Haymitch is District 12's mentor. He is responsible for getting the tributes sponsor while they are in the games. He will campaign to get them things they might need in the arena to survive. He plays an even more important role in this book because he helps break some of the tributes out of the arena . The reason they want these certain tributes out of the arena is so they can start a rebellion against the Capitol. The tributes that aligned themselves with Katniss and Peeta were there to protect them until it was time to break them out.  Before the Hunger Games started Finnick and Haymitch created a way for Finnick to give Haymitch information while Finnick was in the games. This way Haymitch was able to get everything together before they were ready to break them out.