Be(ach) Volunteer, Be(ach) Fair!

Background Beach handball is a growing sport where players and coaches are also tournament organizers and volunteers. Due to the high demands of the tournaments and the many tasks involved, there is a great need for specialized volunteers, separated from sport staff. Objectives The main objective of this project was to improve the volunteer policy and increase volunteer satisfaction at beach handball tournaments in such a way that would simultaneously develop our current volunteers, increase the number of new volunteers, and extend the duration of volunteering for both. It was important to find the greatest motivation for volunteers and develop a strategy to gather beach handball tournament organizers and volunteers in one place. Implementation Eight live meetings were held where partners discussed how to improve (create) the volunteer system in beach handball. Some of the meetings took place during tournaments, which helped partners see the situation "on the field." The partners conducted a survey and received valuable results, both from them and from the volunteers through informal conversations. A volunteer application website was set up (beachvolunteers.com), where the results of the project can also be found. Achievements Survey distributed among volunteers revealed that the greatest motivation for all of them to return was appreciation and usefulness. Before volunteering began, different goals were set for different age groups by themselves - younger volunteers mainly want to make new friends and gain experience that could be useful to them, while people over 30 volunteer because they can do something for a cause they care about. Those information will help organizers to to improve the quality of their event.