Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Olympic volunteer
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This time, she hit one out of the park, across the big water, and all the way to the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Although Dr. Glenna Bower, a longtime recreational softball player, won’t be competing in women’s fast pitch softball at the games, her knowledge of the sport earned her a spot as a volunteer field crew assistant at the Olympic Softball Stadium in the Helliniko Olympic Complex. “It’s an honor to be able to do it,” said University of Southern Indiana’s assistant director of Recreation, Fitness, and Wellness. “The experience I’m going to get, the networking, and the opportunity, it’s unbelievable.” Bower, who earned a Ph.D. in May at University of Louisville, will leave August 2 for her three-week stint as a volunteer in Greece. As a field crew assistant, she will chalk/paint the batter’s boxes, water and rake the fields, tend the dugouts, and monitor infield safety issues. “We’re responsible for the playing field, which is a 4,800-spectator competition field, and two practice fields,” she explained. The crew, comprised of 15 other volunteers, includes Dr. Mary Hums, who was Bower’s advisor and dissertation chair at University of Louisville. U of L has a Sports Administration Program in Greece, where Gianna Riga, one of Hums’ students, is the softball staff services supervisor for the Olympics. To secure her spot, Bower ’95 completed an online volunteer application, two paper applications, and three telephone interviews, including one with Riga, whom she met in Greece two years ago while working on her Ph.D. “The class was Current Trends in Sport,” Bower said. “With Greece preparing for the Olympics, it was ideal.” During her previous trip, Bower ran in the Panathenaic Stadium, built for the first Olympic Games of modern times in 1896. She also visited the Acropolis and the Parthenon as well many other historic sites. When she has a break from volunteering, this time she hopes to visit other Olympic venues and facilities. Bower began writing an autoethnography, a first-person account of a particular cultural experience, July 1. The project will detail her Olympic adventures, and she hopes it will evolve as a presentation or publication. When she returns August 24, she will begin serving the University in a new capacity, assistant professor of physical education. In addition to a Ph.D., Bower holds an M.A. in physical education with emphasis on adult fitness from Indiana State University and a B.S. in physical education from USI, where she was a mainstay in the women’s basketball and cross country programs. |
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