Benchmarking volunteer management strategies for Lahti Ski Games : practices from major events

Abstract

Lahti Ski Games, Finland's premier annual winter sports event, coordinates hundreds of volunteers across dozens of groups but currently misses a large pool of international students in the Lahti region due to limited integration of non‑Finnish speakers. The 2026 Lahti Ski Games, held in early March 2026, serve as the focal case for this thesis, while preparations already look ahead to the expanded requirements of the 2029 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. This gap in using international volunteers becomes critical as the event scales significantly toward 2029, requiring strategies to tap new volunteer resources without disrupting proven systems. Prior research on sports event volunteering has examined why people volunteer, how they are retained, and how large volunteer programs are coordinated, but has paid less attention to the everyday management question of how linguistically diverse volunteers can be integrated into predominantly local teams and how group leaders shape that integration in practice. Recent work on volunteers with disabilities similarly shows that inclusion requires intentional design of recruitment, preparation and on‑site support, rather than assuming that diverse volunteers can be absorbed into existing structures without adaptation.

The thesis applies a qualitative single‑case study design with benchmarking elements, combining literature on sport event volunteers and management practices with internal documents, a survey and interviews at Lahti Ski Games, and publicly available information from selected major European events. The analysis focuses on how the current Lahti system supports or hinders international volunteers and what practices from other events could be adapted.

The findings show that Lahti Ski Games already benefits from a robust digital platform and a stable network of 80-90 group leaders, but lacks visibility on which leaders are willing and able to lead non‑Finnish‑speaking volunteers. Benchmarking reveals that comparable events make leader roles visible, profile language skills and willingness, and invest in targeted onboarding for diverse volunteers. Based on these insights, the thesis proposes a practical playbook that introduces a simple leader readiness profile, light English‑language onboarding for international volunteers, and basic alumni tracking. These recommendations aim to enable low‑friction recruitment, placement and retention of international volunteers while building capacity for the expanded needs of 2029.