South African volunteers’ experiences of volunteering at the 2010 FIFA World CupTM South Africa

Abstract

In 2010 the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, which is commonly referred to as the 2010 FIFA World Cup. With such a mega-sport event the focus is usually on the football players and their teams. However, there are various other role-players (e.g., volunteers, journalists, spectators) that contribute to the success of such a mega-sport event. The purpose of this research was to study the phenomenon of volunteering through South African volunteers' experiences of volunteering at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, specifically in the City of Tshwane (COT) in the Tshwane Metropolitan Area (TMA). A qualitative research design was employed, with specific reference to descriptive phenomenology. Five female volunteers voluntarily participated in the research project. Two data gathering methods were used in the research, being a written essay and a personal interview. The data were analysed by means of the Duquesne Phenomenological Research Method (DPRM). The findings indicated that polarization was the essence of the volunteers' experiences with reference to the application process, the preparation phase and their participation in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, the polarization was absent in the volunteer's personal reflections on the 2010 FIFA World Cup.