The volunteers were endless at the 2008 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championship, and many were students with aspirations to get involved with events like the world championship, held in Calgary from January 7th to 12th.

AJ Smith, a 19-year-old broadcast student at Mount Royal College (MRC), stood for hours with a camera on her shoulder, capturing game action for live webcasts that were seen around the world.

“It was really well put on,” Smith said of the event. “It was really neat how young all the teams that come from all over the world are.”

Smith got her webcasting gig through classmates in her program at MRC. “Some of my friends (do webcasts for) the (Calgary) Royals’ games and they were asked to do the U18 games and they needed more people.”

Smith’s classmate, Kari Siegfried, 23, is one of the MRC broadcast students who helps with Royals games on a regular basis. Hockey Canada has a partnership with the broadcasting program at the college, allowing for second-year students to gain some experience.

When it came time for the U18 Women’s Worlds, Siegfried was approached by Hockey Canada to get involved doing some colour commentary.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “With it being the first-ever world championship, it was really cool to be a part of something that is going to be a part of history.”