Aside from purely enjoying being part of an event, the powerful experience really comes from helping a bunch of people overcome their fears or challenges, and getting active - be it nurturing some little kids to get started in what we know may be a life-long involvement in sport, or helping out at a beginners triathlon where more senior people with often powerful and deep motivations take their first brave steps into a more active life.
Whatever activity it is, volunteers don't just help out to fill in their day, they definitely get an internal sense of driving the greater good, and at the end of the day, we all want to make a difference.
At a more macro level, the people at Sport New Zealand and Sport Hawke's Bay play a similar role; there are people on the ground there doing great work, and not for the money - if they were driven by money, they would be somewhere else.
Sport New Zealand's approach to physical literacy development is a holistic one, and encourages the participant to take responsibility for engaging in physical activity and sport for life.
The Sport NZ four-pillared model seeks to develop physical, spiritual, cognitive, and the social and emotional components, ensuring the overall development of the individual is considered.
The Sport NZ framework is closely aligned to Sir Mason Durie's model for Maori health "te whare tapa whā", which specifically factors in whanau as a key driver for the social/emotional wellbeing.
Physical literacy therefore is far more than just the physical realm, and great examples of this are two programmes delivered by Junior Armstrong and his team at Sport Hawke's Bay - Physical Activity Leaders (PALS) within primary schools, and Growing Coaches within secondary schools.
As Armstrong says, the skills these kids learn in sport, can not only keep them healthy and out of trouble - but get them jobs.
The modern day job interview techniques are designed to unearth the real you - to dig into your life experiences, and as Armstrong explains "sport provides young people with the opportunity to develop their team-work, leadership skills, communication skills, confidence and problem solving skills".
So yes between us all, we can all contribute and make a difference, in our own way.
Last weekend I was down at the BMX track in Havelock North, and saw all this in action.
They were hosting a major event with competitors arriving from all around the North Island.
It was fantastic to see the volunteers out feverishly prepping the track between races, and the weather-beaten old man stuck in the starters gate box all day - all so the kids, and the seniors, could have a great safe day together out on the track (I sat in the shade, enjoying a couple of sausages and a coffee from the side-stalls).
Among all the participants there were a few particularly talented riders that were great to watch, inspiring the others into action.
Among them was our own Hawke's Bay girl Amy Martin, who cleaned up in four of the five senior women's races.
Amy is our region's best young rider, and very promising on the international BMX stage.
Amy is from a humble background, and she and her family have worked hard to scrimp and save the entirety of the funds, so she can head off to America this week, for a couple of weeks chasing her dream.
That dream to make the junior worlds next year, and one day maybe even be the next Sarah Walker, and inspire a whole new generation.
Just in case there is the perception that these emerging athletes are privileged in some way, they are not. It is an incredibly hard road to the top.
So if you're involved in a business, and looking for a local golden girl to help promote the beautiful Hawke's Bay brand - Amy's a perfect example, that great things do grow here ... just sayin'?
Marcus Agnew is the health and sport development manager at Hawke's Bay Community Fitness Centre Trust and is also a lecturer in sports science at EIT.
