VOLUNTEERING AT SPORT EVENTS AS A RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS’ CAREER ADVANCEMENT

Mrs.Telepaeva Daria¹*, Mrs. Kuzminchuk Anna², Dr. Pevnaya Maria³

¹Ural Federal University, RUSSIA, daria.telepaeva@gmail.com
²Ural Federal University, RUSSIA, a.a.kuzminchuk@urfu.ru
³Ural Federal University, RUSSIA, usovet_info@mail.ru
*Corresponding author

Abstract

Volunteerism has been actively developing in Russia over the past few years. The state policy of the country is aimed at supporting, developing and encouraging voluntary initiatives of the citizens. The President declared 2018 as the year of volunteering in Russia. Russian government has developed an action plan for development of the volunteer movement in the country and launched several Federal programs. 7.4 billion rubles were spent to support volunteer activities in Russia from the state budget in 2018 (excluding the cost of the world Cup).
Volunteering in sport event is one of the most popular types of volunteering in Russia. This is due to the fact that Russia over the past five years has hosted such major international competitions as XXVII world summer Universiade in Kazan (2013), XXII Olympic and XI Paralympic winter games in Sochi (2014), FIFA Confederations Cup (2017), world Cup FIFA (2018) and XXIX world winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk (2019).

Russia has developed a standard for promoting volunteer activities, developed a network of regional resource centers and formed a team capable of carrying out professional work with volunteers according to international standards. The largest number of sports volunteers in our country is students. Volunteer centers were established in the structure of the largest Russian universities to prepare volunteers for international projects. These volunteer centers continue to operate in this direction today.

Sverdlovsk region is one of the key regions that stimulates voluntary activity of the citizens. According to the Department of youth policy in Sverdlovsk region, more than 100 000 people took part in volunteer activities in 2017. The regional capital hosted matches of the world Cup in 2018, where more than 2,000 volunteers were involved.

The leading center for training sports volunteers in the region is the center "Volunteers of the Urals", created at the Ural Federal University. This center uses a bank of technologies that meet international norms and standards for recruiting, training, motivating and retaining volunteers. More than 11 000 residents of Sverdlovsk region are registered in the volunteer base of the center.

Activities for the preparation of international and Russian sport events are centralized in the region. The area of responsibility to international sport organizations and the government of the Sverdlovsk region is always assigned to a specific volunteer center. As a result, the base of the center "Volunteers of the Urals" covers almost the entire regional community of sports volunteers. Thus, volunteers of this center can be considered as an important resource of the region, constantly hosting mass international events on its territory.
The report is based on a survey of volunteers of the Sverdlovsk region, who participated in sports mega-events. The survey was conducted in 2017 (the target sample, N=706).  The sample includes 30% of school and college students, 55% of University students, 15% of University graduates. The study addressed the following research tasks: to characterize the community of sports volunteers in the region, to identify tools to stimulate and motivate the participation of volunteers in sports events, to characterize sports volunteers' social networks and social environment.

The report compares University students with the experience of volunteering in sport events and other groups of young volunteers. The authors have identified differences in the motivation for participation in the projects of sport volunteering. The report assesses the importance of interaction with existing officials for students in the framework of sport volunteering projects in which they participate.  Students with experience in sport volunteering often interact with government officials. In comparison with the rest of the surveyed sports volunteers, the experience of social and political activity, which can be acquired through sport volunteering projects, is more important for them. Accordingly, it can be assumed that students with experience of volunteering in sport events are more focused on public career and see their place in the socio-political sphere.

Keywords: Volunteering, student volunteering, young people, civic engagement, sociological monitoring.