The day has come when we put on our FIFA uniforms, get on local metro, and head out to the Fan Fest for our first shift. We got our roles in April, trained inside, picked up our uniforms and trained in our venue. We are the Fan Fest hosts, meaning we work at the daily party in front of the stadium (5 mins from it) at Centennial Park) and make fans happy!

By now we have our uniform—4 very bright shirts, pants, shorts, sneakers, a fanny pack, a hat, 3 pairs of socks, some deodorant, and a jacket. No one will be able to miss us as we stick out!

Our shift

We meet at the GA Congress Center, where we get a bracelet to enter the park. We get randomly assigned jobs, and we took the registration desk, not fully understanding what we were doing. Mostly, we wanted to be in shade (33C) and feel a bit helpful. Some of the other jobs sounded a little too boring or a bit too excited – I couldn’t see myself cheering and laughing all day while taking people’s pictures with an “I peach Atlanta” or a soccer ball. And Mia tells me I barely know how to use my iPhone, which is not far from the truth.

We are posted under a tent right by the entry, and our job is to help people with any ticket issues – tickets to the Fan Festival, not the soccer games. What this really is, as the tickets or registrations are free, is teaching people how to use their phone – ala scan QR code, register, add it to wallet, and find it again. It’s shocking how many people don’t know how to do some of these steps. But then you realize you live in a complete tech bubble, as some people don’t use email, don’t have roaming (international folks), have accessibility issues, or never set up their digital wallets. It actually felt really good to help on the spot and see the results – big difference from the corporate job, where things take so long and you hardly see much happening at the individual level. It also tests your patience and self control, for sure, as you always find people who are nasty and testy. But overall – the energy was so positive, everyone excited to be part of this event.

Our shifts are 6 hours, and it is hot. We have a volunteer center right next to us with an infinite supply of water and AC, but breaks are 30 mins, where a breaker (also a role) comes to switch you out. First day and I was spent – 6 hours on my feet in 33°C was a lot to take, given my daily sedentary job. We get a $35/day DoorDash credit, but it’s hard to get delivery in this mess with thousands of people (on average there would be about 15-20K people coming in). So we leave it for dinner at home and feast. We like our registration shifts, so do it 5 more times. Since we completed our 6 shifts requirement, we even get a beach towel, pins, a speaker, and a cold towel as a token of appreciation. No clue what I am going to do with all the uniform stuff, so if anyone would like a shirt, let me know.

We see a LOT of very excited fans—the Cape Verdeans win the prize here for the amazing energy, music, and outfits, but honestly, all the fans were super fun and in great spirits. The Saudis for the nonchalant questions as to where did their government set up the free ticket giveaway (sign me up), the Brazilians for the festive music everytime, the all the African nations for amazing attire every time, and the Europeans for the questions on what is happening in the US and non existing public transport.

The Czech / South Africa game

Czechs are not known for fotbal but somehow, last minute, we made it into the tournament. And we were going to play in Atlanta – if that is not a sign? So I bought 2 tickets for me and Mia which were actually quite reasonable but complicated to buy – as a resale, it all has to go through the FIFA portal, which was a nightmare. Then, about a month before, I was asked if I could help with the Czech fan management, which I really didn’t know what it meant—managing fans? I said yes and waited. The night before, the 6 of us local Czechs doing it, got shorts and a shirt with the Czech emblem and were put in various places around the stadium to help the Czechs navigate the monster of the Mercedes-Benz, its security, etc. We then got to go and sit in the 2nd row of the game and watch it (no spoiler: we didn’t win). B, Mia, and Lucas and his girlfriend got to go too because – and this is amazing – a stranger emailed the Czech school that he bought the tickets months ago hoping his team would be there and isn’t going to make it down to GA – so would we take the 4 tickets and use them? Wow, great seats and for free!! I gave my 2 to a Czech friend and took the 4 for the family :-).

Overall, a super unique experience on all fronts, enjoy some pictures.