I don't rock at sports but I am fanatical about watching it live or on television. It does not matter if it is soccer, badminton, table tennis, volleyball or even wrestling.

That is why I am the perfect candidate to volunteer for the Asian Youth Games (AYG).

Plus, I like meeting people from other countries and the idea of giving back to the community.

At the games, volunteers will be needed to help serve the guests from other countries as well as help with ticketing or ushering. Volunteers are also to be present during the games in case the athletes or other visitors need help.

It did not take me long to sign up with a friend through the AYG website.

We then received an e-mail about the training session. Right now, however, we do not yet know what our specific duties will be.

The Asian Youth Games are the first sporting competition for Asian youth between the ages of 14 and 17. There will be 90 events from 10 different disciplines, such as swimming, beach volleyball and table tennis.

From June 29 to July 7, some 1,100 athletes from more than 30 countries will come here to take part in the games.

All volunteers had to attend training sessions two Saturdays ago. I showed up at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in Ang Mo Kio with 200 other people aged 15 to 50.

We went through a three-hour long session where we learnt the philosophy behind and the importance of service, and the skills we will need in communication and etiquette.

Ms Magdalene Lee, who teaches service excellence and cultural diversity at the ITE, gave us pointers on frontline service skills as many of us will be taking care of overseas visitors and will need to be able to tackle sticky situations.

She taught us how to handle such situations in the most mature way possible: Do not interrupt a frustrated person, acknowledge his feelings and attempt possible solutions. Most important, always smile.

I learnt that good service means having the right mindset, being able to present yourself well, communicate effectively and think on your feet in a challenging situation.

As a school prefect, I get to put these frontline service skills to use since we do have to handle impatient, angry, talkative and immature individuals. So I am getting practice! I am also trying to pick up some language skills from the foreign students in my school who come from countries such as Japan and Korea.

My aim is to make our visitors feel as welcome as possible and be a positive ambassador for Singapore.

Marissa Yeo, 15, is a Secondary 3 student at Tanjong Katong Girls' School and a member of the IN Crowd 2009.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.