Moncton tracks sports volunteers

Moncton, N.B.,is tracking just how many volunteer hours are going into the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships, inhopes that proof of the city's enthusiasm will pay off in attempts to attractfuture events.

More than 500 people signed up to volunteer in the last two weeks, which brought the total to about 1,800. Combined with the 1,200 people who took part in the opening ceremonies, 3,000have offered their time for free.

The championship is the largest sporting event ever in the Maritimes, and organizers are using a software program to track each volunteer's shift, what venue they're volunteering in, and what their job is.

Local games co-ordinator Marie-Claire Pierce says that financially it's not feasible to pull off events of this size without volunteers.

Moncton will have hard numbers to show the kind of effort people are willing to put toward big events in the city.

"For us, we'd like to get a bottom line," Pierce said. "How many hours did it truly take from all of our volunteers to be able to provide the services that we want to provide and to pull off a great championship?"

Volunteers' jobs include everything from translators to people who hand water bottles to the runners at the finish lines.