The Concept Of The Volunteer

It has also become clear that the concept of volunteer differs widely in accordance with social and cultural differences and the nature of the volunteers themselves (religious and political convictions, sport and health factors, etc.), however, it is still possible to establish a number of basic points in common:

- Voluntary - commitment: that is individual, non-obliged commitment.

- Altruism: a lack of monetary reward, non-profit motivation.

- Social contribution: the task contributes in some way to society, it is socially useful.

Sports And The Olympic Volunteers

The concept of the Olympic volunteer was first defined explicitly in an Olympic glossary produced as of the Official Report of the Barcelona Olympic Games 1992: “the volunteer is a person who makes an individual altruistic commitment to collaborate, to the best of his/her abilities in the organization of Olympic Games carrying out the tasks assigned to him/her without receiving payment or rewards of any other nature”.

However, prior to reaching this explicit definition of modern times, the concept of the Olympic volunteer went through a process of evolution parallel to that of the development of the social volunteer and the growing importance of sport. In fact, in modern listings of types of volunteers, the sports volunteer is an indispensable category.

The present-day Olympic volunteer: the volunteer boom

The phenomenon of the present-day Olympic volunteer, motivated personally and as an individual, became consolidated after 1992. The Alberville, Barcelona, Lillehamer, Atlanta and Nagano Games are definitive confirmations of the growing importance of the volunteer phenomenon as a reflection of individual commitment to the success of the Games, without any hope or desire for monetary reward.

Present-day volunteers are conscious of their special circumstances in the organisation of the Olympic Games, and furthermore they are proud of their role as volunteers.

The introduction of such identifying features as uniforms, badges, accessories and other features has strengthened the feeling of belonging to a group and collective participation. Undoubtedly, the uniform in particular has contributed greatly to this feeling of group identity.