By Olivia Rowland

"Volunteers are the life-blood of sport," says volunteer cricket coach Mark Speers.

A hydraulics engineer who has been a volunteer coach for Guildford Cricket Club's Colts section for eight years, Mark has helped launch the careers of some top young players and built up membership numbers - there are now 150 young people aged between five and 17 playing with the club every week.

Many of the Colts' volunteers are older players and mums and dads, who help raise funds and organise events. But others are simply people who want to spend more time watching and playing sport.

Learning and training 

"I was never very good at sport at school," says Mark. "But I loved cricket, and wanted to get involved somehow. Coaching seemed ideal because you can train gradually and learn on the job as well as through training courses. There's a lot of support for coaches in Surrey, so even when things are tough the enthusiasm of the kids and the other coaches keeps me going."

As well as educating young people about cricket, Mark says he has also gained a deeper appreciation of the game. Plus, the skills he has developed on coaching courses are transferable: time-management, first aid training and self-confidence are useful in any job.

"The highlight of my year is our presentation evening in the autumn," Mark says. "When you see 60 or 70 kids and their parents all gathered together to celebrate their achievements it makes everything worthwhile. I'd encourage anyone thinking about becoming a coach to give it a try."

Sport overseas

Joe Kitchen agrees. While volunteering in Peru he found a lack of sporting prowess didn't matter. Instead, at the Deporte y Vida (Sport and Life) project in Villa El Salvador, Lima, it was enthusiasm that counted.

"It was the fact that I was there that mattered, " he says. "The fact that I'd bothered to go all that way and spend some time with kids who don't usually get much individual attention."

Sport is a national passion in Peru, and the project makes the most of this. It teaches children and young people life skills that don't feature in the school curriculum: respect for each other and an understanding for rules and cooperation.

As well as playing volleyball and football with teenagers and chatting to them in English, Joe helped younger children to swim, something not every Peruvian child has a chance to do.

Having the chance to live and work in a completely new culture meant that his enthusiasm and interest in the project made up for any lack of experience or qualifications.

Sponsorship

Another big area of sports volunteering is sponsored events. We can now choose to walk, run, cycle or swim to raise funds for charity almost every weekend.

This kind of one-off action helps to raise awareness of charities' work and makes it easy for us to give up a little of our time and energy, whether we're marathon-runners, lunchtime joggers or weekend walkers.

"It's all about bringing people together," says Kate Saner of Cancer Research UKs Race for Life, which attracts thousands of women runners and walkers every year. "The race is for everyone - we have toddlers, people in wheelchairs and people on crutches as well as elite runners taking part."

Your turn

The range of sports volunteering opportunities really is enormous. There's something for everyone. Try searching the do-it.org.uk database and see what you can find.

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