Sports

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games Have More Volunteers Than Positions

by Robert Sutherland | February 6, 2009 at 10:20 am

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We are one year away from the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The athletes are training, advertisers are lining up, spectators are booking flights and hotels in Vancouver and Whistler, and Vancouver Olympic organizers are trying to find the right volunteers to fill the more than 25,000 positions. The only problem: they have over 60,000 applicants.

thousands of aspiring volunteers are organizing their lives around the Olympics without any guarantee they'll be needed. More than 60,000 people have filled out online applications for 25,000 volunteer positions, according to Donna Wilson, executive vice-president of work force and sustainability for the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC).

Countless positions need to be filled for both the Olympics and Paralympic Games, some glamorous, some not so much. Positions range from ticket checker, to parking attendant, to international guest greeter. Volunteers are required to put in at least 13 shifts at the Olympics and 7 shifts at the Paralympic Games. Shifts last an average of 8 to 10 hours.

I have tossed my name onto the list of applicants and I am crossing my fingers for the most coveted position of the games.