Sitting in one of the stands at the El Campín stadium in Bogotá, Karen and Paola are cracking up at one of Miguel’s jokes. The Romero siblings are thoroughly enjoying the experience of volunteering together at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024.

This is a unique case among the 800 volunteers at the tournament. The obvious question is, how did it come about?

“It was Karen’s idea. She came up with the plan,” confirms Paola, the oldest of the siblings at 32. She goes on to add: “She’s always loved football, like us, and last year she signed up to be a volunteer at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia & New Zealand 2023, but the opportunity never presented itself. Then she got an email asking her if she wanted to be a volunteer at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024 and, well, here we are.”

Karen, 27, describes what first made her apply to be a volunteer at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™. “I studied fashion marketing, so I’m interested in events, how they’re organised behind the scenes. I wanted to know how a World Cup was organised, and we wanted to give it a go.”

Convincing them to join her was not difficult, admits Miguel, 25. “She just said to us one day, ‘registrations are open’, sent us the link and well, the rest is history.”

The Romero siblings’ love for football began when they were growing up in their home city of Villavicencio, which is around 110 kilometres away from Bogotá. Their true love and passion was for the Colombian national team, but they also grew up supporting Club Llaneros.

Paola was the one who played football the most. “I played all the time when I was at school. I even played for the school team. Miguel played a bit as well, but Karen never really got involved. Still, she loves watching football.”

During the World Cup in Colombia, volunteers are providing support in 16 functional areas, carrying out 21 different roles, be it in stadiums, in the official hotels, at the training grounds or at the various airports.

The three Romero siblings, who are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to volunteer at such an iconic event, each carry out their own individual role at El Campín.

“My role is in Competition Management. We make sure the changing rooms, both for the players and for the referees, have everything they need. We prepare the stadium in terms of getting the flags and balls ready, basically everything that goes on behind the scenes before a match so that everything runs smoothly and the teams have what they need,” says Miguel, who studied a Master’s Degree in Performing Arts.

“Mine is in Media Operations and Services. We look after the press, making sure they’re where they need to be, making sure they have the line-ups, ensuring that everything is set up and good to go in the press area. We basically take care of everything they might need,” says Karen.

Paola, who studied Business Administration, has a less operational role, but a very important role nonetheless. “My role is in safeguarding. I’m in charge of making sure all the rights and values are respected, both on and off the pitch, with the volunteers and everyone else involved. In essence, my job is to make sure everything is happening as it should be.”

All three siblings are clear about how important this World Cup is for women’s football in the country, but they also believe it is an opportunity for Colombia to show the rest of the world what they can offer. Similarly, they do not hesitate to talk about what they like most about being a volunteer.

“The best thing is having the opportunity to meet so many different people from all over the world, to meet the players and see what they’re really like as people, not just what you see on television,” says Miguel.

Karen also talks about the cultural enrichment benefits. “We all love meeting new people from other countries and it’s great to be able to enjoy the event together.”

Paola believes there is even more to it than just the cultural aspect. She also highlights the benefits of seeing what goes on behind the scenes in the run-up to a World Cup tournament. “It’s amazing to be able to experience something as incredible as this, something that you’d only normally see on television. Here we see absolutely everything that goes on behind the scenes that most people would never even think about.”