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For spectators, a major sporting event is often measured in matches, atmosphere, star players and memorable moments.

For those working behind the scenes, the experience looks very different.

It is measured in schedules, accreditation zones, deliveries, volunteer shifts, radios, signage, meals, internet connections, towels, access routes, last-minute changes and hundreds of small decisions that most people will hopefully never notice.

For the second year in a row, we had the opportunity to be part of WTT Europe Smash in Malmö. This time, our main responsibility was operations at Baltiska Hallen and Stadion Sporthall, including the WTT Europe Youth Smash.

Looking back at two intense weeks, there are plenty of operational details to evaluate. But there are also some broader lessons that we think are relevant far beyond table tennis.

They say quite a lot about what it actually takes to deliver a major sporting event.

1. The best event operations are almost invisible

One of the strange things about working with event operations is that success often means that nobody notices your work.

Players should arrive at the right entrance without thinking about why the route works.

Volunteers should know where to go.

Officials should receive their meals.

The internet should simply work.

The right equipment should be in the right place.

Spectators should understand where they are allowed to go.

Training halls should be ready when players arrive.

And when something goes wrong, it should ideally be solved before it becomes someone else’s problem.

Our daily operations at Baltiska Hallen included everything from opening player entrances and preparing ticket scanners to distributing radios, delivering meals, restocking player and umpire areas, cleaning competition areas and managing the towel laundry process.
Later in the day, the same operation continued with cleaning courts, checking training areas, collecting towels and preparing equipment for the next session or the next day.

None of those tasks individually sounds particularly spectacular.

Together, they are the event.

That is probably one of our biggest reflections from working with major sporting events: the quality of an event is often determined by how well hundreds of very ordinary tasks are connected.

2. A checklist cannot compensate for unclear ownership

We had plans, meetings, schedules, instructions and checklists.

But one of the clearest lessons from the event was that documentation alone is not enough.

Someone must own every operational area.

During the event, there were situations where volunteer management was not structured clearly enough within individual areas, meaning central operations had to step in and help coordinate people. Volunteers also needed clearer information about who their contact person was and who to turn to when that person was unavailable.

This may sound like a small organisational detail, but at an event it creates a multiplier effect.

If ten volunteers are unsure who is responsible, they start asking other people. Those people interrupt someone else. Eventually relatively simple questions reach the venue management level.

The problem is therefore not necessarily a lack of people.

Sometimes it is a lack of ownership.

Our biggest organisational takeaway would therefore be to create an even clearer operational structure where every function has one responsible person and one deputy – whether that area is volunteers, Field of Play, accreditation, ticketing, security, IT, player services, logistics or catering.

Good event management is not about one person knowing everything.

It is about creating a structure where they do not have to.

3. Preparation is really about reducing the number of decisions you need to make during the event

Before Europe Smash, there were months of discussions about bump-in schedules, venue layouts, suppliers, equipment, massage beds, storage, transportation, competition areas and hundreds of other details.

Already in June, the planning included responsibilities for equipment requirements, forklifts and trucks during bump-in, kiosk solutions and venue materials. Different departments were also expected to identify their own needs for tables, chairs, printers, tools and other equipment.

Closer to the event, the questions became increasingly detailed: internet and power requirements at competition tables, player waiting areas, accreditation, venue layouts, deliveries and the responsibilities of different suppliers.

Yet once the event started, some things still had to be solved reactively.

Opening hours changed or needed clarification. Signage was missing. Storage needed better structure. Internet required intervention. Equipment and consumables had to be located or replenished.

That made me think about preparation slightly differently.

The purpose of planning is not to predict everything that will happen.

That is impossible.

The purpose is to remove as many unnecessary decisions as possible from the event itself.

If responsibilities, inventories, access zones, backup solutions, opening hours and communication channels are already clear, the event team can spend its energy solving the genuinely unexpected problems instead.

4. Small things become big things surprisingly quickly

Black tape.

Extension cables.

Printer toner.

Directional signs.

Cutlery.

Ice.

Towels.

At first glance, none of these would probably appear in a promotional video about working at an international sporting event.

But they matter.

Our post-event evaluation identified several recurring supplies that should have clearer minimum stock levels, storage locations, ownership and reorder procedures for future events.

This is another valuable event-management lesson.

There are very few “small things” once hundreds of people depend on the operation.

One missing cable can delay a technical setup.

Missing signage can create an access problem.

A missing meal delivery can affect someone who cannot leave their operational position for several hours.

An unstable internet connection can suddenly become one of the most important issues in the building.

The internet at Baltiska Hallen, for example, required intervention several times on the first competition day, highlighting the importance not only of testing critical infrastructure beforehand but also of having a documented backup solution.

The lesson is simple:

If something is operationally critical, you need both a plan and a Plan B.

5. Volunteers need leadership, not just instructions

Major sporting events simply would not happen without volunteers.

But recruiting volunteers is only the beginning.

They need information, leadership, context and someone who is available when questions arise.

Our security instructions, for example, covered several different positions across Stadion Sporthall, the player entrance, training hall, spectator entrance and Field of Play. The responsibilities ranged from accreditation control and player protection to ticket support and spectator management.

Giving someone a document describing those responsibilities is important.

But leadership starts after the document has been handed over.

Does the volunteer understand the role?

Do they know who their team leader is?

Do they know when they can take a break?

What happens if their replacement does not arrive?

Who makes a decision when something unexpected happens?

And perhaps most importantly: do they feel that they are part of the team rather than simply additional staffing?

Watching team leaders and volunteers solve problems, help each other and continue showing up with energy throughout long days was one of the most rewarding parts of the event.

6. Communication is infrastructure too

We often talk about event infrastructure as arenas, electricity, internet, transport and equipment.

We would add communication to that list.

Before the event, a large number of documents had to connect: bump-in schedules, venue layouts, competition schedules, access zones, player guides, event manuals and operational information.

During the event, that information had to become much simpler.

What happens today?

Who is responsible?

How many volunteers do we have?

What is missing?

What has changed?

What could become a problem?

Who needs to know?

One idea coming out of the evaluation is therefore incredibly simple: a short daily operations meeting before opening where every responsible person answers essentially four questions:

What is happening today?
What is missing?
What could become a problem?
What do you need from someone else?

Fifteen minutes of good communication can potentially prevent hours of reactive problem-solving later in the day.

7. You need structure – but you also need people who are willing to step outside it

This might sound contradictory after arguing for clearer responsibilities.

It isn’t.

The best events need both.

You need clearly defined roles so everyone understands their responsibility.

But major events are dynamic environments. Schedules change. Deliveries are late. Someone gets sick. Equipment disappears. A volunteer does not arrive. A player goes through the wrong door. Something that worked yesterday suddenly does not work today.

At those moments, “that’s not my responsibility” is rarely a useful answer.

And this is where the word that we have seen repeatedly in posts from people involved in Europe Smash becomes so important:

Teamwork.

Major sporting events are never delivered by one person, one department or even one organisation.

They are delivered by people constantly helping each other.

The structure creates stability.

The team creates resilience.

You need both.

8. The event starts long before the first match – and finishes long after the last point

One thing spectators rarely see is how much happens before competition begins.

Venue drawings need to become physical spaces. Deliveries need to arrive at the correct arena. Floors need to be installed. Tables need to be assembled. Technical infrastructure needs to work. Player flows need to be tested.

Only days before the event, for example, floor delivery was still identified as a critical issue while the team was also working through player flows and Mixed Zone access at Baltiska Hallen.
And when the final match ends, the work is not finished either.

Dismantling is effectively another event.

People, vehicles, suppliers, equipment and schedules suddenly need to move in the opposite direction – often under considerable time pressure.

That is why setup and dismantling should almost be treated as separate operational phases with their own staffing plans rather than extensions of competition-day operations. This was also one of the lessons identified in our evaluation.

9. Evaluate while you still remember how it felt

One thing we strongly believe in after these weeks is the importance of documenting problems while they are still fresh.

Not simply:

“The internet was bad.”

But:

What happened?

Why did it become a problem?

What was the consequence?

How did we solve it?

What should we do differently next time?

Who should own that improvement?

The evaluation from Baltiska Hallen therefore recommends turning observations into an actual action tracker rather than allowing them to remain in a post-event report.

That distinction matters.

An evaluation describes the past.

A good evaluation should improve the future.

What we will take with us from Europe Smash 2026

After two weeks of long days, quick decisions and constant problem-solving, our main reflection is not about any individual operational challenge.

It is about people and structure.

Great sporting events require both.

You need detailed planning, checklists, schedules, responsibilities and contingency plans.

But eventually every plan meets reality.

And when that happens, you need people who communicate, take responsibility, stay calm and help each other solve the problem in front of them.

Seeing Baltiska Hallen filled with players, spectators, officials and volunteers while the WTT Europe Youth Smash was running alongside one of the biggest table tennis events in the world made all those hours worthwhile.

There are certainly many things we can improve.

That is also part of working in events.

Every event becomes experience for the next one.

A huge thank you to everyone at Svenska Bordtennisförbundet, World Table Tennis and Malmö stad, and especially everyone who worked in and around Baltiska Hallen and Stadion Sporthall.

And an extra thank you to all the team leaders and volunteers.

Your commitment, flexibility and willingness to help each other demonstrated what event operations ultimately come down to.

People making things work together.

Europe Smash 2026 – completed. ✅

A little tired, a lot of lessons learned, and already looking forward to the next event challenge. 🏓