How to project manage a (mostly) volunteer-run international games

Over the past two decades, England has become renowned for delivering outstanding international sporting events – including the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, Rugby Union and Rugby League World Cups, the UCI Combined World Championships, and Men’s and Women’s Cricket World Cups.

The logistical challenges of such events are well known. The organising committees are hosting teams and supporters from across the globe, managing broadcast and media commitments and ensuring that sponsors and spectators have a memorable in-stadium experience.

Now imagine the same challenges, but in a condensed timeframe of a year, where 90% of the workforce are volunteers and the event is 70% larger than its immediate predecessor. Not only that, but as well as planning for an international event, you must also continue your business-as-usual domestic events and growth strategy in parallel.

This was the challenge facing the management of the England Touch Association (ETA), which delivered the 10th Federation of International Touch World Cup in Nottingham from 15–21 July.

Delivering for those who take part

Touch rugby is a distinct code of rugby. Teams of six have six touches in which to score a try; if they do not score, then possession is awarded to the opposition. It is a minimal contact sport, which opens it up to having men’s, women’s and mixed teams.

Touch rugby’s simplicity and inclusive nature has seen it expand in popularity exponentially both domestically and internationally, something reflected in the 2024 World Cup’s statistics:

189 teams
39 nations
around 4,000 players, referees, coaches and support staff
around 1,000 matches over seven days at two venues
13 categories, all the way up to over-55s
more women’s teams than ever before
around 250 volunteers
around 5,000 spectators expected

Fortunately, Chris Simon, ETA Chief Executive and Event Director, has honed the project management skills required to deliver the World Cup with years of successful mass participation sporting events, including with his own company, Perfect Motion.

“There are many similarities between the World Cup and other customer events I have organised,” he explains. “Everyone is paying to have an event put on for them; they have a choice to be there or not. It is not like a global event where you are delivering for paying spectators, sponsors and commercial partners. Players in Nottingham will be performing at an elite level, but they are doing so having spent lots of money to do so.

“We are delivering for those who take part, but ensuring we deliver social impact for the city, environmental and sustainable impact, and commercial impact for the ETA and Federation of International Touch, otherwise it’s not worth us delivering at all.

“Having worked on events since 2006 – multiple Tours of Britain, International Triathlon and Volleyball – along with our own events at Perfect Motion, we have adopted a robust, thorough and detailed approach to project management.”

Breaking it down into projects and programmes

“As the scale of this year’s World Cup increased from an initial estimate of 140 teams up to more than 200 initial expressions of interest, we had to scale up our operations to take into account multiple playing venues, a transport plan and multiple accommodation areas – all much greater logistical challenges than our previous international events.

“I tend to break my work down into programmes and individual projects. Each key area – e.g. venues, transport, stakeholder communications, marketing, etc. – has a project plan. But whereas with Perfect Motion we had a team of employees delivering before, during and post-event, this time it started with just me, although we have had to invest in additional staff in recent months.

“Staffing is key, and fortunately we have a group of experienced volunteer operators who have successfully delivered multiple European Touch Championships and an Atlantic Youth Touch Cup (AYTC). As well as this core group, we have around 250 event volunteers, who have been an essential addition.

“Accommodating the time constraints of volunteers, who also deliver elsewhere in the organisation, is a massive challenge, as are the multiple time periods where volunteers are also balancing their commitments to the World Cup and their own national touch organisation.

“Had we not done the Euros or AYTC, we wouldn’t be as confident in our abilities as we are today. We know how the core operations function and have fantastic relationships, especially with the University of Nottingham. So we fully expect the 2024 World Cup to be the most memorable ever.”

Find out more about touch rugby and the 2024 World Cup.