The Olympic Games in Sydney might be over. But some of the volunteers hope their real work has yet to begin.

After spending 16 months in the 2000 Olympic host city, 70 Greeks are slowly filtering back home equipped with perhaps the most valuable tool for Athens Olympic organisers: first-hand experience planning an Olympiad and they're eager to use it.

Ranging in age from 24-41, the volunteers participated in " Greeks for the Games," a programme that involved studies for a masters degree in sports management through a Sydney university and job placement in SOCOG, the Sydney Organising Committee.

The programme is the brainchild of Democritus University of Thrace associate professor Dimitris Gargalianos, who wanted to create a team that could return to Greece with Olympic planning know-how and the ability to help the Greek capital prepare for 2004.

"When I came to Sydney I saw how big a deal this thing called the Olympic Games is," the sport management professor says of a 1998 trip. "And I thought of a way to operate so that I could bring over as many students as possible."

The pilot project that developed became the first scheme to see a host city taking apprentices for 16 months prior to the games to compose a regular workforce, the professor explains.

Setting the precedent

"No other city has sent so many people so early to the previous host city to gain experience," according to Gargalianos. " This is huge. SOGOC had done the best job in the past, sending about 40 people three months earlier and about 60 people during the Atlanta Games."

Beginning in June 1999, volunteers selected through an application process attended courses in subjects ranging from accounting, Olympic Games analysis and international relations in sport to people management, geared at earning them a masters degree in sport management from Sydney's Technology University.

The project was operated under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, which organised guest lecturers throughout the programme and awarded the two top students with scholarships to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland for three months to experience the Olympic movement from the executive side.

Greece's Undersecretariat of State for Sports funded Greeks for the Games, providing AUS$42,000 (US$22,000) per volunteer that covered all course expenses.

As Gargalianos explains, all participants had an undergraduate degree, some had already earned a masters' degree, and two volunteers used the programme for doctoral studies.

With classes conducted on weekends, nights and holidays, the rest of the volunteers time was dedicated to full-time work within SOGOC. The hands-on experience allowed volunteers to taste Olympic-related work in fields such as venue management and staffing, competitions, accreditation, even IOC relations and protocol.

"They were everywhere," says Gargalianos. "They gained comprehensive knowledge of the while organisation. These kids are the best resource available."

Unique experience

Volunteer Eleftheria Skarlatou said that while there have been no official offers, Athens 2004 representatives repeatedly visited the Greek delegation and expressed an interest in incorporating them into the organisational fold.

But according to the oranising committee, hiring Greeks for the Games graduates is not necessarily a given.

"It is a post-graduate degree programme rooted in theory and practice that was funded by the Undersecretariat of State for Sports and not Athens 2004," explains Athens 2004 human resource manager Yiannis Sidiropoulos.

He added that because of their thorough experience, the volunteers would be very good candidates for positions within 2004, but there is a procedure for hiring that they will have to follow like all other contenders.

"They will be treated as all candidates are, taking into account their additional skills and unique experience," he says.

For volunteers, the unique experience went beyond expectations.

"Things were more difficult than we had anticipated, but the experience during the Games themselves was more lovely and captivating than we had imagined," Skarlatou says. "It was an experience that gave me the inspiration and motivation to want to contribute to 2004."

Gargalianos says that the programme may also be implemented in Salt Lake City where the 2002 Winter Olympics will be held. But the focus for the time being is making the most of the students studies.

"From here on I'm not involved," adds Gargalianos. "They're armed with two great weapons, one is called a masters degree in sport management and the other is 16 months of experience in the Olympic games. Its up to the Athens 2004 organisers to make the next move."

"It's not an issue of goodwill," he added. " It is a necessity. We don't have the Sydney Games to support us now, if we have any questions. We are on our own, and when you are on your own you try to take advantage of every resource available."