Evening Times reports

Hawks 2nd XV supremo getting ready for 2014

Specialist 2014 volunteers are all set for 'injury time'
Published on 6 February 2013


Johanne Wilson was a volunteer at the London Olympics and Paralympic Games and treated some competitors who went on to win gold.

The 36-year-old physiotherapist said: "A highlight was when a couple of people I treated got gold and came back in to show me their medal because we were a part of that."

Johanne is the senior physiotherapist at the National Stadium Sports Medicine Centre, based at Hampden Park.

She is a physio for Scotland's Women's Football squad, as well as Scottish hockey players.

During London 2012 she volunteered at the 'Polyclinic' – a mini hospital in the athletes village, where she provided treatment to athletes.

Johanne, from Paisley, enjoyed the experience so much she signed up for Glasgow 2014 as soon as she could.

She said: "I would not miss out on 2014.

"Although I work regularly in sport, I was a little concerned when I went to London that I might not have enough experience, but there was a real variation in people and their background and their experience with working with sport.

"It is not until you do it you realise how big an opportunity it is and it is an experience not to be missed."

Johanne also works with the Sportscotland Institute Of Sport and treats many athletes, as well as ordinary people who have been injured.

She says she is excited about seeing the athletes she has treated go on to compete in Glasgow 2014.

"I work with athletes who will be competing and, although I will not be part of Team Scotland at the Games, I will be involved in the whole build-up towards that.

"For me, being able to be part of it is important," she said. "I remember when the athletes left to go to Delhi in 2010 it was an anti-climax and I felt deflated. But this time I will feel part of it because I am still going to be involved."

As well as medical roles, the 2014 Games organisers are looking for people to cover a range of other specialist roles, from professional drivers to act as chauffeurs to technical officials and bicycle mechanics.

Specialist volunteers must be available for eight shifts over the 11 days of the Games, although they will be given advance notice of their shift rotas. The games are from July 23-August 3.

Neil Campion, general manager of volunteer recruitment at Glasgow 2014, described 'specialist' roles as those that require the applicant to have qualifications that cannot be provided during training in the run-up to the Games.

He said: "There are some specialist areas we need to cover. The medical one is health and safety, to make sure people are safe and healthy and we can react to any incidents.

"To make sure the athletes have the best experience at Glasgow 2014 we need people with specific skills sets because we do not have the capacity to train up the number of people required in these specialist roles in the time period we have."

Mike Blackie, 44, also volunteered for last year's London Olympics and is keen to share his experience on treating trauma injuries again at the Commonwealth Games.

He is the principal dentist and owner of the Park Practice, Kelvinbridge, and has treated Glasgow Warriors rugby players. He is also well practised in reacting to emergency situations.

Mike, who lives in Dunblane, said: "The story is in the official Olympic Momentum Book. I had her teeth in my hand while she was fighting the South Korean."

It's worth noting that Vassiliki is a dentistry student!

As well as the contact sports, Mike spent time with the American women's basketball team and the Russian women's basketball team.

He described his time in London as "two of the most surreal weeks of my life".

Mike said: "You get to watch a lot of high class sport and then you are on duty.

"You are tired at the end of it, but have not really done very much. But you are expected to be there at the drop of a hat and make sure you help with anything that does happen.

"There was some fascinating very intelligent, very highly skilled people giving their time for nothing, so I hope Glasgow will benefit from the same sort of individuals volunteering here."

Mike is looking forward to being part of 2014.

HE said: "It is my home city and I am very passionate about what goes on in Glasgow and I am looking for it to be a success.

"I have some experience to hand on and I hope to make sure that what the world sees is Glasgow being well represented."

For full details on the specialist roles see https://volunteering.glasgow2014.com/functional-areas or https://volunteering.glasgow.2014.com/medical-roles

This article was posted on 7-Feb-2013, 18:17 by Hugh Barrow.