The thought of organising a major international sports event with all the associated issues, problems and crises is enough to give anyone cold sweats. Imagine organising two!
But that is exactly what Laura Macchiotti is doing. First, she will be heading to Tacarigua in Trinidad and Tobago for the women’s Junior Pan American Hockey Championships before heading over to Canada and Toronto for the men’s event. Laura is the competition co-ordinator for PAHF (Pan American Hockey Federation) and, as such, the buck really stops with her. So how does she cope with the pressure?
For the Argentinian, it is all about being prepared: “Plan in advance, think about all possible scenarios, imagine all the issues you might have and always have a Plan B. At the same time, don’t panic, you will work out how to solve the problem, just be prepared to look at things from a different angle.”
When it comes to events such as this, Laura likes to keep the team around her compact but focused. This is as much from necessity as principle – PAHF is a small organization, with a few people fulfilling a lot of roles. Building an efficient team is one of her golden ‘must-do’ rules and, for the two forthcoming events, it has been no different.
“We have to work hard back to back with our committees and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC),” she says. “Julio Neves, PAHF Managing Director, is the one leading the bid process and is responsible for signing the agreements with the hosts. On site, I work with the LOC on logistics and, of course, I do most of the planning with the Tournament Director and Umpire Manager quite in advance by email.
“Communications officers are always of great help, mainly when it comes to setting the stage beforehand. They work under the guidance of Yan Huckendubler, Chair of our Communications Panel. And, last but not least, is the PAHF president, Coco [Alberto Budeisky].”
She laughs as she says: “I sometimes burn his head, I can be pretty intense sometimes when it comes to the details. I might go to Coco with requests to help the host, an official or a team with their particular needs. He is always very supportive and our small group works pretty well.”
It may surprise people to learn just how far in advance planning for events such as the Junior Pan American Hockey Championships actually starts. PAHF’s objective is to begin the bidding process two years ahead of the event. Once the bidding group makes recommendations for a host nation and agreements are signed, PAHF, led by Laura, will start working with representatives of the LOC.
The first step is a pre-tournament visit. Here, Laura will go through a check list with the host about everything that is necessary for the tournament to both run smoothly, but also meet PAHF and International Hockey Federation (FIH) standards. The check list is a document that Laura will return to time and again both in the run-up to and during the event itself.
While the Pan Am Hockey Championships are sport-specific events, Laura has also been involved in many multi-sport events, such as the Pan American Games, Central America and
Caribbean Games, ODESUR (South America) and the Central American Games.
As she explains, these events are very important to PAHF member nations as they are a chance for the national hockey associations to demonstrate to their National Olympic Committees just how much progress they are making in the sport.
Whether it is a single sport event or a multi-sport event, there are many complex layers involved in setting standards under which tournaments operate. “The organizers of the games will work in conjunction with PAHF to produce a technical manual, two years before the games, which will serve as the rules and regulations for the event. This manual is prepared under FIH Tournament Regulations, plus the organizing body regulations. This is not an easy task, as sometimes some of the regulations clash. But finally, after a number of meetings and many emails and phone calls, Skype meetings, and WhatsApp communications, we come to an agreement. The biggest driver is to get the best conditions for our athletes.”
Once the host nation is chosen and the rules are in place, it is time for the tournament officials to be selected. This usually happens six months before the start of an event. Some nominations are made by FIH and some proposals come from PAHF, depending on the tournament. Laura is Secretary of the Appointments Committee, meaning she is the link between the Competitions Committee, who nominates the judges, the Umpiring Committee, who are responsible for nominating the umpires, the chairs of the Communications and Medical panels, and the Appointments Committee.
A final list of nominees is drawn up, which Laura then sends to FIH for approval. Then, she says, comes the best part of the job. “Once the list is approved, I am the one sending out the letters to officials. This is the best part, they get back to me so happy.”
Laura’s own experience of managing events is long and varied. She says it is impossible to pick a single event because they are all special and rewarding in their own way. However, she says that the development tournament in Central America was one event she was particularly proud of. “This tournament has a big load of work as countries are "learning" how to deliver an event that includes not only the competition but also umpiring and technical courses. This is all done with limited resources and experience. But it is rewarding to share the athletes’ and officials’ joy at being "the important part” of an international event, for the first time ever.”
She also cites the recent Pan American Games in Toronto, albeit for totally different reasons. “The Games in Toronto were absolutely awesome. It was a beautiful location, thousands of volunteers helping you all around the city, many of our hockey people working very hard to achieve excellence, you could breathe high performance hockey everywhere. And the Rio Olympics... What can I say.... Can you think of anything better than being there? I will never forget this big opportunity PAHF is giving me. [Laura will be administrative coordinator for hockey at the 2016 Games]”
Talking about the challenges she faces in her current role, Laura says: “For me, the real challenge is to get the countries to the tournaments. In many cases, governments, or the responsible organization, approve the budget for a country’s participation in a tournament. However, this budget may not arrive on time or it may never arrive at all. This is really bad in three ways: it is heartbreaking for the athletes who have trained hard for the tournament; it is tough on the national association that has to fight for the funds but still fails to go to the competition; and it makes things very difficult for the host and the other participating teams as a team not turning up causes many problems in the organization of the event.”
That said, Laura loves a challenge and responds well to stress. She laughs as she says the biggest obstacle she faces is her own drive for perfection. “I’m a resilient woman,” she adds. “I overcome frustration and go for another challenge. My head is always full of ideas, I’m proactive and I certainly do not wait for work to come to me, I go out and look for it. To be honest, the pressure is great, things only become tough for me when it is too slow.”
And, if things do get a little crazy, Laura knows she has a team around her who will step up. “I don't get stressed very easily but sharing with the other officials makes my life happy. We have some crazy people working in the communications side, they make me laugh a lot. It is really important that you enjoy your work!”
