Campus organizers of the first-ever West Coast AAU Junior Olympic Games have posted the "help wanted" notice for the dozens of volunteers needed to host the games this summer at UC Davis and in the surrounding area.

In addition, organizers are reaching out to the community for support in the form of in-kind sponsorships to help make the event a success.

The games are expected to attract an estimated 2,500 young athletes from across the nation, mostly 8 to 14 years old, along with their coaches and families. An updated schedule calls for competition in nine sports at venues on campus and throughout the communities of Davis and Woodland.

The six-day event, scheduled for June 28-July 3, will offer these sports: baseball, boys and girls basketball, diving, football, golf, field hockey, jump rope, and juniors and high school wrestling.

Jennifer Totman of Campus Events and Visitor Services said volunteers are needed to do everything from help register teams and athletes to staff a concierge desk, provide hospitality assistance, sell merchandise and assist with the actual games.

In addition, many volunteers are needed to help supervise the Athlete Village that will be set up on the Hutchison intramural field. The unique gathering spot, now scheduled to be open July 1-2, from 2 to 9 p.m., will offer stage performances, activities, food, inflatable games, music and other entertainment.

More information about the Athlete Village is available at http://www.wcaaujrogames.org.

Already, Dr. Brian Davis of the UC Davis Medical Center has volunteered to organize and help schedule and supervise all medical personnel needed for the games.

Anyone interested in volunteering or helping to sponsor the games is asked to contact Totman on campus at aauvolunteers@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-8030.

Organizers also are putting out the call for teams and individual athletes who want to sign up to compete in the games. They are asked to go to http://www.wcaaujrogames.org, and select the appropriate sport. This will take you to the sport-specific page, where entry packets, information and forms are available to download.

The Amateur Athletic Union is one of the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit, volunteer sports organizations. The AAU is billing this summer's event at UC Davis as the "1st Annual West Coast AAU Junior Olympic Games," with the hope that a West Coast competition will continue for years to come.

When AAU officials came to campus last November to announce the games, they said they had selected UC Davis and the surrounding area to host the event because they wanted a community that would be safe for young people, and they were particularly interested in a university setting.