Behind the scenes – Sandrine Pfister – HR manager/Refreshment & bar

This year, as the TGI approach, you will find each week the presentation of a sector responsible for the preparation of the tournament. This week, Sandrine Pfister, one of the main strategists of the event, describes her task throughout the preparation for the tournament and during the tournament itself.

Interview done by Grégoire Hürlimann

Could you present yourself?
My partner told me about this sport 6 years ago. Then, tchoukball quickly took an increasingly important part in my life. Today, I am involved at 100%.

What is your actual function in the Tchoukball Geneva Indoors?
Today I am principally responsible for the human resources and the volunteers. I also take care of the refreshment bar and the administration.

How long have you been in this role?
I have been in this role for four years.

What is your job before, during, and after the tournament?
Before the tournament, I take care of recruiting volunteers for the TGI via internet platforms such as Swiss Volunteers and Genève Bénévolat. Concerning the refreshment stand, I plan the food stocks according to the potential number of participants and spectators.

Then I create all the schedules with the different tasks of the volunteers according to their sector.

During the tournament, it is then up to me to welcome the volunteers, show them their area and help them get their bearings.

For the refreshment stand, I buy the stocks and manage the deliveries. On site, I control the cash register, make the sandwiches and coordinate the meals.

And finally, after the tournament, I do all the accounts for the bookkeeping, and I take stock of the volunteer sectors.

What are the challenges, the key moments of your function?
The main challenge is that, as you have seen, I have a lot of things to do at the same time, and it is sometimes difficult to manage to do everything and to have my head everywhere. However, this part can be simplified if my planning and the coordination of all the people involved in each sector are well done.

What other sectors do you collaborate with to carry out your work?
I work with several sectors, including the reception of the people, security, communication and the equipment sales stand.

Have you ever had a particular, stressful or touching situation that you would like to share?
We had a stressful situation as we ran out of food on a Sunday lunchtime, but most people had not yet eaten. It is very difficult to plan the stocks for this kind of event because you have to avoid having too much stock because it is then lost, but then you run the risk of running out of food. The behaviour of the consumers is never the same each year.

What is your best memory of the Geneva Indoors?
For me, it’s the night tchouk with the raclette in 2019

The TGI 2021 are approaching quite fast. After a forced break last year, what moments are you particularly looking forward to for this edition?
I’m looking forward to meeting again with the volunteers and, of course, to the 2021 night tchouk.