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 “Volunteering is a great cause, but it’s not like many people have imagined; only love deep from your heart can make it happy work,” said Ma Zeren, a veteran volunteer who has served the Athens Olympics as well as the Torino Winter Olympics.

The International Softball Federation’s XI Women’s World Championship held in Beijing in August and September was the first test of a 2008 Olympic Games venue. But the championship also served as a test for would-be volunteers for the 2008 Games and the organizational plans they will rely on to ensure the success of Beijing 2008.

When the recruitment of volunteers for the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics officially began in Beijing in August, Zhang Lei and 409 other volunteers were already hard at work at the Fengtai Softball Field in southern Beijing, trying to ensure the success of the International Softball Federation’s (ISF) XI Women’s World Championship.

The championship was especially important, because it was associated with several Olympic “firsts” in Beijing. The Fengtai Softball Field project was the first new 2008 Olympic Games venue readied for a competition in Beijing, and it was the first to host a competition under ISF and Olympic rules in preparation for the Games. As such, it also tested the Beijing Games organizational plan and the many volunteers that will be needed to execute the plan properly.

It also gave would-be Beijing Games volunteers an opportunity to get a taste of what volunteering at a major sports event, such as the 2008 Games, might be like.

Volunteers who served the softball championship came from six top universities in Beijing and from the general public. The six universities were: the Capital University of Economics and Business, the Beijing Foreign Studies University, Tsinghua University, the Communication University of China, Beijing Sport University and Capital Medical University, according to Li Yang, the venue volunteer manager of the ISF championship.

Training for the ISF championship volunteers began on July 7 and included tests of English proficiency, Olympic knowledge, news, medical care, and other topics that will be of use in 2008.

Li said, “We first carried out general training, quality expansion training and venue training for the student volunteers. In August, we conducted general, specialized and occupational training sessions for all the volunteers.”

In the end, the volunteers discovered that real voluntary work involves extensive training and hard work.

Zhang, a recent graduate of the Beijing Sport University, worked as a volunteer at the ONS (Olympic News Service) to provide instant information about the softball championship to foreign media. Volunteers at ONS were responsible for providing game and post-game reviews in English, collecting flash quotes and for recording press conference highlights, which they then uploaded to the championship’s official English-language Web site as quickly as they could.

After two days’ basic training on the functions of various departments and in emergency management, Zhang and four other volunteers began focusing on their training at ONS, including burnishing their English-writing skills, learning softball’s rules and preparing files on athletes for the championship. Each day, she had to travel between her school, the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Fengtai Gymnasium in southern Beijing.

During the championship competition, Zhang always worked more than 12 hours per day tracking various softball games and recording every detail for game reviews released to the public. Zhang still remembers the day she had to follow four games in a row, by herself, under a burning summer sun, seeking relief from the sun’s rays by slathering herself in suntan lotion.

Volunteering can be tough but it’s usually challenging and is often accompanied by misunderstandings. In contrast to writing game reviews, collecting flash quotes in the mixed-area was much more difficult for Zhang and her partners. They had to find players and coaches and interview them amid the joy and despair of a post-game shuffle, then report their findings to a Web site within five or ten minutes.

There were times when Zhang’s work was misunderstood by the reporters they were trying to serve. “They (reporters) were not familiar with our media support system and had some difficulty with the information we provided,” Zhang said. Some journalists accused Zhang and her colleagues of wasting the journalists’ time, because the volunteers got to interview the players first in the mixed-area after they’d finished their post-game meetings. The patience of reporters waiting in a conference room was severely tested.

But despite all the challenges and difficulties, organizers said these first volunteers provided commendable service in almost every aspect of the event, ranging from security and catering to registration. They passed their test.

“Volunteers have contributed a lot to this event and they helped the committee save a lot of money. In thanks, we provided them with free suntan lotion and free transportation,” Li told a reporter. “They were the backbone of the whole game. They did a lot of basic, grass-roots work. I was touched many times during the ten-day championship.”

But despite the hard work and outstanding performances of most volunteers, some flaws and things that need to be improved emerged during this test of volunteers and volunteers-to-be.

Some volunteers were very friendly and passionate but couldn’t provide professional services; some volunteers’ English was not good enough to engage in effective communication. A lack of efficiency resulted.

“Everybody believes a beautiful smile is the symbol of Beijing’s volunteers. But you also have to make your guests smile. Contributing nothing but a smile is not acceptable,” said Jin Yuanpu, executive director of the People’s Olympics Research Center of Renmin University.

So lessons were learned: the volunteers’ skills need more improvement; their understanding of the voluntary spirit needs to be bolstered. Expectations that were too high and preparations that were insufficient resulted in difficulties for many volunteers.

While some people may think being a volunteer means getting to watch free games or having great opportunities to practice oral-English skills by entertaining foreigners, the real content of volunteer service is much harder; sometimes, it’s trivial and even boring.

“Volunteering is a great cause, but it’s not like many people have imagined,” said Ma Zeren, a volunteer who served at the Athens Olympics and at the Torino Winter Olympics. “Only love deep from your heart can make it a happy work.”

During two games, some volunteers quit in the middle of the game, said Ma. “Many volunteers disappeared after several days, even though the committee handed out souvenirs or shortened shift times. But these are external factors. Whether you stay depends totally on yourself.”

Ma said being a volunteer can enhance your life, one of the motives of participation. After serving two Games, Ma said he feels his capabilities in many respects have been improved, especially his ability to adapt to a new environment.

“You won’t get anything immediately substantial from volunteering; the effects are more intangible,” he said.