I volunteered for the IRB Pacific National Cup international rugby event at Swangard Stadium on Saturday. There was only one other person whom I recognized there and it was one of my volunteers from Whitecaps, Vicki. We sat together in a little room waiting for our coordinator to arrive. Meanwhile, Vicki and I had started up a chat about Whitecaps and our experiences with it so far. Once the coordinator arrived, we were handed out pink rugby volunteer shirts to wear.
The two Rugby managers who were sitting close to Vicki and I came up to us and chose us to be her runners as she had overheard us talking about working with the Whitecaps. Alex and Stephanie were the two managers in charge who were running the show. So they basically asked Vicki and I to look after the little kids and get them set up for pre-game and halftime events.
We were given these passes to wear while we volunteered to get us access to the pitch.
We had some time to kill before the event started at 5pm so after we got some drinks from Starbucks, we decided to walk around and see what was happening. We took a walk around the track and took a stroll through the VIP area. They had set up tents for the sponsors on what we used to call the "bronze side" at Whitecaps. I took a pic of the pitch from there as we were ground level.
Once we made it over to the grandstand side, we decided to have a seat in the stands until we had to head down to the south end to get our kids in order for pre-game ceremonies.
On the way there, we saw the teams start to arrive. Here is Team Japan arriving. They picked up their accreditation from a man standing outside the bus and then headed down to their dressing room tunnel.
Vicki and I had to get our kids together and most of them were in the crowds at the end zone. So, we decided to watch a bit of Team Canada warming up and then herded the kids and parents into the zone.
We figured Adam Kleeberger was the one in the white headband. Adam is known around the world for his infamous beard. The phrase "Fear the Beard" was well known a few years ago at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
This picture taken by telegraph.co.uk of Adam shows his before and after pics.
The other volunteers were sent to work will call, to scan tickets at the gate, sell merchandise and help out with some games in the fan zone. None of them received All Access passes but Vicki and I. We really were happy with our positions as we really didn't have to do much or stand for too long. We also got to sit and watch some of the match with the fans on top of a grassy knoll in the North zone.
With the score 25-14, it looked like Canada was well on their way to winning this one, but as Vicki said, in Rugby anything can happen. And then it happened. Right before our eyes we watch Japan make a great comeback to win it 34-25. Vicki stayed on to help with take-down but I left after the match was done cause of my wrist injury. I wouldn't have been any help. Alex had thanked us for our help and that was it. It was a really great turnout for the match. 6,500 standing room sellout! Last time that happened for an event at Swangard, it was the India vs China friendly soccer match back in 2007.
I ended up getting a "tan". Vicki didn't get much of one. Go figure but it was a beautiful day to have this event. I'm so lucky to have been given an opportunity to be a part of that and work with Alex and Stephanie. They were absolutely wonderful to work with. Next match is in Toronto Canada vs Scotland at the BMO Field. Good Luck to Team Canada!
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