Total of 29 Pannonian Challenge volunteers completed GOD level finalizing our NFE training module within our project. Volunteers gathered on May 21st and 22nd in Osijek Stara pekara conference room where our trainers and a few Pannonian team members helped them learn what it actually takes to organize a sport event.
On day one we decided to include a get to know each other game to help some of the new volunteers meet the trainers, PC team members as well as each other and our volunteers from previous years. Once they all felt more comfortable we presented them with our project, the objectives and purpose of training and went through the previous NFE levels that lead to this final module. We used this opportunity to go over volunteering legislation in Croatia and to inform them of their rights and obligations as well as let them know about Youthpass, what it is and if there are any benefits in having one. They were encouraged to think about their skills and competencies that they will assess after their volunteering experience at Pannonian Challenge. Between the topics we managed to have a coffee break and a lunch and we topped it all with a couple of energizers and a team building activity. Volunteers concluded the day by giving feedback about what they remembered from previous years and reflecting on their game plan from team building activity emphasizing the importance of communication.
The second day was reserved for Prospectus 23 game where volunteers had the assignment to organize Pannonian Challenge as one of the three given organizations ; sport NGO, limited company or Tourist board. Since the game was rather exhausting, volunteers were given instructions that were also written on flip charts and handouts. They included the actual examples of all the steps necessary for organization of Pannonian Challenge from preparation, staff vs. volunteers costs, budget, tax and insurance questions to marketing and communication. Different teams had various obstacles and perks depending on their type of organization. After lunch we had a PC team member playing the role of tax officer making their budgets change just when they finalized their income and expenses ratio. To make the game more realistic we also included a sponsorship negotiation within the game so our volunteers would have a broader knowledge on what is the difference in financing from public budgets and sponsors. Volunteers were quite good at dividing the roles among themselves within the teams, having each pair working on separate tasks at a time; for instance one pair was in charge of creating a sports program while the others were in charge of music and culture program, afterwards they divided between the pairs who was in charge of budget and who was in charge of marketing etc. They were mostly surprised on how much work is included in organization of a major sport event but even more so on the actual costs. They gained valuable insight into a specific field of work – sport event management and learned the important lesson on how many people it takes to have a sport event running smoothly emphasizing the importance of volunteering in sport even more so.
We are thankful to each volunteer for supporting Pannonian Challenge throughout the years and we are immensely proud of the powerful group of young people who joined our project and learned more about sport organization.
Comments