Pedro waving the Barbados flag from Qatar World Cup Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

There is an adage which says, “you can find a Bajan anywhere”, and this winter in Qatar at the 2022 FIFA World Cup(TM), you will find sports enthusiast and Black Rock, St Michael resident, Pedro McClean.

McClean has been selected from among 500,000 applicants to be an international volunteer for the biggest show on the sports calendar.

The avid Manchester United and Empire Sports Club fan said he was initially doing research to attend the FIFA World Cup(TM) as a spectator but came across information which requested competent personnel to assist at the tournament in Qatar.

“I’m looking forward to meeting people to be honest, and it is the FIFA World Cup(TM). This is the largest sporting event in the world and the stadium I am registered to will be hosting the final”

“Originally, I was looking for tickets for the games and one of the sections marked volunteer, so I clicked on it, found out what was the procedure, and it was basically a step-by-step process of seven steps.

You had to be fully vaccinated for sure, have some sort of experience and after they read your application, you had to do an interview, which was done in June,” McClean explained.

McClean was deemed the ideal candidate due to his domestic and international experience.

Firstly, as a Concacaf licensed coach, an active member of the Empire Sports Club technical team, and most significantly his tenure in a similar volunteer position at the International University Sports Federation (FISU) games in both Mexico and Taiwan in 2017.

“During my internship, I had worked with the social media team (of FISU), and I was an attach? responsible for team China and it wasn’t even a familiar sport to me, it was actually American football”.

McClean emphasized that one important thing his experiences has taught him, is to always be prepared.

McClean commutes via train to rehearsals ahead of the start of the tournament

“I try to do a lot more research when I get involved. Before I went to Taiwan, I even went and learn a bit of Chinese at UWI every week.

“Mexico was a bit shaky because I didn’t know what I was doing until I got there and then I did a bit of everything, even announcing sometimes”, said McClean.

The Sports Management graduate lauded tutors Marcia Oxley and Dr June Caddle for their tutelage and guidance, which he believes has equipped him for this life-changing experience in the Middle East.

A socialite in the sporting industry, McClean said he is looking forward to experiencing new relationships the most, during his tenure in Qatar. This is his highlight, even though he is deployed to the largest stadium of the tournament; the Lusail Iconic Stadium, which has a capacity of 80,000 and will be the venue for the tournament final.

“I’m looking forward to meeting people to be honest, and it is the.This is the FIFA World Cup(TM) largest sporting event in the world and the stadium I am registered to will be hosting the final. I will be working with spectator services, basically making sure that all spectators are comfortable, and anything relating to the fans.”

According to McClean’s knowledge, he is the only representative Barbados who will be at the World Cup in this capacity, and he believes it due to a lack of information.

“I believe the majority of the time, it’s not knowing.

I did tell a few persons when I found out that I will be doing it and I tried to encourage them, but sometimes people aren’t ready to take that leap of faith”, he said.

McClean advised persons who are sports fanatics like himself and want to contribute to sports at a global level, while enjoying the experience, to do their research, trust the process, have faith, just make that first step.

NewsAmericasNow.com