With an abundance of premier tennis facilities at their disposal
and two collegiate powerhouse tennis programs to support, UCLA
students already have a lot to be excited about when it comes to
tennis on campus.
But the opportunity to volunteer at the Mercedes-Benz Cup gives
students a tennis experience that is seldom found elsewhere.
The Mercedes-Benz Cup relies on over 400 volunteer workers, many
of which are UCLA students, to help run the nine-day tournament.
Students can work in a variety of different ways that include
ushering, scorekeeping, providing U.S. Tennis Association
information to spectators, and working at the will call and ticket
offices.
Volunteers must attend an orientation session either one or two
days before the tournament begins and must work a minimum of three
five-hour shifts throughout the tournament.
“The matches start at 7 in the morning and sometimes
don’t end until midnight,” Mercedes-Benz Cup volunteer
coordinator Randy Trost said. “It takes a lot of bodies to
fill all of the hours.”
According to Chirag Patel, a third-year UCLA student who is
volunteering as an usher for the second year in a row, the work
environment is terrific.
“It’s a really social, interactive
environment,” Patel said. “It is good to meet so many
new people.”
While there is no pay for students or anyone else wanting to
volunteer at the Mercedes-Benz Cup, the work is not without its
perks. Volunteers get sweatshirts, hats, T-shirts, and sneakers for
their time. In addition, for each shift that a volunteer works, the
volunteer gets one ticket to give away to friends and family to
come watch the tournament.
For many, however, the biggest advantage of being a volunteer
worker is simply being able to watch first-rate professional tennis
at an up close and personal level.
“(The volunteers) love watching tennis,” Trost said.
“It doesn’t even matter who is playing.”
And with blooming stars like Marty Fish, Taylor Dent, and Tommy
Haas playing alongside well-established pros, all of the matches
are very likely to exhibit the highest quality of tennis. The
opportunity to be watching these matches so closely is what
attracted Shamir Hasan, a third-year UCLA student, to volunteer as
an usher for the first time this year.
“It is pretty cool being really close to a couple of pros
on the court hitting the ball as hard as they can,” Hasan
said.
While the work provides volunteers with perks and opportunities,
the work itself still has some hardships that come with it. Along
with the sometimes difficult task of getting fans to settle down in
between games and points within a match, volunteers working as
ushers at matches have to deal with the summer midday heat.
“Working the day shift in the heat can be tough,”
Patel said. “It gets really draining sometimes.”
Despite the hindrances, the quality of the tennis and the
opportunity to take part in a professional tournament is why so
many student volunteers, who work hard hours in the hot sun with no
pay, are so enthusiastic and eager to work.
“It is one thing to watch the matches from a distance, but
(working as a volunteer) gives you the opportunity to actually be
involved in them,” Hasan said. “That is pretty
cool.”