NASDAQ 100 Open Volunteer Report: Day 2

I arrived around 5.30 PM to Crandon Park - my volunteer shift started at 6.30 PM, but I didn't do too much wandering because I didn't bring my camera. You're not supposed to haul around a bunch of stuff with you - and you definitely aren't supposed to take advantage of your closeness to the players by taking photos or harassing them for autographs. I did swing by the Volunteer Tent, located on one side of the stadium to enjoy the free soda perk, which requires that you be in uniform. (It is a good idea to keep your uniform in your bag).

Most people were still talking about Andre Agassi withdrawing earlier in the day - I had seen him practicing on Thursday with Lleyton Hewitt and he looked okay, but this back problem has been a long term issue for him. He was even making fun of Hewitt for the sake of the crowd gathering around the practice court, telling Hewitt that he was finally starting to "hit like a real Aussie". I did like how the NASDAQ website had a sappy "we love you Andre" article. You wouldn't see that for any other player that withdrew at the last minute. I think they were trying to convince him to come back next year - even though most people seem to think that this year will be Andre's last.

The other hot topic was the loss of so many top players: Justine Henin-Hardenne and Rafael Nadal. I was so mad that I didn't get to see Nadal play - I really like his energy on court, and the Baghdatis/Nadal match was a highlight of Indian Wells. A few people I talked to were excited to see how the draw would look with the top players out, but most people were disappointed that these players would be out so early.

Right around 6, I had dinner with Grand Slam Tennis Tours in the Champions Club - this is the group that I bought my box seats for the day sessions from. I was able to meet people from all over, and have soem of the better food at the tournment (Indian Wells take note: buffet style food is waaaaay better than a crappy menu of only fancy food).

So, at 6.30 the members of the Safety volunteer team meet up to get assignment, and go over the rules. Some of the rules are to not let a certain expired credential into restricted areas, to not say stupid things over the radio, and to watch the other posts on the court you are on so you can make sure only people with the correct credentials are near the court. We get our pretty orange vests (think traffic cop) then, and coat ourselves in bug spray. WE also get our fake money to use on food later.

The mix of volunteers is interesting - I met court monitors (the people who stock the gatorade into the on court fridge) who were still in high school, and safety volunteers who were retired and planning to go to the Bausch and Lomb event next in order to volunteer. Almost everyone was local to the general Miami area, so I was the odd one out. I did meet one guy who had a several hour drive to the tournament. Most people volunteered for more than one shift in a day at least once during the NASDAQ. We also use volunteers from the floaters group - they are the folks who can end up doing any job. We needed to use them when we didn't have enough people to cover all of the posts among all of the courts.

The volunteer teams are run by a few supervisors who are called co-chairs. All of the co-chairs on the Safety team were pretty cool - in general, they tried to get you into a job that would allow you to see tennis for at least part of the time, and to also get you a 25 minute break so you could eat.

When the assignments were handed out, I was sent over to NW Court 2. There was one match left on that court - Gisela Dulko and Jamea Jackson. Dulko was seeded 26. This was a great match - I got to watch from the corner of the court - behind the fence to get on court, and right on the edge of the bleachers. Every now and then I just had to turn around to make sure no one had sneaked in behind me - if someone had, I just needed to make sure their ID designation matched up to the list that was allowed in that entrance - usually this was restricted to linespeople, court monitors, players guests and the players themselves. The one major exception everything is that the people who runt he tournmanet have a credential that can get them in anywhere, and they can bring as many people without credentials as they want. I only saw these people in the stadium.

Jackson ended up winning, and she was so happy - she ran over to her coach and hugged him - I don't think I have ever seen anyone happier to win an early round match.

After a match ends and it is the final match on that court, the safety people hang around until people leave. Yes, we will "encourage" you to leave if you start taking your time. After that we either meet up with a co-chair in person or on the radio - this time we were able to go on break. We're supposed to eat in the volunteer tent so we don't hog up any chairs from "paying customers", but I really think the co-chairs are afraid of what we will do when left unsupervised for 25 minutes out in the general population. I can't imagine why.

By the time I was starting my break, Martina Hingis had already won her match against Tiantian Sun in the Stadium. A negative about volunteering is that sometimes you don't get assigned to the court with the match you want to see, and it ends up being over before you know it.

I did have a 300 level night ticket, so I decided to use my break to watch some of the David Nalbandian / Paul Goldstein match.

After break, I was put into various posts in the stadium - one was the player's box, which is attached to the player's lounge area - this is where family, friends, coaches, etc can go sit as long as they have the right credentials (this is another heavily restricted area). Some volunteers mentioned how they don't liek this post because you end up fighting with people who think they have the right to be there, etc. For example, I heard a story about how in a previous year, Roddick family and friends were approved to bring in 12 people to the player box. Instead, they showed up with over 20 and there was a big ol' piss and moan fest when they could not get all of them in.

Luckily, I had a pretty easy time of it - the one person I booted was able to get the proper sign off from the tournment desk locate dinside the lounge.

The lounge attaches to a big kitchen/cafeteria area, and is full of big chairs and a few TVs. There were generally lots of bored girlfriends in there, but sometimes screaming kids too. The lounge is located behind the chair umpire and just above the 100 level box seats.

I was rotated out of that job fairly quickly - but the box is a great place to watch tennis. :)

My next job was in court access - these are the four points to get on court from inside the stadium - one of which is the entrance and exit for the players to use. I was placed at this one, which got me really close to tennis. The general rules of court access positions are the same as other courts - try to watch without being seen. The key thing is that you aren't supposed to show up on camera. This rule is pretty amusing since you are also forced to wear a bright orange vest. In the tennis I've watched since then, I can spot all the orange vests fairly quickly.

I saw Goldstein in Indian Wells, and now I am just convinced that he must like sliding around the court - the Kim Clijsters of the ATP. I swear he left more shoe marks than anyone else. I had heard from other volunteers that he was looking tired, but he did put quite a bit of effort in - and no one could believe how badly he choked after having the opportunity to close out some serious points.

The only good insider info that I have about this match is that Goldstein smashed up his racket after leaving the court. The court access volunteer job once the match is over is to make sure the stadium clears - and then we are free to go back to the volunteer trailer and check in with the co-chair. Then it is time to sprint to the shuttle and get a ride back to your hotel with the hottie driver (who sadly, does not speak english). Anyone want to help me with my spanish???