The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALL 70 countries registered in the Commonwealth made a commitment to attend the sixth Commonwealth Youth Games in July 2017, making it the first time in 50 years that a Commonwealth Games event will be staged in the Caribbean.

The countries were a part of the meeting held on Friday in Edmonton, Canada where Bahamas Olympic Committee president Wellington Miller and vice president Roy Colebrooke gave a report on the progress of the Bahamas Commonwealth Games Association in preparation for the games.

The last time that an event was held in the Caribbean was in 1966 when the Commonwealth Games was staged in Kingston, Jamaica.

“All 70 countries have confirmed that they will be attending and they are all excited that they will be coming here,” Miller said. “From all indications, it appears as if this is going to be the largest games that has ever been held in the Commonwealth Youth Games.

“The Bahamas Commonwealth Games Association has gone all out to make sure that we covered all areas of concerns and they were quite pleased with our presentation to them, so it looks as if we will have a very successful games next year.”

Miller said the BCGA is hoping to make the games a standard for all of the Commonwealth Youth Games to follow in the future.

“We are ready and a lot of the countries have told us that they are going to make it a family affair when they come down here,” Miller said. “They are bringing their families to enjoy the Bahamas a week before or some will stay a week after.”

When they began their initial preparation, Miller said there was a small group of four persons who had indicated to him that they are coming.

He said the numbers in the group have now been swelled to 28 and they expect it to increase even more with their family and friends coming down.

“It appears that everybody wants to use this time to come to the Bahamas either on a vacation or to see the Bahamas,” Miller said.

“I believe that the Bahamas has a good name out there and people just want to see us.

“The rest of the Commonwealth wants to come to the Bahamas. We have had inquiries from all over the world. This is going to be a tremendous time for us in the Bahamas next year. We are really looking forward to it.”

There are expected to be seven sporting disciplines contested during the games, one of which is rugby for boys and girls, which according to Miller, is already the biggest subscribed by the Commonwealth.

“The Oceania countries indicated to us that rugby is their main sport and they are happy that rugby is a part of the games,” Miller said.

“So the Bahamas should benefit from these countries coming here and playing the sport at such a high level.”

Although the Bahamas was experiencing the passage of Hurricane Matthew during the same time that the meeting was held, Miller said the countries have all expressed their concerns for the Bahamas.

But Miller said from all indications, there was no major damage to the facilities that they will be using for the games, so they are going full steam ahead with the planning for next year.

The games, geared towards boys and girls between the ages of  14 and 18, are scheduled to run from July 19-23 and will feature competition in athletics, beach soccer, boxing, road cycling, judo, rugby 7s, swimming and tennis.

The Commonwealth Youth Games got started in 2000 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The second edition was held in Bendigo, Australia in 2004.

That was followed in Pune, India in 2008 and then in the Isle of Man in 2011 with the last one held in Samoa in 2015.