing to work on a voluntary basis to achieve success.
As sports volunteering is one of the principal topics of Malta’s EU Presidency, SportMalta has launched a new course in this particular field.
The course has been drawn up by SportMalta together with MCAST. Successful participants will receive an MCAST Level 2 Award in Sport Volunteering.
Cynthia Ransley, deputy director of The Institute of Community Services at MCAST, explained that many of those involved in sports usually work on a voluntary basis and this course will give them the opportunity to earn formal recognition through this certification.
Moreover, this project will contribute to maximising the number of skilful volunteers, thus helping the clubs indirectly by making the best use of this potential.
During the second half of the seminar, participants took part in one of three workshops run by both local and foreign professionals that work in the field.
Stephen Studd, director of the European Observatoire of Sport and Employment and Mark Cutajar, CEO of SportMalta, engaged the audience at a workshop that discussed the advantages of working as a volunteer by way of gaining experience that could lead to eventual employment in this sector.
Grassroots level
Geoff Nichols, from the University of Sheffield, conducted a second workshop entitled “The legacy of major sports events as an incentive to attract volunteering at grassroots level”.
Dr Nichols elaborated on the difference between working in major sports events as a volunteer and working as a volunteer at grassroots level.
The discussion centred on the link between the two areas and how experience gained at a mega international event can be transferred to grassroots level.
The final workshop was supervised by experienced lecturers from the University of Malta, namely Ivan Riolo and Lara Tonna. Together, they presented the scenario of parents as potential skilled volunteers for sports clubs.
Parents can play a more prominent role and act as volunteers at the clubs were their children practise.
The pros and cons of having such parents involving themselves were thoroughly examined.
The seminar was followed by an HR Expert Group Meeting the next day, featuring the participation of 28 representatives of the member states.
Representatives of the European Commission and the Slovak Presidency were also present.
The experts forming part of this group discussed important themes such as sport diplomacy, dual careers and the voluntary sector.
More information about past and upcoming activities related to Malta’s EU presidency may be obtained by visiting www.eu17sportmalta.com.