Final Part 7 - 16th September 2016

Join In did not publish my full final blog; just a snippet of me "crying in the corner" with their final Paralympics Highlights article published on the 22nd September https://www.joininuk.org/and-with-that-we-had-done-our-job

Days 3-5:

Not a great start to my first shift in Wheelchair Tennis Stats on Centre Court: even after 66 days in Brazil, I still managed to make some rookie errors with BRT parador/express buses, slaloming through crowds of spectators but going down the wrong scaffolding ramp, and then entering the wrong access gate and getting lost inside the tennis stadium's labyrinth of corridors and confusing signage.

I had four different staff and volunteers tell me incorrect information about exactly how to get up to our top tier box as I made my way through the press conference room, wheelchair repair mechanics, anti doping office and nearly entering the player's changing rooms. Eventually I came across an open doorway to the field of play and recognised a blonde girl in British kit. It was Jordanne Whiley, waiting to be introduced onto court. I said a quick "good luck" and scarpered out of the player's entrance, saw our box high up in the heavens and scampered up the nearest set of stairs, zig zagging like a game of snakes and ladders to finally get up into our box just as the players were finishing their warm up and it was time to start Calling. Two days of intensive training kicked it straightaway "Radar... Body, In..." and we were up and running smoothly. Mostly.

As it was the first day of competition, all nine courts were in action, and the pool of line judges was a little stretched. Even on Centre Court, the Chair Umpire (Chump) only had three technical officials to help decide line calls. Up in our Air Con box we had a clear, albeit distant, view with the Chump’s mic on speaker but we could not hear the line calls and they were late to stick out their arm, usually one, sometimes two shots after the ‘out’ call.

With everything that these athletes have had to fight against to become Paralympians, a bad/late line call, dodgy ball bounce or noise from the crowd is water off a duck’s back and they just get on with the next point; no arrogance, entitlement or ego. No petulant smashing of racquets, arguing with the Chump or over the top fist bumps. And no Hawkeye, so it was also hard to read the player’s body language if I had not seen a late hand raised or misheard the Chump during the crowd’s vociferous appreciation. Fortunately, Henri and Deborah were fantastic to work with, quick to correct a couple of my calling errors and patient when it took me a second or two to precisely articulate the end shot in a rally after a late out call or Chump overrule.

We were given the second and fourth matches, the fourth being the night session opener, so we would have around four hours between matches. Having the BAT, RCD and Blue 2 on our accreditations, we were, with discretion, allowed into every venue in the Barra Paralympic Park: I saw Jody Cundy smash the world record to win the Kilo Time Trial Gold in the Velodrome; some children being blindfolded to try out GoalBall as the Algeria team had not turned up; the end of a Bocchia match; some Swimming; and the first half of the five a side blind football between Turkey and Brasil, in the number 1 Tennis court. And, of course, some other Tennis matches, seeing what it was like for our colleagues on the outer courts, sitting in the front row, the Caller having to judge serve directions from side on, surrounded by raucous, partisan supporters, with the laptop under an umbrella to shield from the 39 degree sunshine. We really do have it easy up in the Centre Court box!

Day 6:

For my final and 35th Olympic/Paralympic volunteering shift, I changed to the first and third match and my new colleagues Juliana, Livia and Debbie allowed me to play around a bit on my last shift: instead of saying “Radar On” I’d chuck in a “Gladiators, Ready” and tried to be like James Alexander Gordon with a deeper, disappointed tone calling a fault or unforced error, and an upturned inflection for an overhead winner or audacious drop shot. No Forfar 5 East Fife 4, but we had fun whilst ensuring the correct information was being input.

Vinicius had managed to reserve me a Guest Pass for the Village that afternoon to say goodbye to people, pass on a couple of free tickets to volunteers to events I’ll miss, and soak up the buzzing atmosphere, to just people watch and appreciate what a magical place it is – all kinds of people from all over the world competing in different sports with a range of disabilities all brought together to compete on the World stage, get a picture with the Agitos next to the fountain, eating ice lollies in the 39 degree Rio “winter” sunshine and playing table tennis or running the 100m on the arcade games.

I had brought my jacket and spare yellow volunteer shirts (freshly laundered!) to the Entertainment Centre in case any residents wanted to swap early. A few said they would have loved to exchange but only had one national team jacket they needed for the rest of the games - Slovakia’s coach gave me his business card to contact him when he gets back to the UK as they’re based in Oxford.

I loitered around the GB building for a bit, waited for the Swimming race on TV to finish and in the lull asked the group if anyone wanted to swap shirts now as I had to fly back to the UK tomorrow. Club thrower Stephen Miller enthusiastically said yes as he has collected them for his brother at his previous five Paralympics, so I’m honoured to be number six. I chatted to a few guys on the sofa about what I’d been doing for the Join In Legacy blog and I asked how they had been enjoying Rio and that when they have finished competing and want to party where the nearest supermarket is for supplies and who to ask in the Entertainment Centre for table tennis balls to play beer pong

Days 7-8:

Join In’s Dawn managed to get me an invite to the GB house in the morning before my afternoon flight, the third floor of one of the numerous shopping malls in Barra, with a nice view of the Paralympic Park. As chance would have it, I met Stephen Miller again, outside the GB house with his mother, brother and newly won Bronze medal. In between social media obligations, Archery Silver medallists John Stubbs MBE and Jodie Grinham were happy to chat to me and recommended the chocolate cake.

Lovely food and drink laid on, my first “real” beer (wheat based ingredients, not corn syrup) for over two months, and perhaps with the dehydration from carrying my luggage in the sunshine, the prospect of getting a flight home in a couple of hours, the enormity of what I had done in ten weeks and all the new friends I would be leaving just hit me so when Bowie started playing on the speaker I choked up and had a little cry in the corner.

We can be Heroes.

Just for one day.

But Legacy is not about dwelling on the past; it’s about celebrating the present and continuing into the future, always improving and striving to do more. I wore my Join In shirt on the flight home, via a 16 hour stop over in Mexico City, where I had a conversation about Rio and volunteering with a British couple after climbing up the very steep steps of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan. I even think a couple of people were considerate and gave me space with my Sou Rio back pack and long luggage on the rush hour trains from Heathrow to Chelmsford, with a very apt “Train Fault” cancellation at Stratford.

Watched the men’s doubles final on Channel 4, sent some “Hawkeye” pics of paused live re-wind freeze frame to the Stats team on Whatsapp telling them to keep up the good work, as the commentators were referring to forced and unforced errors and the service speed, all provided by the Stats team. Saw the Davis Cup Semi Final first rubber on BBC today, Murray losing to Del Potro in five sets, over five hours, superb tennis, Hawkeyes galore and huge crowd noise. I wonder how Glasgow’s Stats team coped!

Unpacked my luggage, covered my bed in souvenirs, pins, scrap book pieces and other items that will bring back memories of the work I did, people I helped and friends I made for the rest of my life. The next few days I’ll get over my jet lag, and when my cat leaves me alone for five minutes (I think he missed me for 72 days!), I’ll set about trawling through my emails and apply to work at more sports events. Already in my inbox I have Six Day London, World Athletics Championships, Cricket World Cup and Commonwealth Games to register/apply for and, of course, stay active at local, grass roots, amateur level, catching up with my cricket club, Parkrun and cycling fundraisers.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Olympic and Paralympic diaries and, if you can, I encourage you all to search the Join In site for events local to you who need volunteers to help make the Olympians and Paralympians of the future and everyone else in between.

Remember:

Those who can, Do.

Those who can do more, Volunteer.