After months and months of planning and preparation the Centro Olimpico in Uberaba finally opened the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship on Sunday 19 July with an Opening Ceremony followed by a nail-biting one-goal win from the hosts Brazil against Japan in their Preliminary Group D match.

The venue on the outskirts of Uberaba city in the state of Minas Gerais, south-west Brazil, hosted a further 40 games, ending with the 30:20 victory for France over Romania in the quarter-finals late last night.

As the French and Romanian players left the court, volunteers who had been working for the past 10 days at the venue took part in an impromptu game of handball on the very court that those players had just played on.

Over 200 volunteers working in a variety of departments; media, transport, catering, field of play and many more made the event possible.

138 volunteers came through FUNEL Uberaba - the Foundation of Sport and Leisure in the local government, with 71 applying directly through the Brazilian Handball Federation website and Facebook adverts many months ago.

Whilst the majority of the volunteers came from Uberaba city itself, a handful came from towns and cities in Minas Gerais including Frutel, Sacramento, Araxá, Conceição das Alagoas, Alagoa and Campo Florido but one volunteer made the 2,000km flight from Manaus in the north-western Amazonas State to Uberaba to volunteer, staying with a friend in Uberaba.

Jacqueline Santos saw the advert on the Brazilian Handball Facebook link and applied because she loves handball, coaching junior teams in Manaus, having previously coached for IEFA Handebol in the city.

“I thought Brazil 2015 would be a very interesting experience,” said Santos ahead of the final game. “I was originally on transport, but with my language skills and my coaching background they gave me the opportunity to work inside the arena so I could watch handball - I work officially for eight hours, but then stay to watch the games.

“It has been great to see how handball around the world is faster than what I am used to. I have observed new tactics - for example Angola used two pivots to give the defence more trouble and they caused problems. 

“Even watching the players preparing before the game and during games, behind the bench, I have learnt something.”

Jacqueline assisted the media with her language skills, even conducting, translating and transcribing her very first interview with the Angolan Head Coach Filipe Cruz.

“When I was asked if I could help with interviews, I was nervous, but I then had to watch the match to learn what questions to ask - I learnt to watch handball in a different way - a better way. I started to see other possibilities in the game and how the coach sees the game.

“I really enjoyed interviewing him and if someone asked me to do it again, it would be good.”

Whilst the tournament in Uberlandia and Uberaba is helpful in preparations for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Jacqueline saw Brazil 2015 as an once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“To have the opportunity to go to Rio would be good,” she said, “but that is not why I was here - I have been practising my English and have made lots of friends, I just love handball, in Portuguese: passionante e amor.

“Brazil 2015 has helped me learn to love handball even more than I did before.”

Group picture: www.brazilhandball2015.com