Casey councillor Wayne Smith said he loved every minute of his once-in-a-lifetime experience as a volunteer at the Commonwealth Games.
By Alison Noonan
CHEERING the green and gold at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games is one experience Casey councillor Wayne Smith will never forget.
Cr Smith witnessed the blood, sweat and tears of Games athletes and mingled with the rich and famous when he volunteered as a customer service assistant at the weightlifting, boxing and badminton events.
“I did four 10-hour shifts at the front of the Exhibition Centre,” he said.
“My job was to usher people into the building, escort them to their seats and guide them through security.”
Cr Smith said he applied for the once-in-a-lifetime role last year to get as close as possible to the Games experience.
“I felt it was such a huge thing that was too good an opportunity to pass up.
“I wanted to be involved in a large-scale international event as I thought it would be an interesting experience, and it was,” he said.
Cr Smith said he met a plethora of new people from across Australia and saw a number of VIPs, including Prince Edward and US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
“I had lunch right across from Prince Edward in the volunteers room. But I just missed (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair who was arriving as I was leaving one afternoon,” he said.
“The number of volunteers was enormous and their enthusiasm just fantastic.
“I met some really great people. Everyone was really patriotic and so fired up. It was such a good atmosphere.
“The crowd just went berserk for the Australian athletes. I saw a lot of Casey residents coming to watch, which was great. No matter how good an athlete was before, they were at their best during the Games because they had the home-crowd advantage.”
Cr Smith said he loved his volunteer experience and would definitely put his hand up to assist again.
“I had a ball. Being involved as a worker at a huge event was something I had never really done before.
“If the opportunity arose again, I would rather have a more hands-on role as a supervisor, but I don’t regret the job I did.
“One of the best experiences was getting to spend half a day on security in the international media centre. Watching all the international press was very interesting,” he said.
