South African host city volunteers' experiences of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™

Abstract

The 2010 Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (FIFA) World Cup (WC) would be the first time that a FIFA WC would be hosted on the African continent. This study was aimed at describing the South African City of Tshwane (COT) general volunteers’ experiences of volunteering at the 2010 FIFA WC. The FIFA Volunteer Programme consists of two groups of volunteers: Local Organising Committee (LOC) volunteers and each Host City (HC) volunteers. The COT volunteers are HC volunteers from the Tshwane Metropolitan Area (TMA). Volunteers are active in a variety of different contexts, namely in the community, volunteers at sport clubs or schools and also at mega sport events. Volunteers make it possible to host a mega sport event because they provide their time and effort without expecting remuneration or they receive a stipend amount. The existing literature of volunteers at mega sport events investigated what motivated volunteers to participate as well as how satisfied the volunteers were with the experience. The aim of this study was to describe COT general volunteers’ experiences of preparing (preparation phase) for the 2010 FIFA WC; COT general volunteers’ experiences during (participation phase) the 2010 FIFA WC, as well as the South African COT general volunteers’ experiences on their involvement (reflection phase) at the 2010 FIFA WC was described. The methodology employed in this study was Descriptive Phenomenology and the Duquesne Phenomenological Research Method was used to analyse the material. The differences between Descriptive Phenomenology and Interpretive Phenomenology were described. The material consisted of a written account as well as an interview, which was based on the essences that were portrayed in the written accounts. There were five participants — three spectator services volunteers and two rights protection volunteers. All of the participants were female. The findings of this study were divided into the preparation phase, participation phase and the reflection phase. In the preparation phase the COT general volunteers described two essences namely, the application process and training. In the participation phase the COT general volunteers experienced four essences namely, the working of shifts, interaction with volunteers, interaction with supervisors and lastly interaction with tourists. In the reflection phase the volunteers described two experiences, growth and value. This research project contributes to sport psychology because this study describes the experiences of volunteers at the 2010 FIFA WC.