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Volunteers excited about 2006 and 2010 Games

Whistler’s Ralph Forsyth volunteered all the way through the bid to win the Olympic Games and he is hoping he will be chosen to help out in 2006 and 2010.

"The times I’ve felt really good are the times I’ve been helping other people," he said.

"If you can answer some kid’s questions about the Olympics or help a tourist that is lost it will make you feel really good."

Over 60,000 people have already signed up to be 2010 volunteers. The Games will probably need 25,000 volunteers altogether in both Whistler and Vancouver. The positions probably won’t start to be filled until about mid-2008.

Those lucky enough to be chosen will probably have a pretty extensive resume of volunteering prior to the Games.

In Whistler that might mean getting involved with the new iHost program currently being run out of the VANOC Sea to Sky office, next to the BrewHouse.

Volunteers can expect to help with accommodation information, administration, stamping out the sale of counterfeit souvenirs, food services to athletes, cultural programs, crowd control, sports, visitor services and much more.

And for all your hard work you will get no money, no accommodation and probably no free tickets.

You will, however, get to take your volunteer uniform home, though it may need a good cleaning before it will be worth displaying, and a lifetime of memories.

And it’s that breathtaking experience which has Forsyth hoping to attend the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Torino, whether he gets a volunteer position or not.

"That’s my goal," he said.

His niece, Sarah Smith, is a speed skater for Canada and he plans on cheering her on with the rest of his extended family.

"Few of us are going to get to be Olympic athletes and this is a way of participating in the Games," said Forsyth who owns and operates a management training company.

His advice to those who are not sure if they want to make the commitment to be a volunteer: Get some experience and get involved.

Said Forsyth: "There is nothing worse that sitting on the sidelines wishing that you could play."

The Whistler Weasel Workers are also gearing up to volunteer for the Games. About 25 of them were at Salt Lake’s 2002 Winter Olympics and many more will be helping out at international competitions leading up to the 2006 Winter Games in Torino and beyond.

Abut 40 hope to go to Bormio for the World Cup in 2005.

"That will give the folks from Turin a chance to see how we perform," said Christine Yanisiw, president of the Weasel Workers.

Course volunteers have some of the most important jobs including putting up safety fences to make sure the athletes and the spectators stay safe during the event.

Yanisiw said there is nothing like the feeling of looking up the mountain and seeing the fence stretching away before your eyes.

"You can look up and say, ‘I did that,’" she said.

"It’s a powerful feeling."

It can also be exhausting as technical volunteers often get called out to work the course in the middle of the night and all day if the weather doesn’t co-operate.

"You can be out at 7 a.m. and don’t come off until midnight," said Yanisiw.

"Then you are back at it the next day."

Weasel Worker and chief of course Owen Carney describes the experience as being similar to Outward Bound.

"We are out there early and late in the cold and the wet," he said.

"But we try to keep it fun at the same time. We keep it social. We work very hard but every day we try to have a social hour or two and everyone gets the pride of putting on these international events.

"Once the event starts the volunteers virtually run it."

Maureen Douglas VANOC spokeswoman couldn’t agree more.

"Volunteers are the cornerstone of hosting the Games," she said.

"The human resources required to stage an event of that nature and size makes volunteers essential, and they are essential to the community experience that builds around the Games."

Douglas said the community would also become an international melting pot of volunteers during the Games as many will come from around the world to participate in the event.

"It will bring the whole global village feeling as well," she said.

For Weasel Worker Patrick Maloney it is a chance to give back to Canada and the sport he loves.

"I have always found it very, very rewarding" said the Vancouver based portfolio manager for RBC Dominion Securities.

"It is a lot of work but there is so much satisfaction out of it that when you get into it it’s almost addicting and you can’t stop.

"This is an exciting cause and it is a great opportunity. There are so many people from so many different areas that are involved in this and it just gets into your blood and gets you excited.

"It’s a group of people who are passionate about it and the passion is contagious."

Maloney has volunteered for years as a Big Brother and as a Weasel Worker.

"I always have felt that we are so lucky to live in this country and we have so much going for us that we have to give back to the country and the community," he said.

"I think it is especially important to help those causes we believe in and particularly those that help those who are less fortunate."

Maloney is hoping he will also be one of the lucky ones chosen to volunteer in Torino, should the Weasel Workers be asked to help out.

"I am chomping on the bit to go (to Torino)," he said.

And like Forsyth if he doesn’t make it as a volunteer from Canada he plans to go to the Games anyway.

"I will go myself and show up and work and volunteer if they need me," he said.

For those thinking of getting involved Maloney has this advice: "Just don’t be afraid to step up to the plate and say, ‘I will do this.’

"Tell them you will do whatever they want you to do and you will have a good time.

"Vancouver will never get the Olympics again in our lifetime so if you are enthusiastic at all about this opportunity then put your hand up."



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