Sydney resident Amar Singh took a break from his business to volunteer at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast which saw 6,600 athletes from 71 nations compete in 18 sports disciplines from April 4 to April 15th.
36-year-old Mr Singh was part of the 15,000-strong volunteer army that went through a rigorous training process mounting up to 360,000 hours to prepare for the role.
Speaking to SBS Punjabi, Mr Singh said he was honored to have been chosen as a volunteer for the mega event.
“I felt very fortunate to have been given the chance of representing Australia and the Sikh community on such a huge platform.”-Amar Singh
Mr Singh who had also volunteered at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics and Paralympics was picked up to serve as a member of the wrestling workforce in the 21st edition of the Games.
His job was to ensure smooth running of the wrestling events and attend to the needs of the participating contingent and their support staff.
Talking about his role, Mr Singh said, it was a “once in a life time opportunity” to get up close and personal with athletes from all over the world.
“We had forged personal connections with the athletes and their team officials. And every time one of them would lose, we too felt disheartened as we had all become friends”, Mr Singh added.
During the event, he along with the other Indian volunteers also helped in organizing a cultural performance to entertain the participants and officials from across the globe.
Mr Singh who believes “volunteering is a great way of serving the community” feels more and more youngsters from the community should volunteer in some sporting event be it the local cancer runs or national level marathons.
Amar Singh with star Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar Source: Facebook
Amar Singh with a Punjabi dance troupe from Brisbane Source: Facebook
“It is a service role in which more and more youngsters must get involved not just for academic reasons, but also because it offers a great chance to meet people from different walks of life and experience something new”, said Mr Singh.
The humble samaritan will next be seen in the field as a ‘National Liaison Officer’ at the upcoming Invictus Games for the wounded, sick and injured military personnel to be held in Sydney in the month of October.
