The Torch, pep talks, and opening ceremonies

It has been a busy last few days as we have been getting ready for the big day on Friday. Lots of work, but lots of fun as well.

Yesterday (Tuesday), we had the day off from Britannia as it was going through the security sweep. I spent most of the day riding around Vancouver. Bicycling is a great way to see the city. It was a rare sunny day, so people were out and about. It is a really beautiful city (if you like the ocean, mountains, parks etc......). Just off of Stanley park are these Olympic rings. Someone told me that whenever Canada wins a gold medal, they will light up and "go crazy". I hope I get to see that!

I also rode around the athletes village (well, as close as the security fence would let me). Each country has their flags up all over them. Apparently, this is the best Athletes' Village ever. You can just see the Australian Kangaroo flag in this one.

On Tuesday night, I had the opportunity to go to a special VANOC staff event to greet the torch as it arrived at Vanoc headquarters. It was a really nice event and a reward for the staff that have been working there for the last few months or years. The mascots were there as well, so I got to meet Quatchie up close before the torch arrived.

The person that ran the torch in to the headquarters was Vanoc CEO John Furlong. This guy is pretty amazing, with everything else that he has to do to prepare for the Olympics that were just 3 days away, he took the time to address his employees and to give everyone a pep talk. He is also a really great public speaker. One thing that he said that will stick with me throughout the Olympics is "don't hold back, make the effort to do as much as you can during the next 3 weeks, because it is the chance of a lifetime." (he might not have said these exact words, but you get the drift....

We also heard from the leader of the torch team. They have been on the road for 106 days now and are still inspired every day. What a great way to bring the country together and to make all Canadians feel a part of the Olympics.

Today we spent the day at Britannia getting ready for our first practice on Friday, but we left early to attend the final dress rehearsal of the opening ceremonies! Tickets were made available to volunteers and staff as a thank you and it was something of a pep rally for 40,000 people or so. Before the ceremonies were were asked by the artistic director not to talk about it, to make sure that it would still be a surprise for the rest of Canada. We also heard from the Mayor, the premier of BC, and Steven Harper! Then the show started. We got to see all of the acts, but not the final torch bearer and the cauldron. so I will watch that on TV with the rest of you.

Tomorrow, is our last day before athletes in Britannia and then after work, I am going to see the torch as is passes by where I am staying. Thanks for all the Birthday wishes!

25,000 Volunteers

Yesterday we spent the day putting up the signage and decorating Britannia. As a result, BRT looks more like an official Olympic venue, as opposed to a community rink. One room we decorated was the Workforce Breakroom. This is the area that all of the staff and volunteers go to for breaks, lunch and for pre-shift meetings. We tried to make it fun and welcoming for everyone.

VANOC puts a lot of emphasis on treating the volunteers well. There are over 25,000 people who have given up their time to help make the games a success, so they want to make sure that they feel appreciated. As well as the awesome uniforms that everyone receives, all volunteers were invited to attend a dress rehearsal for the opening ceremonies on Feb. 10. Yesterday we also received our "shift gifts". These are special Olympic trinkets that they earn for volunteering. Each day at check-in the volunteers will get their shift card marked off. If they have reached a certain milestone (eg. 3rd shift, 6th shift) they receive .....SPOILER ALERT... either a Team 2010 pin, a key chain, a stuffed Miga or Quatchie (Olympic Mascots), or a Quatchie ice pack. On their last shift, they get a Vancouver 2010 Swatch watch. Not bad!
Speaking of the Olympic mascots, I was not really a fan before I came out here. However, now they are really growing on me! Quatchie is my favourite-he is a hockey goalie and is very cute. They are very popular and are mobbed whenever they appear. There is a whole story about them that you can read at http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot.

Welcoming the world!

One of the catch phrases that is all around in Vancouver is Welcoming the World!

Just in the past week I have seen more and more people coming into town. When I was downtown yesterday there was soooo many more people out and about. I thought I would pop into the Olympic Superstore to see what was there, and I think half of Vancouver was there as well. I tried to get a red canada hoodie, but no luck, they were sold out.

Welcoming the world also applies to BRT. Ethan, the Deputy Venue Manager is from Montreal, Chris, the media person comes from Austraila, Anya, another EVS Supervisor is from Montreal, and I am from Kingston. There are also a lot of local vancouverites here as well. Susie, the other supervisor is very local, she is the Britannia Program Director in real-life, as well the icemen and some of the tother hosts are staff at Britannia. They have been very welcoming to us as we have come in to invade their spaces.

I am looking forward to meeting more people when they come to volunteer at BRT. I really enjoy getting people's stories to see what brought them to the games.

Other venues and athletes!

It has been a couple of days since my last post, so I will fill you in on what has been going on.

We have finished our training at Britannia (BRT), so now it is just putting together all of the finishing touches. The venue is still in "Load in", or "Fit Out" status (which means that things are still getting set up). After the security sweep this week, it will become a live venue and we will have to get used to going through the security tent (personal screening area-PSA) everytime we go on venue.

The ice should be ready to go now. The Icemen (that is what they are called at Britannia) have been layering and layering water with a hand sprayer for the last 3 days. They are doing it this way (as opposed to using a fire hose) as it puts less air in the ice and makes it harder. They are hoping to get it to an inch or inch and a half thick. Again, they are doing the same processes at CHP so that this ice will feel the same from practice to game time. One thing that I have learned is that ice is not ice and that at this high level, the condition of the ice (for whatever sport) is important and therefore is closely monitored.

In the past couple of days, I have had the opportunity to visit two other training venues, Killarney (Short track speed skating) and Trout lake (figure skating). They are both live now, so it was good to see how they worked. We went to Killarney to pick up some signage and things for BRT and got a tour of the facility. There were no athletes there yet, so we got to go on the ice. More ice facts: Short track speed skating has ice that is 2-2.5 inches thick! They have mats about a metre thick around the ice (no boards). I hope to go back and see some of the skaters in action to see how fast they go up close.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day at trout lake, shadowing their operations. Nicole Clarke (a former Queen's athlete and A & R employee)is the Deputy Venue Manager there-so she showed me around. It was good to see how another venue works with their volunteers and how they set things up. I got some good ideas to bring back to BRT. It was also especially exciting as it was the first day that athletes came to practice. Although they had training scheduled for the day before, believe it or not, they don't take attendance at these sessions and it is up to the athletes to use the time or not.

So when Transport radioed that a van was in progress, a buzz went up in the building. The first group to arrive was a pairs team from Great Britain. All the staff was there to see them walk in. When it was time for them to get on the ice, it was amazing to see how fast and smooth they skate up close. The rest of the morning, I saw another pair from Germany, and a men's single from Italy. They expect that there won't be a full practice session for a few days as most of the skaters are still not in the village and are training elsewhere.

One thing I also enjoy about visiting the other venues is learning a little bit more about the sport. For instance, did you know that at large competitions they have a group of skaters called "Ice patchers"? Here it is a group of 14-16 (ish) year old figure skaters that come on the ice after each group has skated and patch the hole and divots in the ice (from toe picks) before the OLYMPIA (not zamboni!) comes on. They are all dressed in really cool Vancouver 2010 outfits and do this at every practice and competition.

That about all for today, let me know if you have any questions. I hope that you all have a great Superbowl and that the WF curling team continues on their winning ways!

Making Ice at Britannia

Many of you asked, “Kelly, what will you be doing in Vancouver?” Well, the last few days we have spent been in trainings and meeting the people that we will be working with for the next few weeks. Here is a brief overview of how things will work at Britannia. There are many different groups working for VANOC and I am part of Event Services or EVS. At Britannia, there are three venue supervisors, and we are responsible for supervising the volunteers that will be controlling the access from the outside (checking accreditation, doing the pre-screening information), controlling the access inside (press area, mix zone, and athetes' entrance) and the spectator area (friends and family and school group guests).
There are many other people that will also be working and volunteering in the venue. Transportation coordinates the teams' arrivals and departures from the village and Canada Hockey Place (CHP) (the Olympic name for GM Place). There are also people from Sport, they work with the teams to make sure that they have everything they need for their practices. They also expect a lot of media to be at the practices, so there is a Media manager and some volunteers to help out in the media lounge and in the mix zone. I may have got some of the titles wrong, but you get the main idea.
Another group that is important at and arena are the ice attendants. Since my first visit to the area, I noticed that the temperature was colder inside the arena than outside (BRRRRRRRR!) They have been preparing to build the ice and need it to be -8 degrees. The ice build has been under the direction of Dan Craig, the "Ice Guru", who has built the ice for the last Three Oympics and is also the Facility Operations Manager for the NHL. He was on hand today to supervise the build. It is important that the location of the lines matches the ones at CHP since they will not get to practice very often at CHP.
Once they had applied 2 or three layers of water, it was time to paint the lines. They made it look so easy. The coolest thing is that they let us paint the red line. I think we did an okay job,
we didn't see them making too many repairs once we left the ice!

Tomorrow is the first day that we are required to wear our uniforms. With 50,000 people working as part of the Olympic workforce, I think that it will be a sea of teal tomorrow in Vancouver!

Vancouver is getting Olympified

Yesterday, I spent most of the day exploring the Vancouver downtown. The city is really becoming “Olympified”. I have included some photos of the scene. It was raining most of the day, but then the sun came out in the middle of the afternoon, and it was really pleasant. 10-12 degrees!

Tough ending to a great season! - 2010-02-23

"I have been on both ends of the spectrum in my hockey career of winning and losing big games. But Sunday was a real tough one to let go and I have still not. I cannot be more prouder of our team and am very happy with the progression of our program at Queens. Payton Liske has established himself as one of the most dominant players I have seen in the 5 years I have coached in the OUA. Our defence really stepped up in the play-offs. To see Stephane Chabot play in the deciding game with a separated shoulder shows how much this team wants to win. As for after the game it is the worst speech a coach as to give as you are never prepared to give it. I am going to really miss my graduating players. Clinton Mccullough has been with me for 5 years and has seen all the highs/lows of this program. Clint came in as a 18 year old kid and has graduated as a man. It is a cliche but if you have seen the development like I have you would understand. Mike Bushby will go down as one of my favourites. For some reason over the last 3 years I have managed to apologize to Mike more then my wife. Their was never a moment in the 3 years that Mike questioned me and he always supported the direction of the program. TJ Sutter was my 1st ever recruit and when he got to Queens I think he thought I was crazy. Here is a player that started on my 1st line in year 1 and ended as a role player but fully accepted it. Goes to show the development of the program. TJ season came to an end way to soon because of injury but he was always a part of the team. Tom Franzon was a player who I have cut twice at Queens but this year he really deserved to make the team. Tom never once complained to me and truly became a better player as the year played out. Last is Jeff Johnstone. He will be coming back I hope but if not he was a real pleasure to coach. Jeff started last season on thr 4th line as I knew very little about him. He ended this year on the 1st line and 3rd in team scoring. I loved the way Jeff responded to my challenges and was always up to any situation I put him in, but like I said he will be back I hope!

Overall I am never completely satisfied with our season until the day we can bring a OUA Championship back to Queens but that is not to say that I am not proud of the guys. We faced alot of adversity this season and I learned alot about coaching this season. I want to thank Andrew, Aidrian and Nick for another great season as a staff. I could not ask for better guys on the bench and what you do does not go unnoticed. Jonsey, Dave, Jon, Graham and Don thanks for all your behind the scenes work without you guys this team does not operate. The Booster Club committee of Dave Descent, Murray Douglas and George Hood thank you very much for your support and guidance their is not a day I don't appreciate your help. As for next year I am off to Manitoba and Alberta Saturday to recruit. You cannot wait and reflect about this season I am already gearing up for September as we still have lots of work to do.

Thanks again to Queens Athletics for all your support and I look forward to seeing you at the rink next season!

Brett

Day One-Uniform and Accreditation

Made it to Vancouver last night. As soon as I got off the plane, the first thing I noticed was all of the Olympic "stuff" around. The whole airport was decorated and there were a lot of Olympic volunteers there to answering questions etc...

My friend Lesley picked me up and after we left the airport, we drove around to see a few sites-the Richmond Olympic oval looks amazing, as it was dark and we were driving so the photos did not turn out. I hope to go back in the daytime to get a better look. Les also drove me by the arena that I will be working out of, Britannia Centre. It is tucked away, part of a larger Community complex including a pool, teen Centre, day care and a school.

This morning, I was scheduled to pick up my accreditation and uniform. This was done near the Pacific Coliseum, the figure skating and short-track speed skating venue. Having never been there before, and not sure about how the bus trip was going to go, I left early. I got there about 30 minutes early, and there were already about 30 people in line. The wait wasn't bad since I got to talk to the people waiting with me about what they were doing at the games. Two of the people in front of me were retired Vancouverites who were working as event hosts, one person behind me came up from Arizona to work in catering in Whistler.

Once we got in, it was very organized. First, they confirmed that I was actually who I said I was and that I was supposed to be there. Then, I followed the red line to get my photo taken (no smiling!), and then the yellow line to pick up my accreditation. Once that was all done, it was onto the white line to get my uniform! The uniform consists of a bright blue waterproof jacket, a fleece vest, 2 long sleeved shirts, a touque, and a pair of pants. I am a bit concerned about only having one pair of pants for a month! The uniform is pretty good, although very bright.

After all that was done, it was time to go to Britannia to meet the other people that I will be working with and to get a brief orientation to the facility and the job (and lots of acronyms!). It is hard to believe that in less than 2 weeks the best hockey players in the world will be in front of me the ice. Check out my next entry for more info on what happens at Britannia, and other adventures.

GO CANADA GO!

Kelly

Olympic Bound

Well I guess it is really happening....I'm going to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics! It seems surreal right now, but as of February 1st, it will be reality!

Most of you have asked, "Kelly, how did this happen?"

So here is the short story...In July, Nicole Clarke, a former Home Event Assistant of mine, emailed me to see if I might be able/interested in working at the Olympics! Nicole had taken a leave of absence from her job at Athletics Canada to be a Deputy Event Venue Manager for Vancouver 2010. VANOC was looking for people with experience that would be able to leave work for a few weeks to share their expertise with the organization of the games. Seriously!?! Those of you who know me well, know that I love the Olympics, so I thought about that offer for a few minutes, talked to the family to make sure they were on board and sent in my resume.

The fall flew by and I almost forgot about my application. The Gaels were having an awesome football season, so I was distracted. The day after the Yates Cup I got a call for an interview, and then the day before the Vanier Cup, I was offered a position with Event Services. (Luckily Queen's won the Vanier so my supervisors were in a good mood and agreed to let me leave work for the month of February!)

During December I spent getting a place together in Vancouver (thanks Mullholland's), and booking my flights. Although I had been offered a job, I did not know exactly what I was going to be doing. All I knew that I was going to be in Vancouver. However, being a huge Olympic Fan, I really did not care where I would be, even curling! (actually,I like curling). Christmas Eve I got a call to tell me that I am going to be an Event services supervisor at Britannia Place, the training centre for men's hockey!

I haven't received a lot of details about what I will be doing yet, but I assume that this position will be making sure that the facility is ready for the teams and the media. Sounds like fun!

I am leaving Kingston on Sunday morning, and will be picking up my Uniform and Accreditation on Monday morning before my first meeting with the rest of the venue staff, so please check back in a couple of days to see what that was like.

I will be updating this blog regularly (hopefully with shorter posts) while I am in Vancouver. Please feel free to reply to me here.

Go Canada Go!

Kelly

Return to this page soon for select blogs from members of the coaching staff of the Queen's Gaels.