1. How did you feel when it was announced that London had been selected to host the 2012 Olympics?

I remember clearly when it was announced that London had been selected to host the 2012 Olympic Games, 6th July 2005, I was at the fax machine at work and my Deputy Head asked if I would be involved, I said “Yes” and she promised to support me with time off.  I was determined from that date to be involved with the Olympic Games with my sport.

2. Why did you decide to become a Gamesmaker?

I applied to be a Gamesmaker as there was no guarantee I would make it as a National Technical Official, I just knew whatever role I was assigned, I would be very proud to be part of this event.  I worked on both the Indoor and Beach Volleyball events leading up to the Olympics helping with the training Scorers and Line Judges. I had a conversation with Jeff Brehaut (International Beach Referee) whilst at a beach event in Blackpool, I asked what it would take to be National Technical Official (NTO), would there be an age limit, he said No, ability. So that was me hooked, I would concentrate on becoming a Beach Scorer.  For our training we had to attend CEV/World Tour Beach Volleyball events, I was lucky enough to go to Blackpool, Gstaad and Berlin for my training, as well as training at the VEBT Tour events. I remember at my first tournament, I thought to myself, I wanted to be an Assistant Scorer at an Olympic final, this was my dream (September 2008 I think).  I had the pleasure of working with a great team of technical officials.

3. What was your role in 2012?

My role at the Olympic Games was National Technical Official (Scorer), Beach Volleyball, we had a test event in 2011 where the group for the Olympics were selected from. I don’t just consider this as my role, I was part of a very important team, we all had to work together to enable this event to run smoothly and seamlessly. We were definitely a TEAM! (Together, everyone achieves more!)

The Team

4. What was your biggest challenge? What was your biggest achievement?

The biggest challenge for me regarding my training for the Olympics was being able to get time off work; I worked as an Examinations Officer within a school so could not take time off from the beginning of May until the end of June, so finding a World Tour event to fit into this was a slight issue. 

My biggest achievement was getting to London 2012, to be part of the Beach Volleyball, to work with a fantastic team of people, Referees, NTOs, the Courtside Managers and Assistants, Field of Play etc. The ultimate achievement was sitting courtside as the Assistant Scorer on the Men’s Final on that special evening on 9th August 2012, I had achieved my dream, this was a very special time.

5.     Do you have an amusing story that you can share?

I have an amusing story from my training events, I was in Gstaad and we had a really heavy downpour, hailstones that were quite large so all play was suspended.  To enable us to get the games finished for that day we moved to the outside courts for some of the matches.  The match I was assigned to was finished, I was cycling back to the main court and I came across Rogers and Dalhauser, I warned them I was approaching but still nearly ran into them, as they continued to discuss their game, not hearing my approach. I had a picture on my computer for ages, and had the caption of look that’s the crazy person who tried to run us over!

6. What was your proudest moment during 2012?

I have two moments that I was proud of at the Olympic games, the first obviously was working on the Men’s Final with Shelly Paterson.  The second was my daughter Sarah Hill working at the Beach Volleyball as a GamesMaker, her role was Athletes’ Services (looking after the athletes during their time at Horse Guards Parade), we managed to meet up and watch a game together when we were not working.

7. What do you think the biggest legacy for volleyball was following 2012?

I think the biggest legacy we have is more Beach Volleyball Clubs around the country, the sand from Horse Guards Parade was distributed around the country for urban areas to have courts.  We have NTOs from the Olympics one of whom is now an International Beach Referee (Scottish), and others who are on the pathway to becoming International Referees (English).  At the time it was like all events a sell out event, and I think with it being televised in this country, it made people realise it was a sport and not just about bikinis! We also now have the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham where Beach Volleyball will feature. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thank you Di Hollows