Manitoba Winter Games

There are some definite perks to working in the Recreation field. Recently I was asked to be a part of the Mission Staff for Team Interlake at the Manitoba Winter Games, being held in March in Portage la Prairie. Basically, as Mission Staff, I am support staff for the coach(es), allowing them to deal solely with the coaching aspect. So if a kid hurts them self and we need to get the medical people over to have a look, I deal with that so the coach can concentrate on the games. I'd say it's like being the team manager except there is a team manager too!

I'm looking forward to going to the Games. I'd like to go sometime as a coach (I had signed up to be an assistant coach for the volleyball team but, long story short, I ended up choosing not to do so), but having that experience as Mission Staff will be great. My board has agreed (unofficially, it'll be official in February) to my suggestion that I go to the Games, but I would not claim overtime after my 8 hour day is up (because I'm sure I'll be 'on' more than 8 hours a day). If I could afford to take the time off I'd happily go as a volunteer, but getting my regular pay cheque while attending is pretty nice.

The Games is job related, and as one of my board members put it, it's a great professional development opportunity for me that will cost no money aside from my time. I get to see how such a large event is run, and will actively be troubleshooting some of the problems/situations that arise during such an event. I'm also glad that I'm going to be a part of the badminton team; I was asked before if I'd consider being Mission Staff for cross country skiing, but I would rather work with a sport I'm actually familiar with.

I'm looking forward to a fun few days at the Games, though I will miss the wife while I'm away. I also learned my plan to sleep at my parents won't work; I'll be on an air mattress in a school classroom (or something like that).

Still, being a part of an event like this is a pretty sweet part of my job!