May 17 til 24th, Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted one of the biggest sport events held in the country in the last 20 years – the World Rafting Championships. Around 430 participants from 35 countries were competing for trophies and enjoying the beauty of the country - particularly in Banja Luka and Foča, where the championship took place.

Another aspect of the event which was unique, but not so often mentioned was massive civic participation and contribution of volunteers. Around 370 people have voluntarily helped organize the event, making it one of the biggest volunteer action of 2009.  They were taking care of the teams, helping with logistics, transport, promotion, first-aid station, administration and many other things.

Mladen Fuštar, chairman of the Youth Council Foča and coordinator of the volunteers for this region, puts it this way:  “You can hardly count their contribution – neither in money, nor in number of hours. They did everything what was needed, be it on the spot or in Foča. And they met our requirements better than expected.”

For the Foča part of the championship, altogether, Mladan organized around 100 volunteers, mostly students of the local high school and the Faculty of Medicine. Was it hard to get volunteers? “Not really,”  he concludes, “it is the World cup, there was big interest and many people wanted to take part.”

Marko and Dragana, both students at Foca high school, were among them.  When they were asked by their teachers to assist in volunteering for the World Rafting Championships, they eagerly accepted. For them, having participants from 35 countries in their town was an exciting opportunity to not only learn about other cultures, but to also have the chance to tell others about their own community and experiences. 

However, given that the rafters were in Foca for only one day, both Marko and Dragana noted that they would have liked to have more time to show their guests the town and get to know one another. What they identified as a problem in the region was that there were “not enough opportunities to volunteer in their community, and that there was not enough support for young people to find interesting ways to participate”.

Aleksandr from Banja Luka, a student at the electrotechnic secondary school, took the event even more seriously. He was taking care of the Russian team, and besides the engagement in his home town, he followed the teams all the way to Foča, spending the whole week with them. Being a student, he faced criticism from his peers. “Why do you go there? You should stay here and study – that is what they kept telling me,” Aleksandr recalls.

But the motivation to go was stronger. And he was quite sure that the experience of spending a week with people from all around the world was worth it. He got to know a bit of their cultures and could present them his own country, improving his communication skills at the same time, mostly in English. Non-formal education par excellence.

In terms of overall benefits of the event, the organizers have especially stressed a positive image of the country and promotion of not only rafting, but tourism as a whole. “Many people did not know before where Bosnia-Herzegovina or Foča are located, and this event brings them onto the map, providing great promotion. There is a lot we can offer – beautiful rivers and mountains, lakes and fishing, and much more,” Mladen emphasized.   

What is unique about top sport events is that they bring a lot of attention and many people together. And since coordination is challenging, often it is impossible to organize such an event without people who are behind the scenes, but available all the time for anything which is needed. You can not see them, but you can feel them – that is what is usually true about volunteers at big sport events.