Report: Volunteering at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lillehammer 2016

REPORT:

Volunteering at the Winter Youth Olympic Games Lillehammer 2016 Dag Vidar Hanstad • Elsa Kristiansen • Trond Svela Sand Berit Skirstad • Anna-Maria Strittmatter

HRH Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway lights the Olympic flame. Photo: Helene Solheim

Design: Akilles design, Amund Lie Nitter Produksjon og trykk: 07 Media Bilderedaktør: Michael Eriksson Omslagsfoto: Line Ă˜sterdahl

Summary This report is based on data generated by two electronic surveys in connection with the 2016 Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games. All volunteers received an invitation to participate in the survey by email before and after the Games. The pre-Games survey was answered by 1,813 volunteers (56% response rate), and the post-Games survey by 1,710 (53% response rate). Interviews, informal conversations and observations supplemented the surveys.

Main findings • Who are the volunteers? In line with the intentions of the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) and Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (LYOGOC), the involvement of young people in the event was considerable. Half of the volunteers were 29 years of age or younger. A quarter of the volunteers reported that they did not have any previous experience of voluntary work. In the older age group there were many regulars from past events. For example, 12 percent had been volunteers at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games. One in four had contributed to a local event associated with the various Birkebeiner races during the past five years. At the Youth Olympic Games there were more female volunteers than males. The vast majority came from Innlandet, the district around Lillehammer.

• Why did they volunteer? The motives for participating in volunteering varied depending on age. Young volunteers highly valued receiving a certificate for having volunteered. Regarding the reason for volunteering at the Youth Olympic Games, both young and older volunteers agreed that they wanted to contribute and that this was something they perceived as exciting. Gaining experience was more important for young people than for the older volunteers.

• What did the volunteers think about the preparations? The kick-off event was fairly successful according to volunteers. However, training was very general and not specific to most tasks. Young people gave significantly lower scores than the older volunteers on issues related to preparations.

• How did the volunteers evaluate their experience? The volunteers expressed great satisfaction with the working environment. For example, they found that the atmosphere in their group was very good and that they received positive feedback from their colleagues. All in all, they felt that the Youth Olympic Games had lived up to their expectations (4.17 on a scale from 1 to 5). They were least satisfied with the food and with the clarity of the tasks they were to perform.

To a small degree, Sjoggfest contributed to the experience. This was more often true for the younger volunteers.

• What did the participants in the ‘Young Leaders Programme’ get out of the Games?

NIF and LYOGOC aimed to train 200 young people for leadership tasks during the Games and go on to become leaders or coaches in sports clubs after-

 Summary

5

wards. The young leaders perceived the Youth Olympic Games and education programme as very positive, although most of them felt that their expectations regarding leadership roles during the Youth Olympic Games were not met by NIF and LYOGOC. The young leaders gained knowledge and understanding of Norwegian sports, the Olympic Games and volunteering. Furthermore, they acquired a network of other young people who are interested in sports. They also enjoyed the social gatherings.

• How does international volunteering differ from Norwegian volunteering? Of all the volunteers, 277 (16.4%) were of a nationality other than Norwegian. We examined the 170 foreign volunteers who did not live in Norway and who ­answered our past YOG survey. The percentage of females (61.9%) amongst this group was higher than in the volunteer corps who lived in Norway (51.7%).

International volunteers were also younger than the general average. More than half of the comments from the international volunteers were positive.

The accommodation at Kringsjå was the subject of most of the criticism, most notably for having had inadequate bathroom facilities.

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 Summary

Content Summary........................................................................................................................................ 5 Overview of the tables......................................................................................................... 9 Overview of the figures....................................................................................................... 10 Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 11 Background to the study.................................................................................................... 11 The volunteers of the Games............................................................................................ 11 Our questions......................................................................................................................... 12 Method...................................................................................................................................... 12 The structure of the report................................................................................................. 14 PART 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Who are the volunteers?........................................................................................................ 15 Demographics........................................................................................................................ 15 Sports affiliation.................................................................................................................... 20 The volunteering experience............................................................................................ 21 Volunteering at events........................................................................................................ 21 PART 2: .......................................................................................................................................... 25 Why do they participate?....................................................................................................... 25 Motives for general volunteering.................................................................................... 25 Why do they volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games?........................................... 32 Summary Part 2..................................................................................................................... 34 PART 3: .......................................................................................................................................... 38 Preparations and expectations.......................................................................................... 38 Summary Part 3..................................................................................................................... 42 PART 4............................................................................................................................................. 46 The experience........................................................................................................................... 46 The values of the Youth Olympic Games..................................................................... 46 Section affiliation and roles.............................................................................................. 47 Leadership roles.................................................................................................................... 48 The workload........................................................................................................................... 48 Satisfaction............................................................................................................................. 49 Comparison with a different event................................................................................. 56 Relationship with the leaders.......................................................................................... 57 Summary Part 4..................................................................................................................... 59

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PART 5: .......................................................................................................................................... 64 The young leaders programme .......................................................................................... 64 Who were the volunteers participating in the young leaders programme?... 65 The experience of the education programme in conjunction with the Youth Olympic Games................................................................................................. 69 What happened to the young leaders after the Youth Olympic Games?........ 70 Summary Part 5..................................................................................................................... 71 PART 6:........................................................................................................................................... 74 International volunteering.................................................................................................... 74 The international volunteers’ experiences.................................................................. 75 Summary Part 6..................................................................................................................... 82 PART 7:............................................................................................................................................ 83 Final considerations................................................................................................................ 83 Discussion 1: A positive event for the whole country?............................................ 83 Discussion 2: There is a difference between younger and older volunteers................................................................................................................................ 84 What did we learn?............................................................................................................... 85 Did the Youth Olympic Games succeed with ­volunteering?................................ 88 The next step........................................................................................................................... 89 The research project............................................................................................................ 89 Related publications................................................................................................................ 91 Books......................................................................................................................................... 91 Articles with peer review.................................................................................................... 91 The authors of the report....................................................................................................... 95 References.................................................................................................................................... 96

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 Content

Overview of the tables Table 1: Demographic overview of the volunteers at the Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games 2016 .............................................................................. 15 Table 2: Demographics of the Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games 2016 compared to other sport events in the Lillehammer region ................. 20 Table 3: Experience of sports among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016. The respondents could tick more than one alternative if applicable ................................................................... 20 Table 4: Volunteering experience among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016 ...................................................................... 21 Table 5: Experience of selected events among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016 ...................................................................... 24 Table 6: Ranking of motives for general volunteering among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016 ................................... 25 Table 7: xperiences ahead of the games with respect to different aspects related to being a volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games 2016 ........ 38 Table 8: The volunteers’ views on the extent to which the Youth Olympic Games 2016 was in line with the four values ........................... 46 Table 9: The location where the volunteers worked most of their time during the Youth ­Olympic Games 2016 ............................................. 47 Table 10: Characterisation of tasks among those who worked at a competition venue. ......................................................................................... 47 Table 11: The volunteers’ reported amount of work during the period 6–22 February ................................................................................. 48 Table 12: Perception of workload among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016 ...................................................................... 48 Table 13: The volunteers’ evaluation of different aspects during the Youth Olympic Games 2016 ...................................................................... 54 Table 14: Perception of cooperation with volunteers in their group among volunteers with leadership responsibilities and ordinary volunteers’ perception of the cooperation with their immediate superior during the Youth Olympic Games 2016 ............... 57 Tabell 15: Lederkurs for ungdom som ble arrangert i forbindelse med Ungdoms-OL på Lillehammer ................................................................ 64 Table 16: Demographic overview – young leaders ...................................................... 65 Table 17: Young leaders’ experience of sport ............................................................... 68 Table 18: Perceptions of the educational programme among the young leaders ................................................................................................. 69 Table 19: Opportunities and future plans in Norwegian sports among the young leaders.................................................................................................. 71 Table 20: Demographic overview of international volunteers who lived abroad vs. volunteers living in Norway. ............................................. 74 Table 21: The international volunteers’ evaluation of different aspects during the Youth ­Olympic Games 2016 vs. the evaluations of the volunteers living in Norway .................................................................. 75

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Overview of the figures Figure 1: Ranking of motives for volunteering at Youth Olympic Games. ­Comparison between volunteers 29 years or younger and volunteers 51 years and older .................................................................. 26 Figure 2: Ranking of motives for volunteering. Comparison between those who participated as volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games in 2016 and in the Norwegian population in 2009. .................. 27 Figure 3: Cloud of words based on the following open question: “Why do you volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games?”

Answers from the 30–50 age group .............................................................. 32 Figure 4: Cloud of words based on the following open question: “Why do you volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games?”

Answers from the group aged 29 years or younger ................................. 32 Figure 5: Perceptions in advance about various aspects of volunteering at the Youth Olympic Games iin three different age groups ................ 39 Figure 6: The volunteers’ assessment of various conditions during the Youth Olympic Games in three different age groups ...................... 54 Figure 7: The volunteers’ assessment of various conditions during the Youth Olympic Games compared to the 2016 Biathlon World Championships in Oslo ......................................................................... 56

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 Content

Introduction Background to the study The Youth Olympic Games were held between 12 and 21 February 2016, with venues in Lillehammer, Hamar, Gjøvik, Oppland and Oslo. 1,100 young athletes aged 15 to 18 years participated in 70 competitions in 15 Winter Olympic disciplines. The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) vision is that the Youth Olympic Games should inspire youth around the world to participate in sport, embrace healthy living and adopt the Olympic values. This vision was brought into Norway’s application process. In the application it was stated that the Games would contribute strongly to the training of young leaders and ensure a new generation of volunteers. The company Lillehammer 2016 was established after the Games were awarded. The owners were the Ministry of Culture (51%), Lillehammer municipality (24.5%) and the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports Norwegian Confederation of Sports (24.5%). The Organising Committee (Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games ­Organising Committee – LYOGOC) was established in 2012, and the first four employees were hired in August that same year. In 2015 the number of employees increased from 26 to 130. LYOGOC involved young people in the recruitment of the staff. At the start of the Games, the average age of employees was 34 years.

The volunteers of the Games In the application for a state guarantee it was estimated that there would be a need for approximately 2,200 volunteers. The volunteers for the Torch Relay (later renamed as Torch Tour) were not included in the estimate. Initially the military was expected to contribute with parking stewards, security in the Olympic Village and technology/IT support, but later it became clear that the military could not be part of the crew. This, in combination with the need for more volunteers than anticipated, led to a need for 3,230 volunteers at the Games.

The recruitment of volunteers started in 2015. This work was more challenging than expected. The response from volunteers from abroad was admittedly enormous, but only a few of these could be welcomed due to a lack of accommodation. Six months before the Games the word “crisis” was used in LYOGOC, as barely 1,300 volunteers had signed up (Hanslien, 2015). The reason for this may have been the clear message that the Youth Olympic Games primarily searched for young volunteers. A major initiative to recruit 1,000 volunteers over 50 days succeeded, and the goal of recruiting 3,200 volunteers was reached (Christiansen, 2015). Many of these recruits were older and more experienced.

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11

After registration and approved application, information for volunteers was communicated through the portal Mobilise. In this portal the volunteers ­received general information as well as some specific instructions for various functions and areas. A planned training programme was not implemented due to a lack of resources. There was a kick-off event for volunteers on Saturday 9 February 2016 in conjunction with the annual national sports gala in Lillehammer.

Our questions This study is part of an ongoing research project on major sports events that started in 2010. The project receives financial support from the Ministry of ­Culture and the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sport (NIF). In addition to numerous scholarly articles on sports events in general and the Youth Olympic Games in particular (see the research project publications in this report), this project led to the writing and publication of the book The Youth Olympic Games in 2014. In the period 2015–2017 all the studies in the research project are connected to the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer. In this report we aim to answer the following questions: • Who are the volunteers?

• Why do they volunteer?

• What did the volunteers think about the preparations?

• How do the volunteers evaluate their experience?

• What did the participants in the “Young Leaders Programme” get out of the Games?

• How does international volunteering differ from that in Norway?

In the final section we will further discuss these topics.

Method In connection with the Youth Olympic Games at Lillehammer we conducted two electronic surveys with the help of QuestBack. The volunteers could choose between a Norwegian or an English version. The first survey went out by email to the volunteers on 8 February, four days before the opening of the Games.

After two reminders we received 1,813 answers (a response rate of 56%). Two days after the Games, on Sunday 23 February, we sent out a new survey by email.

After two reminders we received 1,710 responses (53% response rate). This ­response rate is significantly higher than similar studies on events elsewhere in the world.

In the pre-Games survey we aimed to learn as much as possible about the motives of the volunteers, their background, preparation, and what they expected.

After the Games, we were looking to gain insight into their actual experience

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 Introduction

Let the Games begin. A considerable number of volunteers contributed to making the 2016 opening ceremony a spectacular one. Many volunteers were also able to attend the ceremony as spectators. Photo: Thomas Lovelock

versus expectations and what they thought about the organisation of the Youth Olympic Games All descriptive statistics and statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS version 21. The investigations into possible differences between the groups in relation to the data on a nominal level (mutually exclusive categories) were conducted using the Pearson chi-square test. The testing of any differences on ordinal, interval, or scale level was carried out using different analyses of variance, depending on the number of variables or categories. The t-test was used for tests with a dependent variable and a dichotomous independent variable with three or more categories; a one-way ANOVA was used for the tests with a dependent variable and an independent variable with three or more categories;

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the MANOVA was used for the tests with two or more dependent variables and independent variable with two or more categories; while the MANCOVA analysis was used for tests with two or more dependent variables and two or more independent variables with two or more categories. For all post-hoc tests the Tukey’s procedure was used. All analyses have been performed with a significance level of 0.05.

The requirement for anonymity has made it impossible to connect the ­responses for each respondent between the two surveys. The study is registered and approved by the Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD). As well as carry out the electronic surveys, the research group was present during the Games. We observed, conducted interviews with the volunteers, and had informal conversations with both volunteers and staff. We had conducted studies on a variety of sporting events in the past (see the research project publications in the end of this report). The findings from these surveys are used in this report as a basis for comparison.

The structure of the report In the first part we will discuss the volunteers’ demographics, connection to sport and background in volunteering. Then we will highlight their motives for volunteering in general and more specifically why they engaged in the Youth Olympic Games. In part 3 we will look at the volunteers’ opinions before the Games, while the fourth section deals with the experience and what they were left with afterwards. We will be looking at two separate groups: young people who participated in the courses and the international volunteers. In the last part we offer concluding remarks.

It should be noted that the total number of respondents in some of the tables and figures is lower than the total number of responses to the two surveys ­because some respondents did not answer all the questions. Furthermore, all percentages are rounded off to the nearest tenth. This means that some of the tables do not accurately add up to 100.0 percent. In the tables and figures where the average value of the scales is stated (e.g. a scale from 1 to 5), all the values are rounded off to the nearest hundredth. In addition, the standard deviation (SD) is quoted for the individual’s average values, where the standard deviation indicates the variations in the material. Tables and figures that show significant differences (P≤0.05) between groups are marked with an asterisk.

Most of the interviews were conducted in Norwegian. A small number of the volunteers’ reponses are presented in their original form in this report.

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 Introduction

PART 1:

Who are the volunteers?

Demographics We render demographics for both surveys in Table 1. Not surprisingly, these correspond very well. Moreover, it turns out that the demographic distribution largely reflects the numbers stated by LYOGOC for all the 3,368 volunteers. The proportion of women in the general population was marginally lower at 50.9 percent than the proportion of those who responded to the surveys, while there were slightly more volunteers under 30 years of age (55.3%) and fewer who were over 50 (20.3%). However, the differences are so small that it can be concluded that the two surveys provide a representative picture of the 3,368 volunteers.

Table 1: Demographic overview of the volunteers at the Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games 2016.

Survey before (n=1813)

Survey after (n=1710)

%

(n)

%

(n)

Women

54.3

(979)

53.0

(901)

Men

45.7

(823)

47.0

(798)

≤ 29 years

51.4

(933)

49.2

(841)

30–50 years

22.6

(411)

23.4

(401)

≥ 51 years

26.0

(472)

27.3

(467)

Lillehammer

41.0

(731)

39.4

(666)

Other place in Oppland

17.7

(315)

16.6

(280)

Hedmark

12.7

(227)

13.4

(226)

Oslo/Akershus

12.4

(221)

12.7

(214)

Other place in Norway

7.8

(139)

7.5

(127)

Abroad

8.4

(150)

10.5

(177)

Primary/lower secondary school Upper secondary school

17.0

(306)

15.9

(271)

36.9

(665)

36.5

(621)

College/university

46.1

(831)

47.5

(808)

Working full-time

36.2

(655)

38.8

(663)

Working part-time

8.0

(144)

8.1

(138)

Student

40.3

(728)

37.3

(638)

Retired

11.6

(209)

12.3

(210)

Other

4.0

(72)

3.6

(61)

Gender

Age

Place of residence

Completed education

Profession

Who are the volunteers?

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Sajandan Rutthira, 18, was named Enthusiast of the Year at the 2016 Norway Sports Gala.

Here he is about to hold his opening ceremony speech.

Gender and age: There were slightly more women than men. In the youngest age group, the majority were female, while men outnumbered women in the oldest age group. This gender distribution follows the pattern of previous studies (Hanstad, Vollen, & Tangevold, 2015) in the sense that women are in the majority among the youngest, while men outnumber women among the oldest. In the age group 30–50 years the gender distribution is even (Alexandra, Kim & Kim, 2015; Sand, 2012).

The average age among the volunteers was 37. Half of the volunteers were 29 years or younger. This can be compared to another event that also had a goal to recruit young people. During the World Ski Championships in 2011, 22 percent were 29 years old or younger (our own calculation), while the average age was 46 (Sand, 2012). It can be concluded that LYOGOC successfully attracted young volunteers. For a significant proportion in the youngest age group, this was their first experience as a volunteer (see Table 4).

Location: Regarding the volunteers’ place of residence, seven out of 10 lived in Innlandet, 12 percent lived in Oslo/Akershus, and one out of 10 lived abroad.

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PART 1

Elise Nilseng Barben is herself a skeleton athlete. During the Games she was a volunteer as well as a test rider at the skeleton races. Photo: Eline Dalsegg

Since fewer than eight percent reported “another place in the country” as their place of residence, it is debatable whether the Youth Olympic Games helped to ensure a future volunteering culture in the whole country – one of the cited objectives in the state guarantee. In addition, at an early stage it was made clear

by LYOGOC that the Games primarily targeted local volunteers, as accommodation was scarce.

There was a high proportion of young people – over 20 percent were 19 years old or younger – here defined as born in 1996 or later. More than half reported primary school or secondary school as their highest completed education, and four out of 10 reported being students. The demographics in this study differ drastically from other studies of other sports events. In Table 2 we compare the Youth Olympic Games with six other events in the region between 2011 and 2014: Birkebeinerrittet, Birkebeinerrennet, LandeveisBirken, and the two World Cups in Nordic disciplines in Lillehammer. The average age was lower, the proportion of women was higher, the proportion of people in employment was significantly lower, while the proportion of students was higher.

Who are the volunteers?

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An international crowd attending the snowboard cross competitions in Hafjell. Photo: Vegar S. Hansen

BIRKEN – Road race cycling

BIRKEN – Mountain bike

WC – Nordic skiing

WC – Nordic skiing

YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES

Gender Women Men Completed education Primary/lower secondary school Upper secondary school College/university Profession Working Retired Student Other

BIRKEN – Cross-country skiing

Event Year Answers (n) Response rate Mean age

BIRKEN – Mountain bike

Table 2: Demographics of the Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games 2016 compared to other sport events in the Lillehammer region.

2011 688 68 43 %

2012 417 57 45 %

2012 192 63 44 %

2012 571 54 47 %

2013a 175 58 48 %

2014 232 55 45 %

2016b 1710 53 37 %

48 52

49 51

35 65

46 53

23 77

33 67

53 47

13 35 52

11 35 54

9 46 44

10 34 56

3 35 62

2 31 67

16 37 48

75 6 13 6

71 11 12 6

85 3 7 5

78 9 8 5

77 12 9 5

65 10 22 3

47 12 37 4

a The survey was not sent to 150 students. b Survey post-Youth Olympic Games.

A comparison of 16 sport events involving cross-country skiing, ski flying, biathlon, handball, mountain biking, ­snowboarding and marathon can be found in Hanstad (2014, pp. 86–87).

Sports affiliation Based on this study, it appears that LYOGOC mainly recruited volunteers for the Youth Olympic Games through sports organisations. Table 3 shows that only 16 percent reported that they never had been involved as an athlete, coach or official.

≤ 29 30–50 ≥ 51 Total *p≤0.05

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PART 1

% (n) 12.6(115) 1.0 (4) 1.1 (5) 7.0(124)

% (n) 14.0(128) 17.7 (71) 13.4 (61) 14.7(260)

Never been involved in sport as an athlete, coach or leader*

Leadership position in a sports club (currently)*

Coach (currently)*

Because of children/ grandchildren*

Recreational athlete (currently)

Former elite-level athlete

Elite-level athlete (currently)*

Table 3: Experience of sports among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016. The respondents could tick more than one alternative if applicable.

% (n) % (n) % (n) % (n) % (n) 64.0 (584) 1.4 (13) 14.9(136) 8.4 (77) 15.9(145) 62.9 (253) 41.3(166) 12.7 (51) 19.2 (77) 11.9 (48) 64.0 (292) 40.6(185) 5.9 (27) 12.7 (58) 19.3 (88) 63.8 (1129) 20.5(364) 12.1(214) 12.0(212) 15.9(281)

Recreational athletes constituted the largest group of volunteers in all age groups. Nearly two in three, both among the youngest and the oldest, reported that they exercise regularly. Not surprisingly, there are more elite athletes in the youngest group compared to the other two.

Volunteers in organised sport are often involved because of their own ­children (Enjolras & Seippel, 2001; Kristiansen, Skille & Hanstad, 2014). In the two oldest age groups in this study four out of 10 stated that they volunteer because of their own children or grandchildren. They often act as coaches or officials or take care of other tasks related to the children’s activities.

The volunteering experience One key reason for Norway to undertake the Youth Olympic Games was to ­recruit volunteers. Table 4 shows that this was a success. As shown in the total column of the table, one in four reported that the Youth Olympic Games was their first experience as a volunteer.

Table 4: Volunteering experience among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016. ≤ 29 years 30-50 years

≥ 51 years

In all

This was my first experience as a volunteer I have some experience as a volunteer

% (n) 36.7 (307)

% (n) 17.5 (70)

% (n) 7.3 (34)

% (n) 24.1 (411)

41.8 (350)

32.3 (129)

29.1 (136)

36.1 (617)

I have volunteered many times before

21.5 (180)

50.3 (201)

63.6 (297)

39.8 (679)

Total

100.0 (837) 100.0 (400) 100.0 (467) 100.0 (1.707)

There are major differences between the three age groups, both between the two youngest (≤29 years and 30–50 years) and the two oldest (30–50 years and ≥ 51 years).

A fifth of those under 30 participated extensively in voluntary work, as did half of the volunteers between 30 and 50. Barely two-thirds of volunteers over 51 years of age had participated extensively prior to this event.

There is also a significant difference between women and men when it comes to volunteering experience. Almost half (47.5%) of the men reported that they had participated extensively in volunteer work, while barely one third (32.6%) of the women said the same. If we look at age, the tendency is the same in all three age categories, i.e. several men and women reported having participated extensively in voluntary work prior to the event. The difference is only significant for the youngest (29 years old and younger) volunteers.

Volunteering at events As mentioned in the introduction, the LYOGOC was struggling to get enough volunteers until six months before the Games. They were particularly interested in recruiting volunteers with experience from events in the region. Table 5 shows that they were successful in doing so. Who are the volunteers?

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Smile, have fun, take care of each other. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit

Generations of volunteers, working alongside and learning from each other. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit

Volunteers from all over the world gathered at the 2016 Lillehammer Youth Olympics. This photo was taken during a breather in the Learn & Share area. Photo: Kristine Brandsdal Barane

Several former volunteers of the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics arrived in their original event uniform. Photo: Karoline Conradi Ă˜ksnevad

Happy volunteers.

Photo: Helene Solheim

Table 5: Experience of selected events among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016.

One of the Birken events last five years

% 26.1

(n) (435)

2015 FIS World Cup Nordic Skiing in Lillehammer

12.7

(207)

1994 Lillehammer Olympic Games

11.9

(199)

2014 FIS World Cup Nordic Skiing in Lillehammer

10.1

(165)

Literature festival in Lillehammer last five years

5.4

(87)

2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo

2.5

(40)

2014 Sochi Olympic Games

2.1

(34)

2012 London Olympic Games

1.3

(21)

2012 YOG Innsbruck

0.9

(15)

2015 EYOF Voralberg/Liechtenstein

0.9

(15)

2012 YOG Innsbruck

0.5

(8)

2014 YOG Nanjing

0.4

(6)

We can see that 12 percent stated that they had volunteered during the Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994, meaning that out of all the 2016 volunteers (n=3,368), approximately 404 had also volunteered 22 years previously.

Birken is a key player in the local and regional events market. One out of four volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games stated that they had been involved in Birken events in the past five years. Some volunteers who participated at the Youth Olympic Games had not volunteered at events before. 5.4 percent (equivalent to approximately 182 out of all the volunteers) responded that they had volunteered at the Literature Festival in Lillehammer during the past five years.

This shows that an event such as the Youth Olympic Games is not just for people interested in sport.

57 percent of all volunteers had not been involved in any event. 69 percent of the youngest had not participated in any previous events, while the corresponding figure for the oldest group was 40 percent.

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PART 1

PART 2:

Why do they participate?

Motives for general volunteering We have looked at the work carried out by researchers at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo, Norway who used a modified version of the Volunteer Functions Inventory to measure motives for volunteering among the Norwegian population (for a more detailed explanation, see Wollebæk, Sætrang & Fladmoe, 2015, pp. 87–89). We will compare our findings with earlier studies, but first we will take a look at which motives are the most prevalent among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games (Table 6). Please note that the volunteers were not asked about their motives for volunteering at the Youth Olympic Games, only their reason for volunteering in general.

Table 6: Ranking of motives for general volunteering among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016. Scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).

Mean 5.34

(SD) (1.54)

I feel important when I work as a volunteer

5.23

(1.47)

It is good to include experience as a volunteer on my CV

5.13

(1.95)

I can contribute to a cause that means a lot to me

5.08

(1.55)

As a volunteer I feel more satisfied with myself

4.96

(1.52)

I can learn more about what I am working for

4.75

(1.73)

I gain practical experience from volunteering

I have friends who volunteer

4.64

(1.99)

I can make contacts that help me professionally with job opportunities

4.11

(1.93)

Close friends and family encouraged me to volunteer

3.65

(1.96)

I feel social pressure to volunteer

1.93

(1.37)

The scoring of the statements shows that all the motives except “I feel social pressure to volunteer” got an above average score on the scale (3.5). The standard deviations are relatively high, indicating that although the average scores are high, there is significant variation in the way people responded. A reasonable interpretation is that there is great variation in their reasons for volunteering, which can be explained by age and gender differences in the responses.

These perceived variances are confirmed when we look at the motives in ­relation to age. Age differences are apparent in responses to many of the statements, and the youngest age group has the highest average score on all statements, except “I can contribute to a cause that means a lot to me” and “As a volunteer I feel satisfied with myself.” For these two motives, the oldest age group (≥ 51 years) has the highest score.

Why do they participate?

25

The differences between the three age groups can in part be explained by unequal gender composition. In the two oldest age groups there are no differences between women and men, but the women in the youngest group are more concerned about a certificate for working as a volunteer than men are, and they also want to learn something through practical experience to a greater extent.

Regarding the reasons “I have friends who volunteer” and “I can contribute to a cause that means a lot to me,” young men find these statements more important than young women do.

Figure 1 illustrates the differences between the youngest and the oldest groups. In the final discussion (Part 7) we will look at these two groups in relation to various forms of motives, where the youngest to a greater extent than the oldest are characterised by an individual (reflexive) form of volunteering, which means that the volunteer places more importance on her or his own wishes than on collective ones. Older volunteers are more often referred to as traditional and collective, and they are governed more by intrinsic motives than their younger counterparts (Hustinx & Lammertyn, 2003).

7

5

<-29 years

6.12

6 5.81

51 år->

5.43 4.66

4.97

4.87

5.28

4.98 5.06

5.12

4.98 4.21

4

4.85

4.22

4.1

3.54 2.76

3

3 2.1

2

1.64

1

I feel social pressure to volunteer

Close friends and family encouraged me to volunteer

I can get contacts that help me professionally with job opportunities

I have friends who volunteer

I can learn more about what I am working for

As a volunteer I feel more satisfied with myself

I can contribute to a cause that means a lot to me

It is good to include experience as a volunteer on my CV

I feel important when I work as a volunteer

I gain practical experience from volunteering

0

Figure 1. Ranking of motives for volunteering at Youth Olympic Games. Comparison between volunteers 29 years or younger and volunteers 51 years and older.

26

PART 2

Almost as a matter of curiosity we compared the values of the volunteers during the Youth Olympic Games in Figure 2 with the findings from the latest survey of the broader Norwegian population from 2009 (Wollebæk et al., 2015). We say curiosity because of the sample’s unequal age composition; our study involves a great many more young people. There is a higher score in the survey from Lillehammer 2016. The exceptions are the motives “I can contribute to a cause that means a lot to me” and “As a volunteer I feel more satisfied with myself.” The negatively charged statement “I feel social pressure to volunteer” also appears more often in the general population than among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games.

6 5.34 5

4.88

5.23

5.13

5.08

YOG 2016

5.38 4.96 4.53

4.23

4.76

4.94

4

Norwegian population 2009

4.64 3.75

3.33

4.12 3.36

3.65

3.33

3 1.93

2

2.31

1

I feel social pressure to volunteer

Close friends and family encouraged me to volunteer

I can make contacts that help me professionally with job opportunities

I have friends who volunteer

I can learn more about what I am working for

I can contribute to a cause that means a lot to me

As a volunteer I feel more satisfied with myself

It is good to include experience as a volunteer on my CV

I feel important when I work as a volunteer

I gain practical experience from volunteering

0

Figure 2. Ranking of motives for volunteering. Comparison between those who participated as volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games in 2016 and in the Norwegian population in 2009.

Why do they participate?

27

The Learn & Share area inside Hükons Hall. Many volunteers were involved in non sports-related tasks, e.g. in the ­learning area they worked closely with athletes in a new setting. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit

Lillehammer is brightly lit up the night before the opening ceremony. Photo: Jostein Vedvik

Nina, Pernille, Magni and Charlotte, all part of a communications team, broadcasted the Games to millions through official digital channels. Photo: Alexander Eriksson

The volunteers were thrown surprise hot dog parties during the Games. Photo: Michael Eriksson

Why do they volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games?

Before the Games we asked volunteers to give us a brief explanation of why they participated. Keywords from the 1,302 comments were captured in two word clouds, represented in Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5.

Figure 3: Cloud of words based on the following open question: “Why do you volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games?” Answers from the 30–50 age group.

Figure 4: Cloud of words based on the following open question: “Why do you volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games?” Answers from the group aged 29 years or younger.

In the word clouds designed for all age groups, the factor “Contribute” stands out as most important, followed by “Exciting,” “Experience,” and a link to “Lillehammer” and “The Olympics.” In the cloud of words only for those under 29 and younger, the words “Experience” and “Exciting” are especially conspicuous.

32

PART 2

Regarding the desire to contribute, a man born in 1939 wrote that he signed up when they were searching for more volunteers. “So I thought, oh well, I can step in, it can’t be that bad.” A man ten years younger wrote that he enjoys practical work and that he likes to contribute to a good cause. A woman born in 1982 stated that she thinks it is fun to contribute at events and that the Youth Olympic Games is a very big experience to be a part of. Meanwhile, she likes the fact that there is a focus on other things than just performance. Making a contribution can be combined with other motives, as was the case for the woman born in 1975 who described her reason for signing up: “To contribute, new experiences, happening, social.”

Many people in Lillehammer can still relate to the 1994 Olympic Games. This is evident in the rationale for contributing in 2016, especially among older adults. A man born in 1948 links the two Olympic events: “If the Youth Olympic Games gets great feedback from the IOC, I have contributed to making the Olympics a success like the Olympics in ’94.”

But the younger people also mention the Games in 1994 – the story of “the best Winter Games ever” has been told from generation to generation. A woman born in 1994 says that her mother was a volunteer during the Olympics in ’94 and that she had many positive experiences there. She continues: “Since the Olympics is held this year again, I want to feel the atmosphere and get the experience of helping out with such a huge event.” Another volunteer says something similar: “I was born during the Olympics in ’94, so I thought it was a fun thing to do because I study at Lillehammer anyway.”

Volunteers of all ages mention that the Youth Olympic Games is exciting.

This woman born in 1991 puts it like this: It’s exciting with such a huge and international event in Norway, and I get the opportunity to use my skills in different languages in the meetings with youngsters and other visitors from all around the world. It’s an excellent opportunity to become acquainted with other volunteers from Norway and other countries, and it’s very exciting to be a part of the team that makes the Youth Olympic Games the (hopefully) best sporting event in Norway since the Olympics in ‘94.

For the youngest people it is also about gaining experience. A woman born in 1989 wrote that the Youth Olympic Games is a unique opportunity to acquire experience that could benefit her in her career. She wrote: “Simultaneously, it will be a great experience to look back on.” Another woman, born in 1992, thinks that it is relevant to her studies (tourism) and thus an advantage to have on her CV. A man born in 1992, a sports studies student also felt that it is relevant work experience.

Many of students do not fall into any of the categories. This male student, born in 1997, simply wrote: “My school said that we had to.”

Why do they participate?

33

Summary Part 2 • The volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games are greatly motivated to engage in volunteering in general.

• There are huge age differences when it comes to motives for volunteering.

The youngest people (29 years or younger) report higher values than their older colleagues for all statements, except: “I can do something concrete for issues that I care about,” and “As a volunteer I become more pleased with myself.”

• When it comes to motives for getting involved as a volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games, our word clouds show that to “Contribute” was highlighted by many of them. To gain experience and to experience something exciting was important for the youngest group.

Competitors and friends. At the team ski-snowboard cross races. Photo: Vegar S. Hansen

34

PART 2

”

“Why I signed up as a volunteer” On several occasions I’ve been a volunteer for the Snowboard Association, and I was asked if I wanted to contribute at the Youth Olympic Games, something I’d love to do! It’s a great way to connect with others and gain experience in events – and there is always a good atmosphere among the volunteers (Female, b. 1989)

”

Because it seemed like an experience for life (Female, b. 1999)

”

saw that there was a need for more volunteers in the ­autumn, and then I thought that I could sign up and

”

then see if I could get involved in creating a successful

I support the sports in ­Norway (Male, b. 1961)

event (Male, b.1973)

”

”

To contribute to a good event (Female, b. 1997)

My mum was volunteering during the Olympics in ’94, and she had a lot of positive experiences there. Since the Olympics is held this year, I want to feel the atmosphere and get the experience of helping to arrange such a large event (Female, b. 1995)

”

”

Because I wanted to be a part of something I’ve never have been part of, learn new things and get new friends (Female, b. 1996)

”

”

Relevant work experience for my field of study (Male, b. 1992)

My school said that we had to (Male, b. 1997)

It’s exciting with such a huge and international event in Norway, and I get the opportunity to use my skills in different languages in meetings with the youngsters and other visitors from all around the world. It’s an excellent opportunity to become ­acquainted with other volunteers from Norway and other ­countries, and it’s very exciting to be a part of the team that makes the Youth Olympic Games the (hopefully) best sporting event in ­Norway since the Olympics in ‘94 (Female, b. 1991)

”

Because it looks good when searching for jobs (Female, b. 1995)

”

I wanted to see how events work on the other side than being a spectator (Male, b. 1981)

Why do they participate?

35

”

We had to because of my school, but I also want to do it because it’s an experience (Female, b. 1998)

”

”

Get the opportunity to ­participate (Male, b. 1975)”

This is a unique opportunity to gain experience that can help me in my career. Simultaneously, it will be a great experience to look back on (Female, b. 1989)

”

Because I will help to organise games for young people (Male, b. 1979)

”

”

I volunteer at Lillehammer’s matches in the Get ­League and can’t miss out on the Youth Olympic Games (Female, b. 1978)

To help my daughter’s figure skating club (HIL). And a fun and ­educational experience (Female, b. 1975)

”

To contribute, new experience, happening, social (Female, b. 1975)

”

I was encouraged by a friend (Female, b. 1953)

”

I actually thought of doing a master’s thesis on the Youth Olympic Games focusing on movement. Instead, I signed up as a volunteer, because I chose another theme that matched my job better. I think it’s fun to contribute to events, and this is definitely a big thing to be a part of! I like that it focuses on so many things other than just performance!

(Female, b. 1982)

”

It’s relevant to my field of study (tourism) and an ­advantage to have on the CV (Female, b. 1992)

”

I’m involved in local sports. My club is the technical organiser, and I’m in charge of the races during the YOG (Female, b. 1980)

”

Social and exciting (Male, b. 1968)

36

PART 2

”

I like practical work, and I like to contribute to a good cause (Male, b. 1949)

”

I was born during the ’94 Olympics, so I thought it was a fun thing to do since I study in Lillehammer anyway (Female, b. 1994)

”

I’ve been a timekeeping volunteer for my local club and in Hafjell for nearly 15 years. I see the Youth Olympic Games as an end of this engagement (Male, b. 1966)

”

”

I think it’s fun to be a volunteer when the

Want to help (Male, b. 1972)

”

shifts at work allow me to (Female, b. 1950)

”

I’m one of those people you’d call a sports fanatic. I also have previous experience from speed skating. I think short track is too small a discipline in Norway, and I’m hoping that the Youth Olympic Games can help it gain momentum (Male, b. 1968)

Voluntary work is natural for me, I always meet lovely people.

And things have to be done if we are to achieve something (Female, b. 1949)

”

I like volunteering, and I’ve worked for voluntary organisations my whole life (Male, b. 1955)

”

I’m the leader of a curling club (Male, b. 1946)

”

To contribute to volunteering and to experience positive energy + the atmosphere (Female, b. 1954)

”

It’s meaningful to participate, gain experience and meet new people – being useful (Female, b. 1949)

”

It’s fun to be a part of such a huge event (Female, b. 1963)

”

Because I finally have time to spare for more extended voluntary activity, as a partial retiree who can manage the workload (Male, b. 1942)

Why do they participate?

37

PART 3:

Preparations and expectations In the pre-survey we asked the volunteers about their own preparations and LYOGOC’s preparations (Table 7).

Table 7: Experiences ahead of the games with respect to different aspects related to being a volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games 2016. Scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) a.

I am satisfied with the clothes/uniform that I received

Mean 4.17

(SD) (1.01)

I have been clearly instructed about my schedule

4.11

(1.19)

The online volunteer platform works satisfactorily

4.00

(1.02)

I have received enough information

3.86

(1.06)

I feel well prepared

3.71

(1.09)

The training has been good

3.62

(1.12)

My tasks have been explained well to me

3.61

(1.23)

a Those who stated “I have no opinion” were excluded.

The average values can be regarded as high. The readers may wonder why volunteers reported 4.1 on receiving clear messages about their schedule, while training and clear tasks only received 3.6 (on a scale from 1 to 5). The training was very general and not specific to most of the tasks. All group leaders had been told that they should clear state when the volunteers should arrive for their first shift in Mobilise1. Mobilise is an online platform used by many organisers for recruitment of personnel, organisation, coordination, communication and accreditation to ensure effective implementation. We can also see age differences: young people were less satisfied, as shown in Figure 6.

1 Mobilise means “portal for volunteers” (see www.mobilise.no).

38

PART 3

≤29 years 30-50 years ≥51 years

5 4,5

4.2

4.4

4.3

4.1

4.4

3.9

4

3.9 4.0

4.3 4.0 4.0

3.9

3.7

3.6

3.4

3,5

4.1 3.8

3.9

3.8

3.9

3.4

My tasks have been explained well to me

The training has been good

I feel well prepared

I have received enough information

The online volunteer platform works satisfactorily

I have been clearly instructed about my schedule

I am satisfied with the clothes/uniform that I received

3

Figure 5. Perceptions in advance about various aspects of volunteering at the Youth Olympic Games iin three different age groups.

While the young group’s scores are higher on average on all motives for volunteering (see pages 17–18), they are more critical regarding the preparations for the Youth Olympic Games. There are significant age differences in several of the statements in Figure 5, and the oldest group is the most satisfied group.

If we control for gender, the differences shown in Figure 6 are applicable to women and men. Although age has a greater explanatory power than gender in relation to how satisfied they are on the seven statements, there are also some significant gender differences. Men were generally more satisfied regarding “I feel well prepared,” and men between 30 and 50 years of age were also more satisfied than women in the same age group regarding “I have received enough information.” Young women were also more satisfied than young men with the portal for volunteers.

On the following pages we will share the volunteers’ own comments on their expectations before the Games. Our interpretation of these quotes can be summarised as: Most of the responses have a social element. It’s not only the young people who are looking forward to making new acquaintances – this is something older volunteers want as well. This means that an event can be a meeting place for everyone, and that those who participate also want to meet other people. Interest in sport is another important motive, and in an event for young athletes the love of sports is also highlighted. Several of them also said that they were looking forward to learn more about organising a championships (or work experience in general), or they wanted to share their knowledge and teach others (the mentoring programme). For others, new experiences and the connection to Lillehammer and the prospect of enjoying beautiful winter days (like in 1994) were reasons to volunteer.

Preparations and expectations

39

During the Games 21,500 young people tried out Olympic sports on the “Try the Sports” ­programme. Here are some of the volunteers who helped young people try luge down the popular icy tracks at Hunderfossen. Photo: Eline Dalsegg

Vegard Aulstad, one of more than 40 people trained as announcers before the Youth ­Olympics, reporting from the ice hockey games. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit

Joyful participants in the ski tracks. Photo: Sondre Aarholdt Moan

The Olympic competitors have learned much about fair play during the Games.

Photo: Sondre Aarholdt Moan

Summary Part 3 • The average values are high when the volunteers are considering various ­aspects of the preparation for the Games.

• They seem to be least satisfied with the training component. The statement that the training was good received an average value of 3.62, which is low compared to the satisfaction with their clothes (4.17). For the LYOGOC, training in the form of a dedicated training programme was not a priority.

• There is a considerable age variation in perceptions of the preparations. This may be due to the fact that older volunteers are more likely to have been involved in past events and knew more about the tasks they were set.

42

PART 3

“My own expectations” What do you personally expect to get out of your participation as a volunteer at the Youth Olympic Games?

”

New experiences together with new friends, new contacts, to learn through practice and to be part of a wider community. And to meet acquaintances from college and from other contexts (Female, b. 1988)

”

I expect to get to know many new people and to get useful work ­experience (Female, b. 1997) To be a part of something huge, to contribute to do something Good energy good for others (Male, b. 1998) (Female, b. 1988)

”

”

”

I expect to learn how important it is to give something to others without requiring some form of payment. Simply become a better human being and to see the importance of the work done by volunteers. I also think I’m going to feel more confident about my study choice, since I’m considering an education in sports, travel and events (Female, b. 1996)

”

”

” ”

”

Many good experiences, the feeling of contributing, and having a good time with other people (Female, b. 1999)

”

To meet others and make a lot of new friends (Female, b. 1953)

Certificate, experience, friendship, network and fun (Female, b. 1985)

I expect to gain a lot of new knowledge of sports and culture. I also expect to get some work experience (Female, b. 1999) I’m looking forward to experiencing what it is like to work as a volunteer over a longer period, to learn more about myself and to be more confident in myself (Female, b. 1997)

To experience the joy of sport at close range (Male, b. 1987)

”

Nice experiences on great winter days in Lillehammer (Male, b. 1988)

”

To see and learn how to arrange such a championship (Male, b. 1975)

”

New friends and experiences that I can take with me in life (Female, b. 1992)

Preparations and expectations

43

”

The chance to help visitors have a good experience during the event. I hope they want to come back to the area (Female, b. 1975)

”

”

A nice experience and a chance to meet a lot of new volunteers and athletes (Male, b. 1967)

An experience to be a part of it. Because of my job (Swix Sport AS) I couldn’t volunteer at the Olympics in 1994 (Male, b. 1951)

”

”

A love of sports and many positive youngsters (Female, b. 1964)

Experience from a huge event. Learning from others with more ­experience than me. Teach those with less knowledge than me.

New friends. Good memories (Female, b. 1976)

”

Good experiences (Female, b. 1941)

”

”

”

Nothing (Male, b. 1972)

To meet nice people, help making it the best possible event, and do something for the youth and the city (Female, b. 1962)

Learn more from the inside about how to organise such a big event (Male, b. 1972)

”

”

A good memory for life both on a human and a sporting level. And by that I mean that the athletes do the best they can and that they are satisfied. Happy youngsters would be a nice memory after these days (Male, b. 1961)

To be a contributor to a flawless event thanks to wide-ranging ­expertise on sports and events (Female, b. 1951)

”

”

Wellness (Male, b. 1958)

New contacts and nice experiences (Male, b. 1949)

”

To socialise and have a great experience (Female, b. 1969)

44

PART 3

”

Socialising with volunteers from my own sporting community, an opportunity to see promising young athletes, practising my English, new experiences (Female, b. 1973)

”

Ensure a successful ­competition (Male, b. 1947)

”

The love of sport and the atmosphere surrounding the event (Male, b. 1963)

”

Make the arena look good, more contacts, new friends (Male, b. 1952)

””

”

If the Youth Olympic Games gets good feedback from the IOC, I have contributed to making the Olympics a success like the Olympics of ‘94 (Male, b. 1948)

New experiences (Female, b. 1972)

The joy of contributing to something good and nice (Female, b. 1947)

”

Actually, I have very low expectations so I don’t get ­disappointed. I expect it to be cold. Get to know other happy volunteers (Male, b. 1944)

”

Meet many ­volunteers in nice teams (Male, b. 1938)

”

Forge new and hopefully interesting acquaintances (Male, b. 1939)

”

I hope to be left with a good combination of memories and experiences and to develop skills in my field of work (Female, b. 1962)

”

To be more ­pleased with ­myself (Male, 1943)

”

Once in a lifetime experience! It is good to work in a team I know and to get to know people from the international ­company OMEGA, which is responsible for time-keeping at Hafjell (Male, b. 1949)

”

I expect to be a part of a good sports festival and the feeling of making a useful contribution for sport (Female, b. 1947)

Preparations and expectations

45

PART 4:

The experience In this part we will describe the volunteers’ impressions after the Games. We will start with their perception of one of the things emphasised by the LYOGOC steering group: values. Then we will discuss the workload and what they thought about various aspects of volunteering, including their leaders.

The values of the Youth Olympic Games Through observations and interviews with LYOGOC leaders, it has emerged that volunteers emphasized their vision (Go beyond – create tomorrow) and values (playful, determined, awesome, humble). This was something they ­wanted to permeate the entire enterprise. We asked whether the volunteers felt that the event lived up to the values.

Table 8: The volunteers’ views on the extent to which the Youth Olympic Games 2016 was in line with the four values. Scale from 1 (Not in line) to 5 (Highly in line).

Mean 4.97

(SD) (1.02)

Determined

4.88

(1.05)

Humble

4.47

(1.12)

Awesome

4.44

(1.16)

Playful

These are high average scores on all four values. The management of the ­LYOGOC was determined to bring out these values, and the figures show that they succeeded. If you take a closer look at the age and gender differences, there is no variation between “determined” and “humble.” For “playful” and “humble” there is a pattern that women and younger volunteers are more in an agreement than men and older volunteers, and the relationship with gender is ­stronger than age. However, we should be careful not to place too much emphasis on these differences since a huge majority of the volunteers – including men and older volunteers – selected “agree” or “totally agree.”

The reader should note that we used a scale from 1 to 6 in this part. The reason for this is that employees of LYOGOC were asked similar questions in an internal process where values were among several factors that the steering group wanted to assess. The survey was conducted nine times from September 2014 to February 2016 (before the Games). We do not know the details and ­response rates of these surveys except that they were anonymous, but we think it may be interesting to compare them.

While the volunteers gave an average value of 4.96 when it came to playful after the games, the employees gave this value 4.85 before the Games, an increase of 0.4 since the first measurement in 2014. The employees gave the value determined the

46

PART 4

highest score with 5.17, an increase of 4.2 compared to 18 months before the Games. The volunteers were not as convinced as employees when it came to how determined the Youth Olympic Games was, and gave it a score of 4.20.

The Youth Olympic Games were intended to be awesome & humble. We have been told that the LYOGOC steering group posed the following standard question when various measures were discussed: “Is this awesome enough?” The employees must have felt that they increased awesomeness in the process.

From 3.53 in September, the average score was 4.91 in February 2016. The volunteers gave the value 4.44. The volunteers and the employees totally agreed on the degree of humbleness (4.47 and 4.48).

Section affiliation and roles We will briefly explain what the volunteers worked with in Tables 9 and 10.

Table 9: The location where the volunteers worked most of their time during the Youth ­Olympic Games 2016.

Competition venue Non-competition venue The Task Force Total

≤ 29 years % (n) 47.5 (395) 43.9 (365) 8.7 (72) 100.0 (832)

30-50 years % (n) 60.3 (242) 35.7 (143) 4.0 (16) 100.0 (401)

≥ 51 years % (n) 54.5 (254) 40.1 (187) 5.4 (25) 100.0 (466)

Overall % (n) 52.4 (891) 40.9 (695) 6.7 (113) 100.0 (1.699)

First and foremost, the overview shows that an event like the Youth Olympic Games is complex. Although it is about sports, just half of the volunteers worked at a sports arena during the Games in 2016. Examples of non-sports arenas are the Olympic Village, Sjoggfest, the IOC hotel and transportation.

In Table 10 we see that the 30–50 age group differs from the other two by having a larger proportion involved in a sports arena. If we control for gender, the pattern is the same among women, while there are only minor differences among men.

Young people made up the biggest proportion in the “efforts group” or the task force. Volunteers in this group were not put into a separate section from the beginning, but they were a part of the workforce, which was available any time when needed.

Table 10: Characterisation of tasks among those who worked at a competition venue.

Related to competition Related to service Other Total

≤ 29 years % (n) 40.5 (160) 35.7 (141) 23.8 (94) 100.0 (395)

30-50 years % (n) 49.4 (119) 30.7 (74) 19.9 (48) 100.0 (241)

≥ 51 years % (n) 49.0 (124) 29.2 (74) 21.7 (55) 100.0 (253)

% 45.3 32.5 22.2 100.0

Alle (n) (403) (289) (197) (889)

Not all volunteers who worked at a sports arena were directly involved in the implementation of the competitions. In Table 10 we asked how they would characterise their schedule. There are no big differences in age, but there are in

The experience

47

terms of gender. Women were to a greater extent than men (approximately 40% and 25%) involved in service functions at sport arenas. Nearly six out of 10 men reported that they were directly involved in the implementation, compared to three in 10 women. It should be noted that 22 percent of the respondents ­answered “other” when asked about their schedules.

Leadership roles There is a great need for people in leadership roles at an event. In our survey 15.2 (n=258) percent of the volunteers reported that they had a leadership role.

Most people in the age group 30–50 years had managerial positions (20.7%).

Among the youngest (29 years old and younger), 13 percent had a managerial position, while the figure was 15.7 percent among the oldest group (51 years and older). The numbers also tell us that: • Significantly more men (16.3%) than women (13%) had a leadership role.

• Significantly more volunteers with extensive volunteer experience (22.0%) had a leadership role compared to the volunteers that reported some experience (12.8%) and no experience (8.8%).

The workload A significant number of hours of voluntary work were contributed before and during the Games. This is shown in Table 11.

Table 11: The volunteers’ reported amount of work during the period 6–22 February

0–30 hours 31–60 hours 61–90 hours ≥ 91 hours Total

≤ 29 years % (n) 18.7 (144) 40.5 (312) 22.6 (174) 18.2 (140) 100.0 (770)

30-50 years % (n) 17.7 (68) 46.8 (180) 15.8 (61) 19.7 (76) 100.0 (385)

≥ 51 years % (n) 19.1 (85) 42.4 (189) 20.2 (90) 18.4 (82) 100.0 (446)

All % (n) 18.5 (297) 42.7 (681) 20.3 (325) 18.6 (298) 100.0 (1.601)

The distribution is similar for the three age groups. Young and older volunteers worked approximately the same number of hours. When we look at the distribution between the original intervals of 10 hours from the survey, several of them place themselves in the group between 41 and 50 hours, followed by 31–40 hours.

How did the volunteers experience the workload? This is presented in Table 12.

Table 12: Perception of workload among the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games 2016.

Scale from 1 (I had almost nothing to do) to 5 (I had way too much work to do).

Almost nothing to do Fair Way too much work Total

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PART 4

≤ 29 years % (n) 8.2 (69) 88.8 (743) 3.0 (25) 100.0 (837)

30-50 years % (n) 6.5 (26) 90.5 (361) 3.0 (12) 100.0 (399)

≥ 51 years % (n) 8.7 (40) 89.8 (413) 1.5 (7) 100.0 (460)

Alle % (n) 8.0 (135) 89.4 (1517) 2.6 (44) 100.0 (1.696)

The distribution across the age categories is fairly even. Nine out of 10 answered that the workload was fair (2–4 on a scale of 1 to 5). With rigorous categorisation by only having the value of 3 for “fair,” six out of 10 answered that their workload was fair.

If we look at the relation between the results in Table 11 and Table 12, there is a significant positive correlation, which means that more hours lead to a greater probability for opting for “way too much work,” which also makes sense.

It may be difficult to assess how much the volunteers will be working at a sport event, especially for an occasion that takes place for the first time and has not been through a test run. Moreover, unexpected situations may occur and need to be taken into account, such as illness or heavy snowfall. Thus, it is possible to end up with volunteers who feel that they do not have enough to do, like this woman born in 1988: There wasn’t much for us to do, and at times it felt very pointless to have spent so much time, money and unpaid holiday to go to Lillehammer to sit in an office for hours without a single task. I signed up primarily because I wanted to help the Youth Olympic Games to be a success, and I don’t feel that I’ve done that.

This was a huge disappointment for her, and she encourages future organisers to think more carefully about the need for volunteers. However, she points out that it was fun volunteering and that she would do it again. Another volunteer thinks LYOGOC could reduce the number of volunteers to 2,000 and then give the ones who worked more to do. She continues: “I felt totally useless as one of 30 people in my team.”

As a comparison, we can see a similar assessment among the volunteers at the Biathlon World Championships, which was held some weeks after the Youth Olympic Games. They had 11.8 percent (2.9+8.9) who felt that the workload was too light, while 20.7 percent (19.4 + 1.3) thought they had a lot/too much to do, while 67.4 percent felt that the workload was fair. This suggests that there was somewhat better organisation, but it should be noted that it is easier to plan for an event that consists of one sport and is held in one single area (plus the prize ceremony in the city centre). Those responsible for the Biathlon World Championships also had two seasons of experience from the World Cup in Holmenkollen.

Satisfaction The volunteers were asked about various aspects of their experience of the Youth Olympic Games – the organisation, relations to other volunteers and practical matters. These findings are shown in Table 13.

The experience

49

Volunteers enjoying the sun at the men’s biathlon on 15 February. A happy contrast to the heavy rainfall in the week leading up to the Games. Photo: Sondre Aarholdt Moan

Volunteers ready for the men’s giant slalom medal ceremony on 17 February, dressed in ­Norwegian traditional costume Photo: Johannes Dalen Giske

Outdoor lighting design, snow sculptures, big screens and winter magic. Søndre Park, aka Sjogg (i.e. Snow) Park had something for everyone. Photo: Vegar S. Hansen

21,500 young people tried out Olympic sports on the “Try the Sports” programme. Here are two of the volunteers at the Birkebeineren Ski Stadium. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit

A tight race at the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ski cross in Hafjell. Photo: Simon Bruty

Table 13: The volunteers’ evaluation of different aspects during the Youth Olympic Games 2016. Scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Mean score 4.59

(SD) (0.71)

I received positive feedback from my co-workers

4.43

(0.79)

We had the required number of volunteers in relation to the workload in my section Being a volunteer at the YOG was as amazing as I expected

4.28

(0.99)

4.17

(1.00)

There was a good atmosphere in my section

The volunteer uniform was functional

4.15

(0.99)

After this volunteering experience, it is more likely that I will volunteer for other events in the future The volunteer uniform was neat

3.99

(0.97)

3.91

(0.99)

The online volunteer platform was a useful information tool

3.79

(1.06)

The food was great for volunteers

3.63

(1.17)

I was given clear instructions about my tasks before my first shift

3.62

(1.22)

Sjoggfest was an important aspect of my experience of ­Lillehammer 2016

2.81

(1.38)

We can see that the volunteers gave high values. Especially the top four should be seen as positive for the organisers. The standard deviations are also relatively small for most of the statements, which means that the respondents concur.

In Figure 7 the answers to the same battery of questions is organised according to the three age groups.

5 4.5

4.5

4.6 4.6 4.3

4.5 4.4 4.1

4.3

4.4

4

4.1

4.2 4.2

4.1

≤29 years 30-50 years ≥51 years

4.2 4.0

4.0 3.9 3.9

4.0 4.0 3.7

3.5

3.9 4.0 3.6

3.8 3.5 3.5

3.7

3.9

3.4

3.1

3 2.5

2.5

2.3

Sjoggfest was an important aspect of my experience of Lillehammer 2016

I was given clear instructions about my tasks before my first shift

The food was great for volunteers

The online volunteer platform was a useful information tool

The volunteer uniform was neat

After this volunteering experience, it is more likely that I will volunteer for other events in the future

The volunteer uniform was functional

Being a volunteer at the YOG was as amazing as I expected

We had the required number of volunteers inrelation to the workload in my section

I received positive feedback from my co-workers

There was a good atmosphere in my section

2

Figure 6. The volunteers’ assessment of various conditions during the Youth Olympic Games in three different age groups.

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PART 4

There is a clear correlation between age and response. For 10 out of 11 statements there is a significant age difference. The exception is “After this volunteer experience, it is more likely that I will volunteer for other events in the future”, where they concur. For eight of the statements (clear schedules, the situation of staffing, quality of clothing, positive feedback, good atmosphere, expectations) young people stand out from the other two groups by disagreeing more. For the food services and functional clothing, the oldest group differs from the other two by agreeing more with these statements. Not surprisingly, young people are more positive towards the statement that Sjoggfest was an important part of their experience because they participated in it to a greater degree. As a digression, we looked at this statement with a follow-up question about how many Sjoggfest activities they participated in. Not surprisingly, there is a clear positive correlation between Sjoggfest being important for their experience and their participation in several of these activities.

The pattern above is sustained if we control for gender, but it is significantly clearer among men than among women. This means that if we just look at the women, some of the significant differences disappear, but the pattern is the same as it is for men.

While there is a marked age context in relation to how they respond to the 11 statements, gender is less important. Several significant gender differences were found only in the youngest age group – young men agree more with the statements that they received clear tasks, while young women agree more with the statement that Sjoggfest was important for the experience, and they felt an increased desire to volunteer compared to men of the same age. In the age group 30–50 years, the women agree to a greater degree than men that the food was good, while there are no gender differences in the oldest age group.

As well as age and gender, we looked at the extent of volunteering experience. A comparison between those who had no experience and those who did does not show major differences. Regardless of gender and age, there are some differences: those without experience reported that they had not been given specific tasks compared to those with experience. On the other hand, the volunteers without experience considered the food, the clothing and Sjoggfest as more important than those who had experience. The young people without ­experience (both women and men) were more positive about the portal for volunteers than those who had experience. Moreover, young women with no experience and women in the age group 30–50 years without experience were significantly more positive about the statement that the clothing was nice-looking and functional than their peers were.

Of the variables age, gender and experience, it is clear that age has the greatest explanatory power relative to how they respond. Gender and experience from voluntary work have about the same (relatively modestly) explanatory power.

The experience

55

Comparison with a different event We have been putting similar questions to volunteers at a variety of other events. In the following we will look at one of these events because it was held almost simultaneously with the Youth Olympic Games, and the organisers of the Biathlon World Championships had also stated that the championship would be used to recruit new volunteers. We conducted an online survey with the same pattern as for the Youth Olympic Games and got 765 responses (57% response rate). The data from the two events are shown in Figure 8.

YOG 2016 4.6 4.7

4.4 4.5

4.3 4.4

4.2 4.4

4.2

3.90

4

4.4

3.9 3.9 3.80

4.3

4.2 3.6 3.5

3.6

Sjoggfest was an important aspect of my experience of Lillehammer 2016L

I was given clear instructions about my tasks before my first shift

The food was great for volunteers

The online volunteer platform was a useful information tool

The volunteer uniform was neat

After this volunteering experience, it is more likely that I will volunteer for other events in the future

The volunteer uniform was functional

Being a volunteer at the YOG was as amazing as I expected

We had the required number of volunteers in relation to the workload in my section

I received positive feedback from my co-workers

2.8 2.7 There was a good atmosphere in my section

5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2

WC Biathlon 2016

Figure 7. The volunteers’ assessment of various conditions during the Youth Olympic Games compared to the 2016 Biathlon World Championships in Oslo.

The volunteers at the Biathlon World Championships were consistently more satisfied with the organisation and the planning. For example, they gave an average value of 4.2 for the statement “I got clear schedules in advance,” while the Youth Olympic Games had 3.62 for the corresponding statement. Such a difference could be due to a lack of training in Lillehammer in 2016, but above all because at the core the championships in Oslo were volunteers who had taken part in the World Cup before. 47.5 percent of the volunteers said that they had been involved in the World Cup in 2015 and 39.5 percent in 2013. Nearly one in three volunteered at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo in 2011. So these volunteers were considerably more experienced than the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games. The biathlon volunteers also expressed great satisfaction with the organisation in earlier investigations (see the reports in the list of publications).

56

PART 4

The difference is also huge with regard to the portal for volunteers, although both of them used the same system, Mobilise. Previous studies show that all organisers need some time with the volunteers before the portal functions ­optimally. Some adjustments were also made. The organisers of the World Championships had used Mobilise during the World Cup in 2014 and 2015, while it was new to many LYOGOC and to many of the volunteers at the Youth Olympic Games.

Clothing is important to the volunteers. We can see that scores are similar for both events for the statement that the clothing was appealing, but volunteers at Lillehammer felt that the clothing was functional to a greater degree.

According to the comments from the volunteers, the lower satisfaction at the World Championships is due to the fact that the jackets were longer than those used in the past – and for that reason less functional.

Relationship with the leaders LYOGOC chose a young leadership. This applied to both employees and volunteers. In Table 14 we look at how volunteers with leadership responsibilities experienced the cooperation with volunteers without leadership responsibilities and vice versa. Both groups also rated their opinions about LYOGOC’s management.

Table 14: Perception of cooperation with volunteers in their group among volunteers with leadership responsibilities and ordinary volunteers’ perception of the cooperation with their immediate superior during the Youth Olympic Games 2016. Scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good). ≤29 years Cooperation with volunteers without leadership ­responsibilities* Cooperation with immediate superior*

30-50 years

≥51 years

Overall

Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD) Mean (SD) 4.19 (0.74) 4.61 (0.63) 4.55 (0.77) 4.42 (0.74)

4.27 (0.92)

4.46 (0.89)

4.53 (0.80)

4.38 (0.89)

*p≤0.05

These are very good values. If we look at how the volunteers without leadership responsibilities experienced the relationship with their immediate superior (4.38), there is a higher score than most of the event organisers we have studied.

There is very little difference in how the volunteers with or without leadership responsibilities consider each other. In several of our studies the voluntary leaders are more satisfied with the relationship than those who did not have leadership responsibilities. At the World Championships in 2011 the differences were substantial – 4.53 versus 4.0.

For the leadership question and for the regular volunteer question there is a significant difference between young people and the two older age groups (there is no difference between the two older age groups). This applies to both women

The experience

57

CEO Tomas Holmestad of Lillehammer Youth Olympics 2016 and Christian Rønning met with one of the many volunteers of the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics, whose efforts were so important to the success of the 1994 Games.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and HRH Crown Prince Haakon on duty as ­volunteers in Hafjell. Photo: Thea Nerell

and men. Conversely, there are no gender differences within the three age groups in respect of how they responded to these two questions.

After the Games we also asked the volunteers about their main impressions of their participation and whether the experience had affected their attitude towards volunteering in the future. The volunteers’ answers to this question are the basis for the final discussion in Part 7.

Summary Part 4 • Most of the volunteers worked between 41 and 50 hours during the Youth Olympic Games.

• The volunteers mostly enjoyed their shifts. They gave very high values on the statements that said that the atmosphere in their own groups was good and that they received positive feedback from their co-workers.

• Several of the volunteers were unsatisfied with the food.

• The young people were less satisfied with the experience than the older volunteers.

• Relations between the volunteers and their immediate superiors worked well.

Both groups gave high values. The youngest (volunteers both with and without management responsibility) gave lower values than the older volunteers on these statements.

The experience

59

More than just sport. Volunteers for the 2016 cultural programme, which consisted of more than 200 free events. This photo was taken at of the many audience-packed gigs at Bruket arena. Photo: Jostein Vedvik

Jens August Dalsegg of the 2016 Youth Olympics hosting a Kahoot quiz during the ­volunteersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; social event at Bruket. Photo: Alexander Eriksson

“The volunteers’ own impressions” We asked the volunteers to write a comment about the experience and to give some tips and suggestions. This is a representative sample.

”

I think it was a wonderful experience to work as a medal bearer during the Youth Olympic Games.

I’ll never forget this experience, and I’ll look back and think of this as one of the best memories in my life. We could perhaps have been given a bit more insight into the things that happened and some more space for the volunteers (Female, b. 1999)

”

”

The people from my school were especially picked out to contribute, and I wish there had been better organisation at the start in terms of accommodation and other important information. I had a lot of fun, but I wasn’t entirely satisfied with all of the organisation, food, and information (Female, b. 1995)

”

The food that was served to the volunteers in Håkonshallen was bad, both in terms of quality and taste (Female, b. 1985)

One of the better 10 days I’ve been a part of. Thank you for the opportunity, it was great fun. I’ve made friends and acquaintances for life (Male, b. 1998)

”

There should have been YOG buses for everyone, not just for those with accreditation. I received many complaints about this from the audience (Female, b. 1999)

”

”

”

We didn’t have much to do, and at times it felt very pointless to have spent so much time, money and unpaid holiday going to Lillehammer just to sit in an office for hours without a single task. I signed up primarily because I wanted to help the Youth Olympic Games to be a success, and I don’t feel that I’ve done that. This was a huge disappointment and something I certainly would recommend that you to think

The only thing I have to complain

more closely about the next time something like this will

about is the bus service outside

be held. Don’t hire more than you need, and customise the

­Lillehammer (Sjusjøen, Hafjell) for

opening hours to the interests and needs instead of having

those who weren’t accredited. I got

a constantly open policy. Despite this, it gave me a desire to

a lot of complaints about this

volunteer at a similar event again. I’m crossing my fingers for

(Female, b. 1960)

something to do for the potential next time (Female, b. 1988)

The 9-hours shifts were a little long for volunteers, but besides that it was great!

(Female, b. 1960)

”

It was great to take part in it! Similar clothes no matter what size you need. You should have leaders who know about the sport and the requirements (Male, b. 1982)

”

I didn’t get the green volunteer trousers. This was very disappointing. I got black padded trousers that were useless for my job and ten centimetres too big. Couldn’t use them for anything. I was usually given tasks that took half an hour per shift. For the rest of the time I was waiting (Female, b. 1986)

The experience

61

”

All in all, it was fun. The management group should’ve spent some more time communicating with the volunteers. Plan the arts events with some­ one who has knowledge of the arts to make the most of out the venue.

There was a lot of hassle by email. We should be given short and concise messages. The information in advance must be improved. I have a feeling that the people who worked in management had too much to do and that the volunteers had many free hours. Delegate! (Female, b. 1991)

”

I’m ready to work during the Olympics in 2026 in Lillehammer (Male, b. 1958)

”

”

”

I missed a test of all the equipment in a race before the Olympics started (Female, b. 1974)

I wish that it had been clearer what benefits the volunteers would receive. For example, the free tickets in Hafjell if we had accreditation cards, and that we could have secured concert tickets before everyone else. I just got this information through friends (Female, b. 1992)

There should’ve been shorter shifts so you could attend more of the events that took place. I felt cheated in some of the competitions by having too much to do and too long shifts (Male, b. 1989)

”

I never was a volunteer; I had to do it for my college. I’ve worked for 10 years to get paid for doing such jobs, and then I get forced to do this. I think this is wrong. The learning aspect was like zero and I’m very dissatisfied with the distribution of tasks where I worked (Female, b. 1986)

”

There was some negativity amongst the students who had the responsibility for Drømmedag.

There wasn’t much to do. Maybe you should’ve created a better programme for them. But I don’t know all the aspects of this case (Male, b. 1980)

”

”

We were lucky with the weather, so the

I had the responsibility for the sports facilities, and it worked brilliant because I have experience in this field and know how voluntary work should be managed. Other things were shit. I doubt that I will return for the next season, and there aren’t that many people to choose from in our sport (Female, b. 1981)

workload wasn’t that big for the people in my group. Had there been heavy snowfall, this would have changed a lot. My overall experience as a volunteer was very ­positive, and I don’t regret for a second that I was involved in this. Well done (Male, b. 1972)

”

”

It was great fun to meet other volunteers with very different backgrounds but also some common traits like a willingness to do something, positivity and a good mood. It’s been really fun to contribute to ensure that all the participants were greeted with a smile the second they landed on Norwegian soil (Female, b. 1977)

My impression is that there were too many volunteers who worked during the Youth ­Olympic Games. I think you could reduce the number of volunteers to 2,000 and then give the people who were working more to do (Female, b. 1979)

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PART 4

” ”

”

Planning was not optimal. I could’ve done a better job if I’d been more involved and gained more knowledge before the Games (Female, b. 1961)

The young leaders were good at motivating and giving praise. They were probably challenged by the older ones with experience, which sometimes made it difficult to decide who was in charge. An overview of the day’s schedules, written down, and with an overview of the longitudinal width of the finish-start area could have simplified things. Finally, I’m still impressed by the efforts and work of the young leaders (Female, b. 1964)

”

Very well ­organised, it was interesting and great promotion of the youth and the city!

(Female, b. 1964)

Great fun to work with so many talented, hard-working and cheerful youngsters. My final thought now that the Youth Olympic Games and our teamwork are over: thankfully, but ­unfortunately. I’m going to miss this wonderful gang I’ve had the pleasure to work with (Male, b. 1966)

”

From the day I signed up – after the call for more volunteers was made – I constantly had the impression that the planning was lagging behind. But I was impressed by the creativity and ingenuity that was invested (Male, b. 1967) The Youth Olympic Games Inadequate training in the tasks I was set 2016 was an experience for to do. Unclear responsibilities in the area I life, but it obviously can’t worked. Food for the volunteers was bad. Old match the wonderful time I baguettes, unhealthy food, little variety. That had as a volunteer (security [good food] is important to retain volunteers in Lysgårdsbakkene) during (Female, b. 1954) the Olympics in ‘94. Meeting and occasionally a having a brief chat with the executives One certain thing is that there shouldn’t be too many captains for from ‘94 (including Heiberg) one job! And then, the one who gives the orders should be clear was a great experience in their communication! And then, it’s important that whoever is (Female, b. 1944)

”

My best memory is all the ­positive, enthusiastic youngsters: normal volunteers, part-time managers and other leaders.

You have influenced many in a positive way (Male, b. 1932)

”

”

”

”

responsible for a group is competent for the job and moves around a bit! Otherwise, I think it was informative and exciting tasks, and I also became acquainted with many nice people. It’s worth repeating!

(Male, b. 1949)

Dry, tasteless and bad food. Otherwise, most of it was very good, and we were both proud and touched by being a part of this (Male, b. 1963)

”

Long days as a driver. Bad food.

Never had dinner since we weren’t allowed to park near Kristins Hall.

Overcapacity on transport, too many empty runs over several days (Male, b. 1955)

The experience

63

PART 5:

The young leaders programme The Youth Olympic Games 2016 in Lillehammer was communicated as an ­important milestone in achieving NIF’s 10-year plan for its youth sports initiative, also called “Ungdomsløftet.” This initiative aims to recruit young coaches, athletes, leaders and volunteers to Norwegian sports (NIF, 2011a, 2011b). By the end of 2013, NIF in cooperation with the “Sports Competence Centre Innlandet” and LYOGOC had developed a course for young people. The young leaders programme had two goals. Firstly, to recruit young volunteers for the Games and create a new generation of volunteers. And secondly, to educate young leaders in Norwegian sports for the longer term. The participants in the young leaders programme were recruited and invited from across Norway. The largest group came from sports organisations such as sports clubs, District Sport Associations (DSAs) and national sports federations in Norway. Young people were also ­recruited by course providers through Lillehammer 2016’s portal for volunteers and from schools in Oppland. Some of them signed up for the course in response to an advertisement in a local newspaper in Lillehammer.

Over 22 months (from April 2014 to February 2016) seven courses were held for people between 13 and 19 years of age (Table 15). There were four different start-up courses and three follow-up courses.

Table 15. Leadership courses for young people at theYouth Olympic Games.

Date Apr. 2014 Sep.2014

City Elveruma Trondheima

Type of course Start-up Start-up

Okt. 2014 Osloa Jan. 2015 Hamarb Apr.2015 Lillehammera

Start-up Follow-up Start-up

Okt. 2015 Lillehammerb

Follow-up

Jan. 2016

Follow-up

Lillehammerb

No. parti­ cipants Recruited were 54 Oppland and Hedmark sport districts 53 Sport districts besides Oppland and Hedmark 66 Sport associations 120 Start-ups in 2014 32 Oppland and Hedmark sport districts , schools in Oppland and Hedmark, local newspapers 82 All previous courses, schools in Oppland, the YOG online volunteer platform 76 All previous course

a Førstegangssamlinger b Oppfølgingskurs

There were 223 young participants on the start-up courses. The courses were held over three days at the weekend, and the programme consisted of topics that included the organisation of Norwegian sport, conflict resolution, commu-

64

PART 5

nication and rhetoric, and ethics and values within Norwegian sport. All participants from these first courses were invited to attend three follow-up courses that took place between January 2015 and January 2016, focusing on the Youth Olympic Games and Olympism.

All participants were invited and encouraged to volunteer during Lillehammer 2016. Some participants took part in the organisation of the torch relay. In the following we will describe the participants who took part in the management course for young leaders.

Who were the volunteers participating in the young leaders programme?

Of the 223 young people participating in one of the three start-up weekends, more than 100 dropped out before the Youth Olympic Games – 118 remained and signed up as volunteers. 103 of them answered (87.3% response rate) the survey questions before the Games and 90 after the Games (76.3% response rate).

Table 16: Demographic overview – young leaders.

Survey before (n=103)

Survey after (n=90)

%

(n)

%

(n)

Women

65.7

(67)

59.6

(53)

Men

34.3

(35)

40.4

(36)

Gender

Age 15–17 years

46.5

(47)

50.0

(45)

18–20 years

43.1

(44)

41.1

(37)

≥ 21 years

10.8

(11)

8.9

(8)

Place of residence Lillehammer

14.0

(14)

17.2

(15)

Other place in Oppland

15.0

(15)

13.8

(12)

Hedmark

16.0

(16)

14.9

(13)

Oslo/Akershus

20.0

(20)

23.0

(20)

Other place in Norway

35.0

(35)

31.0

(27)

According to NIF, more females participated in the young leaders programme, which is reflected in their involvement as volunteers during the Games. Among the 118 young leaders who were volunteers during the Youth Olympic Games, 66 percent were women and 34 percent men. Many participants were older than the age limit set by NIF (from 13 to 19 years old), but this is due to the fact that the programme started two years before the Games and that some of them had turned 20 once the Olympic flame was lit.

The young leaders programme

65

Michael Eriksson awaiting his team of volunteers at the volunteer training camp on 9 January 2016. Photo: Cathrine Dokken In the middle: Smile, have fun, take care of each other. Linda Sletengen Jacobsen meets a member of her team of volunteers on 9 January 2016. Photo: Cathrine Dokken

Young volunteers full of expectation at the 9 January training camp. Photo: Cathrine Dokken.

In the middle: Young leaders looking forward to the Games at the training camp for volunteers on 9 January 2016.

Photo: Cathrine Dokken

Pride and ownership. Patrik HammerĂĽs, one of the many young leaders who had prepared for the Games for a long time. Photo: Alexander Eriksson

To the right: Runa Møller Tangstad, 18, a young leader from Nordland county, gave a speech at the closing ceremony on 21 February 2016. Photo: Thea Nerell

In Table 1 it appears that fewer than eight percent came from outside the counties of Innlandet and Oslo/Akershus, while the origins of the young leaders were more varied – in line with the aim that this should be a programme for youth in the whole country. Some 33 percent came from elsewhere in Norway.

Regarding motives (Table 6), being able to put this on their CVs and using the Youth Olympic Games to learn were highly valued among the young leaders.

The statement “It is good to have a certificate that I have worked as a volunteer” was valued at 6.33. Compared with what all volunteers have answered on the same statement (5.53, see Table 6), we infer that these participants volunteered based on the idea that this would benefit them in the future. This is confirmed by the higher than average score (6.00) on the statement “As a volunteer, I learn something through practical experience.” The same goes for “I can get contacts that can help me in occupational life,” which the young leaders gave more ­importance (5.25) than the average in the survey (4.1).

Table 17 shows young leaders’ backgrounds in organised sports.

Table 17: Young leaders’ experience of sport.

Recreational athlete Coach Leader in a sports club Elite-level athlete Former elite-level athlete Never been involved as an athlete, coach or leader in sport

% 65.3 51.5 28.7 24.8 18.8 2.0

(n) (66) (52) (29) (25) (19) (2)

Most volunteers get involved in sports through their children, but the participants in the education programme do not fall into this group because of their age. In all of the other response options regarding experience of sports, we can see that the participants in the programme for young leaders have much closer ties to sport than the average among volunteers under 29 years. Several of the young leaders had been involved in Norwegian sports as athletes and/or coaches. 15 percent of all the volunteers in the age group 29 years and younger are coaches, while 52 percent of the young leaders hold coaching positions. Nearly 30 percent hold a leadership position within their sport, compared to nine among all the volunteers in the group aged 29 years and younger. Two of them had no affiliation with the sport as an athlete, coach or manager. As shown in Table 17, most of them are engaged in sports, and they have some or a lot of experience of voluntary work (71 percent) in general. For 29 percent of the young leaders who responded, the Youth Olympic Games was their first volunteer experience.

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PART 5

The experience of the education programme in conjunction with the Youth Olympic Games

Most of the young leaders did not know much about the Youth Olympic Games before they entered the programme (Hanstad, Tangevold & Vollen, 2014; Strittmatter & Hanstad, 2015), or what the young leaders programme and the role as a volunteer during the event would entail. Through the survey after the Games and through in in-depth interviews with the young leaders we learned that most of them felt that both the programme and the Youth Olympic Games were fun.

Furthermore, they developed social networks through the education programme. In addition, the young leaders gained more and more insight into Norwegian sports and the importance of volunteering in Norway. How the young leaders’ experience of the education programme related to their experience as volunteers during the Youth Olympic Games is shown in Table 18.

Table 18: Perceptions of the educational programme among the young leaders. Scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree).

The Youth Olympic Games 2016 has inspired me to be a volunteer in Norwegian sports The Youth Olympic Games 2016 has given me many friends whom I will keep in touch with I think my job was exciting The education has been relevant to my daily life after the Youth Olympic Games I thought I would get a more central position during the event

Mean 4.07

(SD) (1.09)

4.06

(1.15)

3.83

(1.11)

3.59

(1.24)

3.15

(1.42)

2.97

(1.33)

The educational programme was relevant to the job I did during the Youth Olympic Games 2016 For me this has been a waste of time

1.35

(0.96)

I regret that I registered for the educational programme

1.35

(0.90)

To be inspired to volunteer for Norwegian sports and social contexts scored highest among the young leaders who responded to the survey. The following statement by a female young leader, born in 1997, illustrates this: “It’s been great to be a part of the young leaders programme, and I’ve learned a lot that I’m going to take with me in life. It’s inspired me to continue to volunteer, and it’s helped me to make a lot of new friends.” The women were significantly more positive than men on the statements “The educational programme has been relevant to my everyday life after the Youth Olympic Games,” “The educational programme was relevant to the job I did during the Youth Olympic Games,” and “The Youth Olympic Games has inspired me to be a volunteer in Norwegian sports.” Furthermore, the women did not support the statements that the programme had been a waste of time or that they regretted having signed up for the education programme as much as the men did.

Only 17 percent (n=15) of those who responded to the survey after the Games reported that they had leadership responsibilities during the Games, e.g. setting up safety nets in an arena, being a section leader at the store, being a leader of

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69

the flower girls or organising shifts. Some of these tasks were not managerial tasks, and 78.4 percent answered that they did not get a leadership role. 4.5 percent answered “do not know.” This probably reflects the modest score on the statement “The educational programme was relevant to the work I did during the Youth Olympic Games.”

Looking at the difference between those who had leadership responsibilities (17%) and those who did not, it is clear that those with leadership responsibilities were more positive. The following comments clarify the negativity of those who did not get a more central role during the event itself: “I didn’t get to use the things I’d learned, since I didn’t get much responsibility” (Female, b.

1998), and “The things we learned at the course for young leaders had no relevance for the event. I’ve done nothing, and I didn’t get any leadership responsibilities either; like we were told that we would” (Male, b. 1999).

Several young leaders expected more central positions in the event as in the start-up courses it was announced that all participants would be offered a leadership role during the Games. The leaders of the courses and LYOGOC could not keep these promises, as organising and managing an event such as the Youth Olympic Games requires a great deal of experience – something the youth did not have. Most of the participants were simply too young and inexperienced to handle big responsibilities.

The fact that young people were given less responsibility than they were promised was widely accepted by several of them, while others reacted negatively. Like this girl: The leaders of the programme “Young Leaders” promised more than they could deliver.

That’s the impression I’m left with. They promised that the young leaders should be assigned leadership responsibilities and important tasks, but being a changing room attendant, is that a task that requires a long education or a task with a lot of responsibility? No. This was very disappointing, as it was repeatedly said that the young leaders would get great jobs with a lot of responsibility (Female, b. 1997).

What happened to the young leaders after the Youth Olympic Games?

NIF and LYOGOC communicated the programme as an important part of the legacy of the Youth Olympic Games on several different platforms. The communicated plan – when the education programme started – was that participants should bring their experiences after the Games to a club and/or team. The participants were asked about their life after the Games, and the answers are shown in Table 19.

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Table 19: Opportunities and future plans in Norwegian sports among the young leaders.

Yes Do you have tasks to go to in sports?

Do you have a contact in a club, a regional sports body or a ­federation?

Do you feel acknowledged in your own club, regional sports body or federation?

Would you like to be a sports coach?

Do you want to participate in other educational programmes organised by sports organisations?

No

Don’t know

Overall

% 65.1

(n) (56)

% 19.8

(n) (17)

% 15.1

(n) % (13) 100.0

(n) (86)

66.3

(57)

24.4

(21)

9.3

(8) 100.0

(86)

68.6

(59)

18.6

(16)

12.8

(11) 100.0

(86)

74.1

(63)

9.4

(8)

16.5

(14) 100.0

(85)

76.5

(75)

4.7

(4)

18.8

(16) 100.0

(85)

Two out of three reported that they had a task to go to after the Games. There was no gender difference for this statement. But for the other four statements relatively more women than men responded with a yes. Results from our ­research show that several of the young leaders who were involved in sports before the Youth Olympic Games were even more motivated to do more after the education programme and the event itself. Statements from two of the young leaders illustrate this: “I’m left with a very positive impression. The programme and the Youth Olympic Games have provided a lot of useful learning, both about the sport and volunteering and about myself (…) and I’m motivated to continue with voluntary work” (Female, b. 1997), and “The course gave me a kick-start to take more responsibility in a club” (Female, b. 1992).

Summary Part 5 • The group of young leaders is, on average, more engaged in Norwegian sports than the volunteers (including young volunteers) in general.

• Overall, the young leaders mainly experienced the Youth Olympic Games and the young leaders programme as very positive, although a majority felt that promises regarding leadership roles during the Youth Olympic Games were not kept by NIF and LYOGOC. • The young leaders gained insight into Norwegian sports, the Olympic Games and volunteering. Furthermore, they acquired a network of young people who are interested in sports.

• Some of them were inspired to engage more in clubs/teams after their involvement in the education programme and the Youth Olympic Games. Several young leaders expressed a desire for continuation of the programme at a local level.

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71

”

“My main impression as a young leader”

”

Fantastic experience, and I’m proud and humble about everything we’ve achieved together (Female, b. 1995)

”

This was great, but it was a lie that we would get leading positions during the Games, or at least more important tasks than being a waiter… I didn’t like that (Male, b. 1994)

It’s been fun, but I wasn’t challenged or given ­leadership responsibility. I’m disappointed because of that (Male, b. 1999)

”

”

Very interesting and informative (Female, b. 1998)

”

The education programme has given us a little extra and made us into young leaders ready to work in sports. We’ve been lucky to get an e­ ducation that helps us both in sports, working life, everyday life, at school etc.

(Female, b. 1998)

Personally, I also think that the communication could have been b ­ etter.

It took a long time before we got information about what we’d be doing, and I wasn’t ready to perform my tasks when I came to work the first day. Luckily, I had good partners. Next time, I recommend you look at the people you’re recruiting for the various tasks. Why recruit a lot of people who aren’t from Lillehammer to be a part of an information team in Lillehammer? How would they be able to give a good response to questions about the city and where things are? I know that I can’t answer those questions. This made me feel that I didn’t do my job well, and that I provided bad service, which made me as well as the guests unhappy. Otherwise it was great (Female, b. 1997)

”

I feel that I’ve learned a lot and gained invaluable ­experience that I can take with me both in sport and in life (Female, b. 1999)

”

”

”

Incredibly good, it has increased my ­self-confidence and made me more ­open-minded (Male, b. 1999)

It’s been an amazing experience, and I wish the Youth Olympic Games would continue. However, I wish I’d been offered a job with a bit more ­responsibility and that people didn’t look down on my position (Female, b. 1998)

It’s been really fun to have been a part of this! I think it’s good that NIF are focusing so much on youth but, as mentioned, we were promised leadership ­responsibilities during the Games, and many of us didn’t get that. All in all, this is one of the best things I’ve been a part of, and I hope that it’ll continue and that we’ll get to meet again (Female, b. 1998)

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PART 5

”

I’m left with a very positive impression. The programme and the Youth Olympic Games have offered a lot of useful learning, both about sport and volunteering and about myself. I’m left with a positive experience of volunteering in sport,

”

Very good. Very informative, and you are left with more knowledge than you would have thought (Female, b. 1997)

and I’m motivated to continue to volunteer. Volunteering gives a lot of joy.

Thanks to the programme and the Youth Olympic Games. I’ve made friends for life from all over the country. I feel great gratitude and would not have wanted to miss the experience, the learning and the friendships that the programme and the Youth Olympic Games have given me (Female, b. 1997)

”

”

”

”

I wanted leadership

I’m left with a good feeling of having been part of some­ thing. The training I got through the young leaders ­education programme was very much relevant to my tasks. It is also a good thing to take with me in life, both in ­everyday life and in working life. I also learned about the importance of volunteering (Male, b. 1999)

Actually everything, everything was awesome (Male, b. 1998)

”

Awesome! A motivation boost, I really want to use the knowledge I have ­gained further in everyday life! I want to make a difference for others through ­voluntary work (Female, b. 1998)

responsibilities during the Youth Olympic Games, but otherwise it’s been a fantastic programme for bringing enthusiastic youngsters together (Male, b. 1997)

”

I’m so glad that I signed up in 2014. It’s amazing what I’ve have been a part of; I have got to known so many engaged and nice people. In addition I’ve become a lot more self-confident thanks to the young leaders programme (Female, b. 1997)

I’m left with a feeling that I’m able to take the initiative to help create positive change in sports (Female, b. 1998)

”

Little relevance to the tasks during the YOG. I got a very small role in the event. Some new friends (Male, b. 1999)

”

The organisers of the young leaders programme promised more than they could deliver.

That’s the impression I’m left with. They promised that the young leaders should be given leadership responsibilities and important tasks, but being a changing room attendant, is that a task that requires a long education or a task with a lot of responsibility? No. This was very disappointing, as it was repeatedly said that the young leaders would get great jobs with a lot of responsibility (Female, b. 1997). The young leaders programme

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PART 6:

International volunteering Major events increasingly attract an international group of volunteers. Lillehammer also received a group of young and adventurous volunteers from abroad. The organisers stated that 483 foreigners participated, including foreigners living in Norway. I our survey 277 of these answered (57% response rate): 170 foreigners living abroad, 104 living in Norway, and three did not specify their residency. Since we want to look at what distinguishes the international volunteers from the Norwegian volunteers during the Youth Olympic Games, we will be discussing the group living abroad (n=170). Table 20 shows the demographics for the foreigners.

Table 20: Demographic overview of international volunteers who lived abroad vs. volunteers living in Norway.

Living abroad

Living in Norway

%

(n)

%

(n)

Women

61.9

(104)

51.7

(778)

Men

38.1

(64)

48.3

(726)

64.7

(110)

46.9

(708)

Gender*

Age* ≤ 29 years 30–50 years

24.1

(41)

23.5

(355)

≥ 51 years

11.2

(19)

29.6

(446)

4.7

(8)

17.2

(259)

Completed education Primary/lower secondary school Upper secondary school

21.2

(36)

38.3

(576)

College/university

74.1

(126)

44.5

(669)

45.3

(77)

38.1

(577)

Profession Working full-time Working part-time

7.1

(12)

8.3

(125)

36.7

(64)

37.0

(560)

Looking for work

4.7

(8)

1.9

(28)

Retired

2.4

(4)

13.5

(204)

Other

2.9

(5)

1.3

(19)

Student

* p≤0,05

There are significantly more women among the international volunteers than among the rest of the volunteers living in Norway – 61.9 percent versus 51.7 percent. International volunteers are also significantly younger than the Nor-

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wegian volunteers (64.7 percent are 29 years or younger versus 46.9 percent), and many of them are students. In the age group 30–50 years, the percentage among the international volunteers is the same as the total of all volunteers. In the group 51 years and older, on the other hand, there are considerably fewer volunteers from abroad. Young people may be more likely to take breaks from studies or work to work as volunteers in other countries. Internationals travel is much more accessible than in the past, and with the internet it is easy to find out which organisers need volunteers. Foreigners had a significantly higher education. The international volunteers’ experiences are shown in Table 21.

Nearly 60 percent of the volunteers who lived abroad did not work at a sports arena. In many cases, it was natural since their jobs were related to their special skills such as language proficiency. Those who worked at a sports arena were relatively evenly distributed across the implementation of sports competitions and service functions (“task force”). Regarding the workload, some wanted to do more, while others wanted more responsibility. Almost twice as many foreigners worked more than 91 hours as the rest of the volunteers (36.1 percent versus 18.6 percent). One reason for this may be that those who came from abroad did not have other commitments as opposed to those who lived at home.

Moreover, the volunteers who had invested both money and time may have been more motivated.

The international volunteers’ experiences Table 21: The international volunteers’ evaluation of different aspects during the Youth ­Olympic Games 2016 vs. the evaluations of the volunteers living in Norway. Scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Living abroad There was a good atmosphere in my ­section* I received positive feedback from my ­co-workers* We had the required number of volunteers in relation to the workload in my section* Being a volunteer at the YOG was as ­amazing as I expected The volunteer uniform was functional After this volunteering experience, it is more likely that I will volunteer for other events in the future* The volunteer uniform was neat* The online volunteer platform was a useful information tool* The food was great for volunteers* I was given clear instructions about my tasks before my first shift Sjoggfest was an important aspect of my experience of Lillehammer 2016*

Living in Norway

Mean 4.43

(SD) (0.83)

Mean 4.61

(SD) (0.68)

4.25

(0.90)

4.47

(0.77)

3.85

(1.29)

4.33

(0.94)

4.24

(0.98)

4.19

(0.99)

4.16

(1.03)

4.17

(0.97)

4.34

(1.01)

3.96

(0.96)

4.25

(0.90)

3.87

(1.00)

3.59

(1.07)

3.81

(1.06)

3.43

(1.17)

3.66

(1.17)

3.50

(1.20)

3.65

(1.21)

3.20

(1.29)

2.77

(1.38)

* p≤0,05

International volunteering

75

Caroline from Norway enjoying the Activity Park along with Mirriam and Evans from Zimbabwe, both invited to the Games by the Norwegian Peace Corps. Photo: Alexander Eriksson

Volunteers fitting a young Ukrainian biathlete with timing chips. There were many tasks to solve and details to fix. Photo: Martin Røsjorde Lindstad

Norwegian Peace Corps volunteers helped broadening our perspective of sports through activities on the Learn & Share programme. Here some toys from Zimbabwe are being tried out. Photo: Alexander Eriksson

A volunteer brushes snow off the mats at the shooting warm-up for the biathlon super-sprint on 17Â February 2016. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit

Norway vs. USA in a packed Kristins Hall. The ice hockey games were so popular that a free ticket distribution system had to be introduced. Photo: Vegar S. Hansen

There are significant differences with regard to quite a few of the statements, and this is largely due to the fact that those who lived abroad were younger, and to some extent that there were more women. The foreigners were less satisfied than those who lived in Norway with the atmosphere in the section they worked in, the feedback from their co-workers, the food, and the portal for volunteers as an information tool. The foreigners scored higher than the volunteers who lived in Norway on four statements: “Being a volunteer at the YOG was as amazing as I expected,” “After this volunteer experience, it is more likely that I will volunteer for other events in the future,” “The volunteer uniform was neat,” and “Sjoggfest was an important aspect of my experience of Lillehammer 2016.”

Some volunteers commented that the communication was bad (Female, b.

1998, Germany) and criticised how “it was expected that all of them had smart phones,” which she did not have (Female, b. 1991, Hungary). “The Wi-Fi didn’t work for the first few days, and we needed more sockets” (Female, b. 1991, Estonia). Some more practical information was requested (Female, b. 1957, UK).

This comment came from an experienced volunteer: From my varied experience of many European and World Championships and being responsible for teams of volunteers, I can say that so far, this is my worst experience of communication from team leader to team. 1. You never raise your voice and you do scream as she did to a volunteer. I didn’t travel thousands of kilometres for someone to yell at me, whatever the reason may be.

There is no justifiable reason for ever screaming at a volunteer. 2. When leading an international team you should at least have some intercultural management skills, because we are coming from different parts of Europe with a different history, culture, and approach. To show a little more understanding and respect would be nice. 3. Daily problems were communicated in a bad way. It says bad things about the organisation of the Games in general and leaves bad memories of an event that was a once in a lifetime – it’s a pity” (Female, b. 1982, Macedonia)

Some volunteers thought the food was bad and repetitive, while others thought it was good. Some called for a hot meal for lunch instead of sandwiches (Male, b. 1969, Hungary). Those working after the 22 of February thought they should have been given food for these days as well (Male, b. 1992, Russia).

Around half of the respondents provided lengthy comments about their ­experiences during the Youth Olympic Games. They offered criticisms as well as tips and suggestions for improvements. More than half of the comments were very positive. Seven topics were particularly prominent: events, accommodation, food, information/communication, transportation, work and uniforms.

One of the volunteers who offered positive comments was an assistant to the NOC of the US delegation: I look at my voluntary work at Lillehammer as a magical experience where I put all my daily responsibilities behind me and had a valuable experience. I met new friends from all over the world in a short time. I cooperated with the best volunteers who took care of each other and

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had fun together on every occasion. The opportunity to see the competitions at the various venues is something I will remember for a long time. My only wish is that more Americans will realize the importance of contributing with their time and expertise at similar events. Small things made a huge difference, such as an encouraging word or a nod to a volunteer or athlete, and that made this experience worth it – whatever it costs.” (Male, b. 1949, USA)

Another reviewed the Youth Olympic Games as his best time as a volunteer, and others emphasised that they felt that these Games were not just for the athletes but also as much for the volunteers, and that it was fantastic (Male, b. 1987, ­Malaysia). The event was praised, and the volunteer spirit was amazing.

An Egyptian volunteer we interviewed (Male, 31 years) said that “volunteering is not just about giving, giving, giving, but also about receiving. It gave value to my personal life.” He saw the fact that it was going to be cold as an added value.

Most of the foreigners lived in Kringsjåhallen or Tennishallen during the Youth Olympic Games, and most of them complained about this. A woman from Germany (b. 1993) referred to the shelter as a house of horror. According to her, it had only two toilets and two wash basins for a hundred people. She claimed that “there were a total of 200 who lived in this gym without windows.”

Another woman from Russia (b. 1986) wrote this comment: I’ve been a volunteer at many different events. Simultaneously, I have a high position in an international sports organisation. Here in Lillehammer, I realised that I’m not ready to spend my leisure time being a volunteer and stay in such a terrible shelter with poorly organised services for the volunteers. It’s not my thing anymore.

Many volunteers moved to other accommodation, and one person left Norway and went home. Their advice was that they should have tried to accommodate foreign volunteers in private families, and “it would’ve been nice to have had a locker for personal belongings” (Female, b. 1986, Russia) We asked how much it had cost them to volunteer during the Youth Olympic Games, i.e.travel and accommodation. 39 percent of the visiting foreigners ­answered this question. This is probably because it is difficult to gain an overview of the costs. The highest reported travel expense was NOK 20,900. They had to pay NOK 150 per night at Kringsjå and NTG. It was especially Kringsjå, where most of the international volunteers stayed, that was seen as being below acceptable standards with regard to the number of toilets and showers. Some hinted that the organisers should have paid the flight ticket or at least the ­accommodation. The cost of train tickets to Lillehammer was covered for the volunteers, but many did not know this. This was subsequently criticised. Those who stayed at NTG complained about the buses stopping at 6 pm and about the lack of streetlights in the area.

Two of the interviewed volunteers had worked at the European Games in Baku in 2015. They expressed that it was more “relaxing” to be a volunteer than

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81

to be paid as they were in Baku, because they did not have as much responsibility in Lillehammer (one 25-year-old Turkish man who had worked for a year and one 23-year-old woman from Azerbaijan, who worked for 10 months). The man had been in the protocol service, had studied in Ankara and played football himself. The woman was in the service because she spoke Japanese, Russian, English and Azerbaijani, and she did not have a background in sports. They paid for the trip to Lillehammer and the accommodation in Tennishallen, Kringsjå themselves. They expressed that “it’s okay as long as we are young.” Both of them had plans to volunteer at the Olympics in Rio in 2016. They highlighted the good atmosphere among the international volunteers. In total, 12 of them had been volunteers in Baku. There seems to have been a large number of volunteers with prior experience in Lillehammer.

Some volunteers who worked outdoors commented that the uniforms were not warm enough (Female, b. 1958, Australia).

Summary Part 6 • The international volunteers were younger and had a higher proportion of women than the rest of the volunteers. They had significantly higher education as well.

• Nearly 60 percent of the volunteers who lived abroad did not work at a sports arena.

• Twice the percentage of international volunteers worked more 91 hours – 36.1 percent versus 18.6 percent for the total.

• The international volunteers were less satisfied with the atmosphere in the section they belonged to, the feedback they got from their co-workers, the information tools and the food than the rest of the volunteers.

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PART 5

PART 7:

Final considerations In this part we will discuss a few important topics. We will also provide preliminary answers to the question of whether the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer 2016 succeeded in terms of the aims relating to volunteering.

Discussion 1: A positive event for the whole country?

In the application for a state guarantee it was stated that “the YOG 2016 will be a positive event for the whole country” as it was anticipated that the Games would provide an opportunity to develop Norwegian Youth Sport (NIF, 2010).

It was said that the Games would help rejuvenate volunteering in Norway. Since it was the first volunteering experience for one in four volunteers, it can be stated that this objective was achieved. However, it is difficult to see the effect of the Youth Olympic Games for the whole country. Fewer than eight percent of volunteers reported Northern Norway, Central Norway, Western Norway or the Southern Norway as their area of residence. In essence, the volunteers came from Lillehammer (41%), elsewhere in Oppland (18%), Hedmark (13%), Oslo/ Akershus (12%) or abroad (9%). It can be said that NIF/LYOGOC did not use this opportunity to inspire volunteering in the whole country. The arguments in the application process were not followed up in practice, since it was made very clear at an early stage that the Games were primarily geared towards local volunteers who could live at home. The facilities that were present during the Olympics in 1994 were not available to accommodate non-local volunteers.

Two factors of a national character probably affected Innlandet: there were youth from all over the country enrolled on the management course for young people. The majority of this group came from Innlandet, but in our survey, one in three of those who completed the programme by volunteering at the Youth Olympic Games answered that they came from other parts of Norway. Hopefully these youngsters will bring their experience and inspiration back to their local communities. We are noting that three in four say that they want to become sports instructors.

The torch relay went around the country. We have not carried out any studies on this part of the event, and cannot say anything about the potential lasting impact, but Norwegian sports and LYOGOC evaluated the tour as a success.

We will now consider the importance of the attention that was directed toward youth sports in connection with the Games. The Idrettsgallaen show on state broadcaster NRK focused on youth by airing the awarding of the Ildsjelprisen prize to a young person, and the channel had daily reports during the Games.

Final considerations

83

In summary: There may be a reason to question to the anticipated outcome that the Youth Olympic Games have had a significant effect on sports in general and on volunteering in the country as a whole. It is essential that NIF in the ­aftermath uses the enthusiasm that has been generated in some quarters to ­intensify its focus on the Ungdomsløftet initiative for it to have any effect.

Discussion 2: There is a difference between younger and older volunteers It will be especially interesting to look at the youngest age group (i.e. the volunteers under 30 years of age), since they can provide information about participation in the future (Aars, Nordbø, Wollebæk & Christensen, 2011). Of these young people, 65% are female and, in the group of 30–50, the gender distribution is in practice 1:1, while among the volunteers over 50 years of age, 66% are male. This is compatible with theory and previous research. It turns out that the people who volunteer at an early age are more likely to participate later in life.

Among the young men, there was a new trend compared to previous findings (Wollebæk & Sivesind, 2010). They take a break from volunteering between their late teens and mid-thirties. This may be one of the reasons why there are more women among the younger volunteers. One question that arises when considering the different age groups is whether this can be explained as a phase of life or a generational issue. If it is a phase of life explanation, it means that young people are going to change when enter their next phase of life, 30–50 years, and become similar to them. Generational explanations are based on the fact that certain characteristics of the age group are formed early and persist throughout all phases of life. The question is whether ageing women will resemble the youth of today as they age or whether the new generation are going to behave differently. We just have to wait to find out. It will become crucial to establish whether age differences are generation-conditioned or whether they are conditioned by the phases of life.

The biggest difference between the youngest and the oldest group of volunteers is that young people are thinking more about what is good for them than about what serves the community. An attempt to understand modern volunteering is to distinguish between what is called individual or reflexive and collective volunteering (Hustinx & Lammertyn, 2003). For example, young people want the volunteer position for their CV. Older volunteers, on the other hand, put the community first, which is often called collectivism. The collective group of volunteers is often governed by internal motives. The members of sports organisations work voluntarily because they take responsibility for the organisation (Hustinx & Lammertyn, 2003).

In Figure 1 there were only two statements that the older volunteers scored higher on than the young people, and that was “As a volunteer I can contribute

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to causes” and “As a volunteer I feel more satisfied with myself.” The comparison with the Norwegian population as a whole was more like the older volunteers in our survey when it came to the first statement. Otherwise, the wider population scored higher than the volunteers from the Youth Olympic Games on “I can learn more about what I am working for.”

What did we learn?

In the introduction we listed our questions. We have concluded as follows: • Who are the volunteers? In line with the intentions to the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) and the Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (LYOGOC), the ­involvement of young people in the event was considerable. Half of the volunteers were 29 or younger. One fourth of the volunteers reported that they did not have any previous experience of voluntary work. In the older group there were many regulars from previous events. For example, 12 percent had been volunteers at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games. One in four had contributed to a local Birken event during the past five years. At the Youth Olympic Games there were more female volunteers than male. The majority came from Innlandet, the district around Lillehammer.

• Why do they volunteer? The motives for participating in volunteering vary, ­depending on age. The young volunteers highly value having a certificate for the job as a volunteer. Younger and older volunteers agreed that they wanted to make a contribution, and they perceived this as exciting. Gaining experience was more important to young people than to older volunteers.

• What did the volunteers think about the preparations? The educational programme worked fairly well according to the volunteers, but the training was general and not specific to most tasks. Young people gave significantly lower values than older volunteers on issues related to the preparations.

• How did the volunteers evaluate their experiences? The volunteers expressed great satisfaction with the working environment. For example, they found that the atmosphere in their own group was very good, and they received positive feedback from their co-workers. Overall, they supported the claim that the Youth Olympic Games had lived up to their expectations (4.17 on a scale from 1 to 5). They were least satisfied with the food and lack of clarity in the tasks they were set to perform. To some degree, Sjoggfest added to the total experience (this was true mostly for young volunteers).

• What did participants at the “Young Leaders Programme” get out of the Games?

NIF and LYOGOC aimed to train 200 young people for leadership tasks during the Games and become leaders or coaches in sports clubs afterwards. The young leaders perceived the Youth Olympic Games and education programme as very positive, although the majority felt that expectations regarding leadership role during the Youth Olympic Games were not met by NIF and ­LYOGOC. The young leaders gained knowledge and understanding of Norwegian sports,

Final considerations

85

Team USA beat Russia in the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ice hockey final, securing the gold medal.

Photo: Michael Eriksson

Royal selfie! Jostein and Sondre were two of the many volunteers working alongside HRH Crown Prince Haakon during the Games. Photo: Jostein Vedvik

The Swedish ice hockey finalists cheering after their 3-1 victory over the Czech Republic on 21Â February 2016. Photo: Jed Leicester

A volunteer does some touching up on one of the many ice sculptures in the Sjogg Park.

Photo:Â Live Andrea Sulheim

the Olympic Games, and volunteering. Furthermore, they developed social networks of young people who are interested in sports.

• How does international volunteering differ from Norwegian volunteering? 277 volunteers (16.4%) were not of Norwegian nationality. Of the 170 foreigners who did not live in Norway and who answered our YOG survey, there were more women (61.9%) than in the volunteer corps who lived in Norway (51.7%). The international volunteers were also younger than the total group. More than half of the comments from the international volunteers were positive. The accommodation at Kringsjå received the most criticism, especially for having insufficient bathroom facilities.

Did the Youth Olympic Games succeed with ­volunteering?

After an event it is important for the responsible organisers to find out about the volunteers’ experiences. LYOGOC, and NIF wanted to promote sustained and lasting volunteering. Therefore we will highlight the following questions, which were raised to the volunteers, in this final part: 1. What is the general impression of your experience as a volunteer during the Youth Olympics in Lillehammer?

2. How would you say that your experience as a volunteer at the Youth Olympics has influenced your attitude to volunteering in the future?

The general impression: half of the volunteers (50.7) gave the score “very good”, which is the highest value on a scale from 1 to 5. There is no significant difference between the three age groups, between men and women, between young leaders and the others, or between foreigners and Norwegian volunteers. Only 3.4 percent chose 1 (very bad) or 2. There are no differences between the groups.

Without placing too much emphasis on an average value, it should be mentioned that the average value is 4.34. Based on this response it can be determined that the volunteers were left with a very good impression after being ­involved in the Youth Olympics.

Regarding the question about attitude towards volunteering, 27.2 percent chose “it has increased very much.” Here there is a significant difference. While 35.1 percent of the youngest opted for “it has increased very much,” 22.5 percent of the 30–50 age group did the same, as did 17.0 percent of the volunteers in the group 50 years and older. Furthermore, there is a gender difference: 31.0 percent of the women and 22.7 percent of the men responded that the experience as a volunteer in the Youth Olympics had affected their attitude towards volunteering in the future to a significant extent.

The average value for all of them is 3.92, and 4.03 for the youngest age group.

If we look at the statements in Table 13 as well (“After this volunteer experience, it is more likely that I will volunteer for other events in the future,” which achieved a value of 3.99), it can be argued with some degree of reservation that

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LYOGOC took good care of the volunteers and that good foundations have been created for these volunteers to continue volunteering.

The next step The next steps for this project are the following: scholarly articles and papers will be produced based on the data. Furthermore, we are collaborating with a book project, and two or three chapters in this book will be based on the ­research.

The report itself will be used by both academia and sports. Drafts of the ­report have already been used in two bachelor theses, and in the future we envision that students can use the report to extract data on volunteers at events (in general) and the Youth Olympics in particular. For sports / the field of practice, we hope that the report will be used for planning events and organising volunteers. We hope that our findings can be helpful, especially regarding young volunteers.

The research project on the Youth Olympics continues in 2016 and 2017. The data can be compared with other types of events. Furthermore, we (or others) can investigate what happened to the volunteers at the Youth Olympics at a later date. Did they continue with voluntary work, or did they quit? What happened to the participants on the education programme for young leaders? Is it possible to measure any effect in connection with the Games?

The research project In 2010 the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (NIH) initiated a research project on major sport events. The Ministry of Culture (KUD) and Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) supported the project for four years (2010–2013). After applications, both KUD and NIF have contributed with additional appropriations. In connection with the final report in 2014, KUD expressed interest in extending the project. NIF gave similar signals.

Part 1 of the project (2010–2013) had a significant focus on volunteering, while part 2 (2015–2017) is strongly linked to the 2016 Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games. The project especially aims to analyse issues that were highlighted in the proposal to parliament on whether the state should provide the necessary guarantee to organise the event (White Paper 153 S (2010–2011).

In the proposal to parliament, KUD pointed out that “the Youth Olympic Games is an elite sports event for youth aged 14–18 years that will contribute to strengthening overall sports commitment aimed at children and young people.

Children and young are also the main target group of the government’s sports policy. The Ministry of Culture wants to boost youth sports. The aim is to ­reduce the dropout rate and make youngsters engage in physical activity for longer. Such a youth initiative requires a comprehensive effort, including both

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breadth of activity and elite sports” (p. 7). An overarching theme for the ­research project is to elucidate how the Youth Olympics fits into Ungdomsløftet. The project’s focus is especially on two aspects of NIF’s application and KUD’s proposed decision: • The Youth Olympic Games will provide inspiration for the performance-orientated part of sports and an opportunity to develop Norwegian youth sports.

• The Youth Olympic Games will help ensure a future volunteering culture, and the development of coaches and leaders among young people.

• In addition to these main topics we are creating an analysis of the following: • Management of the event: from initiative and application process to planning, implementation and evaluation.

The Steering Committee of the research project: Dag Vidar Hanstad, NIH (Chairman), Barrie Houlihan (NIH and University of Loughborough) and ­Milena Parent (NIH and University of Ottawa). In addition, the following persons have been part of the research group: Elsa Kristiansen (University College of Southeast Norway), Eivind Skille (Lillehammer University College), Jon ­Helge Lesjø (Lillehammer University College, HIL), Berit Skirstad (NIH), PhD candidate Anna-Maria Strittmatter (NIH), PhD candidate Svein Erik Nordhagen (HIL), PhD candidate Annika Bodemar (NIH) and PhD candidate Roal Undlien (HIL).

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Related publications Books Hanstad, D. V., Parent, M. M., & Houlihan, B. (Eds.) (2014). The Youth Olympic Games. Context, Management and Impacts. Oxon: Routledge Hanstad, D. V. (ed.) (2012). Ski-VM 2011. Planlegging og gjennomføring. Oslo: Akilles.

Articles with peer review The Youth Olympic Games Bodemar, A., & Skille, E. (2014). ‘Stuck in structure’: How young leaders experienced the institutional frames at the Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, 2012. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. DOI: 10.1177/1012690214563198 Hanstad, D. V., Parent, M. M., & Kristiansen, E. (2013). The Youth Olympic Games: The best of the Olympic Games or a poor copy? European Sport Management Quarterly, 13(2) 315–338. DOI:10.1080/16184742.2013.782559 Parent, M. M., Kristiansen, E., Skille, E., & Hanstad, D. V. (2013). The sustainability of the Youth Olympic Games: Stakeholder networks and institutional perspectives. International Review for the Sociology of sport. DOI: 10.1177/1012690213481467 Strittmatter, A.-M. (2016). Defining a problem to fit the solution: a neo-institutional explanation of legitimsing the bid for the 2016 Lillehammer winter Youth Olympic Games. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. DOI: 10.1080/19406940.2016.1138990 Strittmatter, A.-M., & Skille, E. (2016) Boosting Youth Sport? The implementation of Norwegian youth sport policy through the 2016 Lillehammer Winter Youth Olympic Games. Sport in Society. DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2015.1124568 Krieger, J., & Kristiansen, E. (2016). Ideology or Reality? The awareness of educational aims and activities amongst German and Norwegian participants of the first Summer and Winter Youth Olympic Games. Sport in Society. DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2015.1133604 Kristiansen, E. (2015). Competing for culture: Young Olympians narratives from the first international Youth Olympic Games. International Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 13(1), 29–42.

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Volunteering Kristiansen, E., Skille, E., & Hanstad, D. V. (2014). From community based identities to individual benefits for volunteers: comparison of three sporting events. Scandinavian Sport Study Forum, 5, 47–68.

Kristiansen, E., Skirstad, B., Waddington, I., & Parent, M. M. (2015). ‘We can do it’: Community, resistance, social solidarity, and long-term volunteering at a sport event. Sport Management Review, 18, 256–267.

Skirstad, B., & Hanstad, D. V. (2013). Gender matters in sport event volunteering. Managing Leisure. DOI: 10.1080/13606719.2013.809188 Skille, E. A., & Hanstad, D. V. (2013). Who are they and why do they do it? The habitus of sport event volunteers in Norway. Volunteers in the European handball championship for women 2010. Sport in Society, 16(9), 1135– 1148. DOI: 10.1080/17430437.2013.790892 Wollebak, D., Skirstad, B., & Hanstad, D. V. (2014). Between two volunteer cultures. Social composition and motivation among volunteers at the 2010 Trial Event for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 49(1), 22–41. DOI: 10.1177/1012690212453355.

Media Hanstad, D. V., & Skille, E. (2010). Journalisters syn pa samarbeidet med den norske OL-troppen under vinterlekene i Vancouver 2010. Norsk medietidsskift,17(4), 348–363.

Kristiansen, E., & Hanstad, D. V. (2012). Journalists and Olympic athletes: A Norwegian case study of an ambivalent relationship”. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(2) 231–245.

Kristiansen, E., Abrahamsen, F. E., & Pedersen, P. M. (in press). Media behavior in sport. In C. Wagstaff (ed.), The organizational psychology of sport: Key issues and practical applications. Routledge.

Seippel, O. N., Broch, T. B., Kristiansen, E., Skille, E., Strandbu, A., Thorjussen, I. M., & Wilhelmsen, T. (2016). Political framing of sports: The mediated politicization of Oslo’s interest in bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics. DOI: 10.1080/19406940.2016.1182047.

Organisation Andersen, S. S., & Hanstad, D. V. (2011). “Den som er godt forberedt, har ikke uflaks” – Norsk OL-deltakelse i Vancouver: Risiko, forberedelse og resultater. Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum, 2, 75–98. (authors in alphabetic order) Andersen, S. S., Hanstad, D. V. & Plejdrup-Skillestad, K. (2015). The role of test events in major sporting events. Event Management , 19(2), 261–273 (authors in alphabetic order)

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Andersen, S. S., & Hanstad, D. V. (2013). Knowledge development and transfer in a mindful project-organization. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 6(2) 236–250. DOI: 10.1108/17538371311319007 (authors in alphabetic order) Hanstad, D. V. (2012). Risk management in major sporting events: A participating team’s perspective. Event Management, 16(3), 189–201.

Kristiansen, E., Andersen, S. S., & Hanstad, D. V. (2013). The mundanity of Olympic housing: Small details – big consequences? International Journal of Applied Sports Science, 25(30), 147–158.

Parent, M. M, Eskerud, L., & Hanstad, D. V. (2012). Brand creation in international recurring sports events. Sport Management Review, 15(2), 145–159.

Hanstad, D. V., Ronsen, O., Andersen, S. S., Steffen, K., & Engebretsen, L. (2011). Fit for fight? Illnesses in the Norwegian team in the Vancouver Olympic Games. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 45(7), 571–575.

Master theses, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (Chronologically) Eskerud, L. (2010). Central factors in the branding process for recurring sporting events: An organizers perspective.

Steffensrud, K. P. (2011). Planlegging av store idrettsarrangement med fokus pa risk management.

Sundgot-Borgen, H. (2011). Sport sponsorship – A company resource: A qualitative case study of the Norwegian sponsors of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo 2011 Grasholt, K. O. (2011). Perception of leaders in a major sporting event: A qualitative study of the FIS Nordic Ski World Championship 2011.

Morseth, B. (2011). Frivillighet og store events: En achievement goal tilnarming til frivilliges motivasjon under prove VM i Holmenkollen.

Oen, A. (2012). Tour de France som tv-underholdning. En narrativ analyse av TV 2s sykkelsatsing Lethigangas, I. (2013). Bekkelagsrennet: En historisk analyse av «Guttenes Holmenkollrenn» i perioden 1950–1974.

Johnsen, E. M. F. (2013). Volunteerism – an act of good will or a heritage of colonial power structures? A qualitative study of sport volunteers at East Africa cup, their motivation and the applicability of “Western theory”.

Zachariasen, O. F. (2013). Color Line World Cup – en proveturnering med mal om a bli verdens storste handballturnering.

Nordhagen, S. E. (2013). Ungdoms-OL 2016 som laringsarena for ungdom.

Singdahlsen, K. F. (2014). Folkeavstemningen i Oslo om norsk OL-soknad.

Jordhoy, K. (2014). Aktorer i alle farger og fasonger”: en studie av utvalgte interessenter sin innflytelse pa LYOGOC i Ungdoms-OL 2016.

Eide, A.-L. D., (2014). A stakeholder perspective on the value co-creation of the Youth Olympic Games brand. A qualitative case study in a Norwegian context.

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Bjorna, E. A. (2014). Papasselighet i stort og smatt – evaluering for forbedring: En studie av evalueringsarbeidet i World Cup Nordisk Holmenkollen 2013.

Horne, K. (2014). Fa ting er mer usikkert enn et skirenn: En studie av arbeidsmetodikken i Holmenkollmarsjens arbeidsutvalg sett i lys av teori om papasselige organisasjoner.

Tangevold, M. (2015). Frivillighet pa Ski-VM 2011: En kvalitativ undersokelse av opplevelser og erfaringer.

Christensen, K. A. (2015). Profesjonalisering av organisasjonskulturen i et stort idrettsarrangement: et case-studie av Oslo Maraton.

Vollen, T. (2015). Ledelse av frivillige i Holmenkollen: World Cup nordisk og World Cup skiskyting 2014.

Reports Hanstad, D. V., Skirstad, B., Skille, E. A., & Sand, T. S. (2011). «Hjertet og sjelen av mesterskapet». Rapport om frivillighet under VM på ski i Oslo 2011. Oslo: Norges idrettshogskole.

Hanstad, D. V. (2011). Media Representatives at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo. Oslo: Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.

Hanstad, D. V., & Skille, D. V. (2011). Frivillige under EM i håndball for kvinner i 2010. Oslo: Norges idrettshogskole.

Hanstad, D. V., & Sand, T. S. (2013). Frivillighet på Ski-NM. Undersøkelse blant funksjonærer under Norgesmesterskapet på Voss i 2012. Oslo: Norges idrettshogskole.

Hanstad, D. V., Vollen, T., & Tangevold, M. (2014). «1000 frivillige og folkefest».

Rapport om frivillighet under World Cup Nordisk i Holmenkollen 2014. Oslo: Norges idrettshogskole.

Hanstad, D. V., Vollen, T., & Tangevold, M. (2014). «Ryggraden til World Cup skiskyting 2014». Oslo: Norges idrettshogskole.

Hanstad, D. V., Vollen, T., & Tangevold, M. (2015). Rapport om frivillighet under World Cup Lillehammer 2014. Oslo: Norges idrettshogskole.

Hanstad, D. V., Vollen, T., & Tangevold, M. (2015). De frivillige under World Cup i skiskyting 2015. Rapport. Oslo: Norges idrettshogskole.

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The authors of the report Dag Vidar Hanstad is a professor of sport management at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and a visiting professor at Lillehammer University College. He is head of the research project on the Youth Olympic Games. Hanstad’s doctoral research (2009) was on anti-doping policy. In recent years his research has mainly been related to events.

Elsa Kristiansen is an associate professor at the University College of Southeast Norway and the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. Her PhD project was on how elite athletes tackled media stress and organisational stress. Since 2011 Kristiansen has been affiliated with the research project on the Youth Olympic Games and other events, and she has also researched talent development.

Trond Svela Sand is a project employee researcher at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and the Norwegian Defence University College. Sand has extensive experience in quantitative and qualitative research with a gender perspective, and he has researched the coaching role, sexual harassment and gender equality in sport and in the Norwegian Army. Since 2011 he has contributed with statistical analysis of data on volunteering from several events.

Berit Skirstad is an associate professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and responsible for studies in sport management. She established the sport management programme in 1986 and has been responsible for this study programme for more than 25 years. Her research interests are sports organisations, leadership and volunteering. She was one of the editors for a special edition of the European Sport Management Quarterly on “New Perspectives on Sport Volunteerism.”

Anna-Maria Strittmatter is a PhD candidate in sport management at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, where she is involved in the research group that examines the Youth Olympic Games. Her research focuses on youth policy in Norwegian sports («Ungdomsløftet») and implementation through the Youth Olympics. Anna-Maria has work experience as an organiser of international snowboard events and as Secretary General of the World Snowboard Federation.

The authors of the report

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References Aars, J., Nordbo, A. D., Wollebak, D., & Christensen, D. A. (2011). Ung frivillighet i Norge. Endring og kontinuitet i unges frivillige engasjement 1998–2009. ­Retrieved from: http://www.sivilsamfunn.no/content/download/34225/666366/file/VR_2011_6_web.pdf Alexander, A., Kim, S.-B., & Kim, D.-Y. (2015). Segmenting volunteers by motivation in the 2012 London Olympic Games. Tourism Management, 47. DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2014.09.002 Christiansen, A. K. (2015). Avblaser ungdoms-OL-krise. VG, Retrieved from: http://www.vg.no/sport/avblaaser-ungdoms-ol-krise/a/23554509/ Enjolras, B., & Seippel, O. (2001). Norske idrettslag. Oslo: Institutt for samfunns­ forskning.

Hanslien, A. (2015). Mangler 1000 OL-kolleger. GD, Retrieved from: http://www. gd.no/ungdomsol/lillehammer/mangler-1-000-ol-kolleger/s/5-18-139278 Hanstad, D. V. (2014). Arrangementsledelse. Initiativ, planlegging, gjennomføring og evaluering. Oslo: Akilles.

Hanstad, D. V., Tangevold, M., & Vollen, T. (2014). Lederkurs for ungdom. Rapport på bakgrunn av kurs i 2014: Elverum, Trondheim, Sørmarka. Oslo: Norges idrettshøgskole.

Hanstad, D. V., Vollen, T., & Tangevold, M. (2015). De frivillige under World Cup i skiskyting 2015. Rapport. Oslo: Norges idrettshøgskole.

Hustinx, L., & Lammertyn, F. (2003). Collective and Reflexive Styles of Volunteering: A Sociological Modernization Perspective. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 14(2), 167–187.

Kristiansen, E., Skille, E. A., & Hanstad, D. V. (2014). From community based identities to individual benefits for volunteers: comparison of three sporting events. Scandinavian Sport Studies Forum, 5, 47–68.

NIF. (2010). Søknad om statsgaranti vedr. YOG 2016 (Soknad til Kulturdepartementet 15. desember 2010).

NIF. (2011a). Idrettspolitisk dokument 2011–2015. Retrieved from: https://www.idrettsforbundet.no/globalassets/idrett/idrettsforbundet/ om-nif/idrettspolitisk_dokument2011_2015.pdf NIF. (2011b). Lillehammer 2016. Candidate City for the Winter Youth Olympic Games.

Volume 1. Retrieved from http://www.idrett.no/nyheter/Documents/ YOG2016_Lillehammer_VOL1.pdf Sand, T. S. (2012). Hvem var de frivillige under Ski-VM? [Who was the volunteers at the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships?]. In D. V. Hanstad (Ed.), Ski-VM 2011. Planlegging og gjennomføring (pp. 131–156). Oslo: Akilles.

Strittmatter, A.-M., & Hanstad, D. V. (2015). Lederkurs for ungdom. Rapport på samling i Lillehammer 2015. Oslo: Norges idrettshøgskole.

Wollebak, D., & Sivesind, K. H. (2010). Fra folkebevegelse til filantropi? Frivillig innsats i Norge 1997–2009 [From popular movement to philanthropy? ­Volunteering in Norway 1997–2009]. Oslo: Institutt for Samfunnsforskning.

Wollebak, D., Satrang, S., & Fladmoe, A. (2015). Betingelser for frivillig innsats: Motivasjon og kontekst. Retrieved from http://www.sivilsamfunn.no/content/ download/107321/1824936/file/VR_2015_1_V8_Nett.pdf

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Summary in English This report is based on two electronic surveys in connection with the 2016 Lille­ hammer Youth Olympic Games. All volunteers received an invitation to participate in the survey by e-mail before and after the Games. The pre-games survey was answered by 1816 volunteers (response rate 56%), and the past-games survey was answered by 1710 (response rate 53%). Interviews, informal talks and observations supplemented the surveys.

Main findings, all presented in the report: • Who are the volunteers? According to the intentions of the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) and Lillehammer Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee (LYOGOC) the involvement of youth in the event was considerable. Half of the volunteers were 29 years old or younger. One fourth of the volunteers reported that they did not have any previous experience with voluntary work. In the older group there were many regulars from previous events. For example, 12 percent had been volunteers at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games. One in four had contributed at a local event in Birken auspices during the past five years.

At the Youth Olympic Games there were more female volunteers than males.

A clear majority came from Innlandet, the district around Lillehammer.

• Why do they engage in volunteering? The motives for participating in volunteering varies between different groups where it primarily is a distinction between young and old. In assessing individual claims the young volunteers give especially high value for the importance of having a certificate for the job as a volun­ teer. Regarding the reason for volunteering at the Youth Olympics, young and older agreed that they wanted to contribute and that this was some­thing they perceived as exciting. Gaining experience was more important among young people than the elderly.

• What did the volunteers think about the preparations? In essence, the educational program functioned fairly well according to the volunteers. The training was very general and not specific for most tasks. Young people gave significantly lower values than ​​ older ones on issues related to the preparations.

• How did the volunteers evaluate their experiences afterwards? The volunteers expressed very great satisfaction with the working environment. They found, for example, that the mood in their own separate group was very good and they got good response from those they dealt with. In all, they supported the claim that the Youth Olympics had lived up to their expectations (4.7 on a scale from 1 to 5). They were least satisfied with the food offer and clarity in the tasks they should perform. To a small degree the Sjoggfest amounted to an important part of the total experience. The last statement obtained higher values from the youth than the elderly.

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• What did the participants at the ‘Young Leaders Programme’ get out of the games?

NIF and LYOGOC aimed to educate 200 teenagers who should be trained for leadership tasks during the Games and become leaders or coaches in sports clubs afterwards. The young leaders witnessed the Youth Olympic Games and education programme mainly very positive, although a majority felt that ­expectations regarding leadership role during the Youth Olympics were not followed up by NIF and LYOGOC. The young leaders received knowledge and better understanding of Norwegian sports, Olympic Games, and the importance of volunteerism. Furthermore, they acquired a network of young people who are interested in sports. They took home a lot of nice memories from social gatherings.

• How does the international volunteerism differ from the Norwegian? 277 volun­ teers (16.4%) had a different nationality than Norwegian. We have covered the 170 foreigners who did not live in Norway and who answered our past YOG survey. Here the percentage of females (61.9%) was higher than in the entire volunteer corps who lived in Norway (51.7%). Likewise, the international volunteers are younger than the total. More than half of the comments from the international volunteers were positive. The accommodation at Kringsjå was the most critical, with too few toilettes and showers.

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