Volunteers for next year’s World Masters Games yesterday pledged to provide professional services to global athletes visiting for the event.
The World Masters Games, a multisport event held every four years for athletes meeting the minimum age requirement of 25 to 35, depending on the sport, is to be held in Taipei and New Taipei City in May.
At the pledge ceremony at Taipei City Hall, attended by about 200 volunteers, participants were invited on stage to hold an inflatable globe and state their commitment to “fulfill their purpose and work together to make the Games.”
Photo courtesy of the Taipei City Government
Volunteers are to receive special training at the volunteer service center to help them welcome the expected 30,000 athletes, visitors and spectators from around the world, organizers said.
Volunteer registration began in February, with volunteers recruited from six county and city-level community organizations, along with university faculty and students, as well as individual applicants, said Lin Jer-hung (林哲宏), executive chairman of the Games organizing committee.
As of Wednesday last week, organizers had recruited 8,533 volunteers, about 85 percent of its 10,000-volunteer target, he said, adding that 30 percent of volunteers are aged 65 or older, and the oldest is 88 years old.
In a video of the ceremony, one volunteer, a student surnamed Tsai (蔡) from Taipei, said they wished to use their foreign-language skills to help athletes, while a husband and wife from New Taipei City, also surnamed Tsai, said they hoped to share the beauty of their hometown with international visitors.
Next year’s Games are to be the 10th edition since they began in Toronto in 1985, with Taipei to be the first Asian city to host the event, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-hua (林奕華) said.
The Games are to be hosted in 69 sporting venues across Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Yilan County and Hsinchu City, with a key feature of the event to be its integration into local tourism, she said.
Volunteers are to play a crucial role by guiding athletes, assisting with registration, answering questions and providing translation services, she added.
Many of the venues are in New Taipei City’s scenic areas, such as Tamsui (淡水), Linkou (林口) and Jinshan (金山) districts, and Fulong Beach (福隆海水浴場), with the opening ceremony to be held in New Taipei City’s Yingge District (鶯歌) at the New Taipei City Art Museum, which opens in April, New Taipei City Deputy Secretary-General Kung Ya-wen (龔雅雯) said.
All city residents can become goodwill ambassadors, enabling competitors and their entourages to experience and enjoy Taiwan, while the Games would show the greater Taipei area to the world, she added.
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