As athletes and officials begin their arrival in Gainesville Saturday for next week's ICF Dragon Boat World Championships, organizers are hoping to find more volunteers to staff the event.
Kingsley Peeples is the volunteer coordinator and she said she has rounded up hundreds of people for the five-day event on Lake Lanier, but she can use more.
"Currently, we have over 600 volunteer spots that have already been filled by around 300 volunteers - many of them are picking up additional shifts - but we still have around 100 volunteer spots still open," Peeples said Friday morning. All told, Peeples will need at least 150 volunteers each day, Sept. 12-16.
Of course, there are the days leading up to the championships, and there's work to be done then, as well.
"Early in the week before the competition starts we'll have general set-up, just getting the venue ready, getting the boats in the water and ready for the teams to start their practices," Peeples said. Over the weekend, some volunteers will be in Atlanta, retrieving athletes from the airport and bringing them to Hall County.
The rest of the week, Peeples said, volunteers will be asked to do everything from assisting with parking to working in the hospitality area to taking video of the competition from the water - the list is endless, really.
Peeples said there's one more volunteer training session coming up this weekend.
"We've had a number of orientation meetings already and we have our final one scheduled for this Sunday, Sept. 9 from 2-3 p.m. at the Lake Lanier boathouse, which is located on Clarks Bridge Road across from the venue," Peeples said.
Peeples said potential volunteers can just show up or they're welcome to register ahead of time. (Follow this link for volunteer registration.) She said anyone middle school age and up may register.
The 2018 event marks the first time the world tournament will be held in the United States, according to the International Canoe Federation (ICF). It will be the second largest event held at Lake Lanier Olympic Park since the 1996 Olympic Games. An estimated 800 athletes from 13 different countries will compete in the championship races.
