Special Olympics Volunteer Diary - Day 8

It's the last day of competition at Loughlinstown today, so there's a real carnival atmosphere amongst the staff. It's amazing how well the team has gelled on so little acquaintance with each other.

My morning is relatively free, so I finally get going with another major feature of the games - pin (badge) swapping. I strike a hard bargain with Mooza from the Bahrain team and also acquire a pin from one of the twin Ukrainian* players. Saleh, the Bahrain coach also gives me a t-shirt as thanks for looking after the team and to say "goodbye". However, the end of the day's play brings a further surprise - Bahrain will play Ireland 1 for a bronze medal at the National Basketball Arena on Saturday. I quickly get myself re-assigned to Tallaght* so that I can stay with the team for their game and the awards ceremony. We also finally get our tickets for the closing ceremony on Sunday. Everyone based at Loughlinstown will be sitting together at Croke Park - it should be a great party!

* = another Dublin suburb, it also turns out to be 2 bus rides away from my digs

Click here for Day 9.