Australian swimming squad checks in Delhi

The strong 52-member Australian swimming team, which was training in Kuala Lumpur flew down here Wednesday night.

Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan tweeted describing the conditions in the Games Village as “excellent”

“First night in Delhi down. The apartments are beautiful. Going to the food hall to explore!", he tweeted.

Andrew Lauterstein seemed to be enjoying the village: "Living large in the Village,” he tweeted.

Some swimmers had spent time in the team camp in Malaysia deliberating on whether or not to compete in India.

"There have been (security) concerns right before we came to right to when we were here but not enough to stop them from coming," said head coach Leigh Nugent.

Nugent believes that every Australian team would have had concerned athletes.

"We are no different," Nugent said.

Nugent expressed his relief that all had chosen to travel.

"We sure are (happy)," Nugent said. "Racing starts Monday so we are looking forward to that."

Nugent thinks this team can achieve the Melbourne Commonwealth Games tally of over 50 medals, despite the fact that there are 31 debutants this time around.

"They are good enough," Nugent said.

While the other sports may have been depleted due to withdrawals, the pool is set to be a world class battle with England and Australia set to vie for the top spot on the medals table.

England's team members have been talking up their chances - Australia weren't.

"We will leave the talking to the swimming pool," Nugent said.

England were second to Australia in the swimming medals table in Melbourne with eight golds, 11 silvers and four bronzes. Team England contains Great Britain team members who won a best-ever third spot in the European Championships in August.

The six-day pool programme starts Oct 4.

2000 CWG volunteers from Jamia University

Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia university will depute 2,000 student volunteers for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) here Oct 3-14, a statement said Friday.

More than 1,000 National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers of the university along with 1,000 other students will participate in the event.

(Volunteer Training begins at Amity University Campus)

Volunteers from Jamia University will provide assistance to the Delhi Traffic Police, handle emergency situations and volunteer as tourist guides, the release said.

Currently, training is going on for more than 30,000 volunteers selected for Commonwealth Games.

(Commonwealth Games volunteer positions and opportunities)

The ministry of youth affairs and sports developed a special Commonwealth Games training module for students from Jamia University. The module is divided into eight sessions comprising comprehensive details on the background of the Common wealth Games, heritage of Delhi, workforce operations, accreditation process for different groups, conflict resolution and communication.

CWG volunteer training begins at Amity campus

The Commonwealth Games 2010 that are to be held in Delhi has started rolling out e-mails calling volunteers for training. Training is to be conducted by official training partmer, Amity University. As reported the venue for training is selected to be Amity engineering college situated at Sector-125 Noida.

It seems that government is doing its best to ensure maximum participation. The timings for the training are 8.30 am to 6 pm. For applicants who are not reachable via e-mails, Commonwealth Games OC is sending out calls via SMS.

Participants can reach Amity campus by taking a Metro going to Noida. Botanical Garden Metro station is the nearest point to the campus. Amity University would be ferrying volunteers from 8am to 9am from Noida Botanical Metro station to Amity University Campus and after the training programme, back to Noida Botanical Metro Station free of cost.

If you are planning to drive down to Amity Campus sector 125 Noida in your personal vehicle, kindly ensure that you enter the campus through Gate No 2C, parking space would be provided.

For identification purposes, you must bring a hardcopy of email along with you. If you have received an SMS then a valid photo id card (Driving License/PAN card/ Passport/ College ID card/ Voter ID Card) is required on first day. All the participants will get a registration card to be carried on all days for training.

30,000 volunteers to be trained in 2 months

With three months to go before the Commonwealth Games, the OC is now getting its volunteers trained as D-Day approaches. While the timescale is delayed as usual for the Melbourne Games in 2006, training had taken place almost a year in advance, OC is hoping that two months will be enough to train 30,000 people on not only how to help in conducting an international event but also, how to react in emergency situations.

It's a concern that CWG OC's training partners, a consortium headed by Amity University including Event Knowledge Services (EKS) besides others, claims will be tackled by the day-long programmes that have been devised for training the volunteers. Said Christian Napier of EKS, "The timeline has been a challenge but there are advantages to conducting the training near the event date, since their (volunteers) motivation levels are kept high.'' EKS, incidentally, was the training partner in the Melbourne Games as well as in the Asia Games in Doha and the recent PanAsia games in Rio.

Motivation levels were certainly high on Wednesday as a group of 250-odd volunteers underwent the first phase of training. The training which has been divided into general (one day), role specific (half day) and venue specific (half day) sessions will be imparted to 30,000 volunteers who have come from all walks of life. For many, it's a lifetime opportunity that has brought them from over 500km away like Rahul Goel from Bhatinda. Or simply a desire to showcase the city to a bunch of outsiders like Razi Ahmad from Jamia Milia university. "I'm a student of history and I'd like to pass on my knowledge about the city's past to the visitors,'' added Ahmad. What's common amongst all is the high level of dedication and the willingness to spend time doing something for Delhi. Said Shantanu Basu, one of the trainers at the venue, "The sessions are not only geared to disseminate information but also turn this disparate group of people into a team.''

The volunteers, who will be deployed across various functional areas, have been selected by not only OC officials, but also 40 Delhi government school teachers. Of the 30,000 shortlisted, around 4,000 are from the general public, comprising housewives, retired officials, senior citizens. The others are from Delhi University, ministry of tourism, NCC, NSS and the Delhi government. Added Ashok Chauhan of Amity, "The training methodology has been specially structured for the Games by us, EKS and other consortium members.'' Interestingly, while Amity is training the volunteers without charging OC, its deal with the latter will enable it to be part of the branding exercise for the Games. Said Sudhir Mittal, a senior official from the OC, "The sponsorship is based on the amount of the VIK (value in kind), allowing Amity to advertise as part of the Games brand.'' The sponsorship is worth Rs 15 crore.

Indian boxers to train in Cuba for Commonwealth Games

Aiming to improve their endurance level, sharpen skills and become psychologically tougher ahead of the Commonwealth Games, 13 Indian boxers will leave for Cuba tomorrow for a training-cum-competition trip after a gap of more than three years.

Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist Vijender Singh has, however, decided to skip the April 19 to May 8 trip due to a nose injury he picked up during the Commonwealth Championships here last month.

With the world number one Indian opting out, the contingent for Cuba does not feature any middle weight (75kg) boxer.

Those who would be going to Cuba include Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar (57kg) and Commonwealth Championships gold medallists Suranjoy Singh (51g), Amandeep Singh (48kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg), Dinesh Kumar (81kg) and Paramjeet Samota (+91kg).

"Training in Cuba will help. It is the toughest tour to endure but a very rewarding one."

Pakistan wrestlers to train in Iran

Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) plans to train its top ten wrestlers in Iran ahead of the Commonwealth Games to be held later this year.

Pakistan has decided to field seven wrestlers in the Commonwealth Games and most probably four in the Asian Games. Pakistan would send ten leading wrestlers of the country to Iran for two months training.

"Federal Sports Ministry has already given assurance that the federation would be supported, in its mission to provide high-class training to the top wrestlers abroad ahead of the twin major international assignments,” the secretary of the PWF Chaudhry Muhammad Asghar said.

Commonwealth Games would be conducted in New Delhi from October 3-14 while the Asian Games are slated to be organised by China in Guangzhou from November 12-27. “In a bid to pick the probables for the India event, national championship would be held in Faisalabad from April 21 to 23. The camp of the probables would be initiated in Islamabad Sports Complex the next day, after picking of the probables,” Asghar said.

However, he made it clear that the top ten wrestlers for Iran tour would be finalised during camp trials, saying, the final seven-member squad for the seven weight categories competitions in India would be picked after a month long training in the neighbouring country.

He said that he is hopeful that the country would get atleast one gold medal in wrestling in Commonwealth Games. He said that those three or four wrestlers who would perform better in the India affair would be given the chance to represent the country in the Asian Games in China as well.

He also disclosed plans to send four wrestlers to the Asian Beach Games to be staged in Muscat in December. “We plan to take two wrestlers for the Muscat Games from the lot which will be fielded in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and the remaining two will be selected from the rest of the available pool in the country, for which the federation plans to hold National Beach Wrestling Championship in Karachi on July 26,” the PWF official informed. The preparatory camp for the Asian Beach Games would be held in Lahore, he added.

Chaudhry conceded that the PWF has given the names of three young wrestlers, who the federation would like to field in the Youth Olympics Qualifiers to be staged in Uzbekistan from April1 8-19.

“We have decided to field Salamat Ali (46kg), Haider Ali (54kg) and Aslam Pervez (63kg) in the Youth Olympics Qualifiers,” he said. “I am optimistic that at least two of the three will make it to the Youth Olympics,” the PWF secretary said.

“Salmat and Aslam Pervez can make a cut for the Singapore affair,” he said. He said if any boy qualifies for the Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore in August then they would be kept abroad for training ahead of the grand youth competition of the world.

Volunteer Program FAQ 3: Training, roles etc

Q. Do I get to choose my volunteer position ?

Roles will be assigned based on the location of your accommodation during the Games, as well as your availability, skills and experience. Where possible, your preference will also be considered.

(CLICK HERE: Volunteer training begins at Amity Campus)

Q. I want to volunteer along with my colleagues in a specific area. How do I register?

Every Volunteer has to register individually on the official website to be a part of Delhi2010 volunteer team.


Q. Will I get paid ?

You are unpaid members of the Delhi 2010 volunteer team. Therefore, as a volunteer you do not receive wages, fees, honorariums, tips, gratuities or reimbursements for the work you undertake for the event.

Q. When will training begin ?

To ensure that you have the necessary skills and information to perform your assigned roles effectively, we will provide both general and role specific training. The total duration of the training is from May 2010-October 2010.
General training will commence from May 2010-August 2010.
Role specific training from July 2010-September 2010.
Leadership training is from August 2010-September 2010
Venue specific training from August 2010-October 2010

Q. What kind of role I might be given ?

We will try to assign you a volunteer's role as per your past experiences or in accordance with the preference you indicated in your application. However, given that certain roles have been oversubscribed, this is likely to be difficult. We encourage you to be as open-minded as possible about your options.

Q. What hours, days and weeks am I expected to volunteer ?

The length of your involvement will depend on your assigned role. We will discuss your availability further during the assessment process. The longer and more flexible your availability, the more roles you can be considered for. A normal volunteer day will usually be 8-10 hours, including breaks, but some roles may occasionally require longer or shorter shifts. All volunteers engaged during the Games are required to be available for a minimum of 10 shifts and are expected to be available for the full period from 3 to 14 October 2010.

Q. I want to volunteer, but I'd also like to buy a ticket to watch an event. Can I do both ?

We want you to experience as much of the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi as you can. If you purchase a ticket to view an event, we'll do our best to schedule your shifts accordingly, however we can’t make any guarantees. Please keep in mind that we require a minimum time commitment from our volunteers.

Q. Will I be provided with any kind of medical facility during my service ?

Yes, you will be provided with the medical facility when you are on duty.

Q. What if I lose my uniform or accreditation card? Will I be issued with replacement ?

The uniform issued to you is a controlled item. Volunteers without uniforms will not be allowed into the venues to perform their duties. The replacement for the uniform will be rarest of the possibility depending on the discretion of the management.

Q. Will I be reimbursed for my transport and meals ?

You will be provided with meals and refreshments during training days as well as during deployment for the Games, and public transport will be free – you just have to show your accreditation card.


Q. What if I do not turn up for my duties during the Games ?

We are confident that you will be committed and turn up during the Games. In the event of ‘no show’, we will conduct an investigation on the reasons for the ‘no show’. If the reasons are unjustifiable, the person/s will also have to return all uniform, equipment, and accreditation passes issued.

Q. What kind of training will I have to go through and what is the time period that I will have to commit ?

Attendance for all training sessions is compulsory. Volunteers who do not attend training will be risking their volunteering opportunities. You will have to go through general training which will give you background information of the event. Role specific training will depend on the specific roles assigned to you and this will help you to perform your role effectively. Venue specific training will familiarise you with the various facilities and emergency procedures of the particular venues assigned to you. The fourth part of training is event leadership which will be given to only to those who will be responsible for managing/supervising a group of volunteer. These training sessions will be delivered over a period of four to five days.


Q. What happens if I decide not to volunteer for the Games after going through the training ?

You may decide to withdraw anytime. However, you must return all uniform and equipment, and accreditation passes issued to you.