The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH just five months to go, Commonwealth Games Federation Director Matthew Curtain said he’s satisfied that the Local Organising Committee is where they need to be to host the sixth edition of the Bahamas Commonwealth Youth Games.

And BCYG’s managing director Rommel Knowles promised Curtain and the visiting delegates that the Bahamas will put on the best ever games – commonly referred to as the ‘Friendly Games’ - when it’s held July 19-23.

The youth games for boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 18 will mark the first time in 50 years that the Caribbean will host a Commonwealth Games event, coming off the Empire Games that was staged in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1966.

This is also the first multiple games that the Bahamas has hosted.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson said the games come when the Bahamas will welcome the world to the greatest sporting year ever held in the Bahamas with the games being just one of the many major international events that will take place.

“The purpose of these games is for us to demonstrate that although we are a small group of islands, that we can be the number one sporting tourist destination on the planet,” Johnson said.

“This is to demonstrate to our young people all around the Commonwealth that there is a better way and this is that better way. We look forward to athletes from over 70 countries to come here and to give their best.”

On Monday, the visiting delegates wrapped up a five-day trip to the Bahamas to conduct a site inspection and provide any further instructions for the LOC in their preparation for the games that will feature more than 1,000 athletes from over 70 countries in nine disciplines.

“We are pleased so far with the progress by the Local Organising Committee,” Curtain said. “It’s not a criticism, but the nature of the event, but at this point and time, you are right where you need to be at this time.”

Curtain, who hails from Australia where he’s served in a number of capacities as a sports administrator, praised the level of cooperation that they have received from Minister Johnson, Bahamas Olympic Committee president Wellington Miller and secretary general Knowles, who serves as the managing director.

Curtain said they are here to ensure that everything is in place as they forged towards July when the athletes will compete inAthletics, Aquatics (Swimming), Beach Soccer, Boxing, Cycling (Road), Judo, Rugby Sevens, Tennis and Beach Volleyball. It will be the first time Judo, Beach Soccer and Beach Volleyball will be included in the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Knowles said when they decided to take up the mantel after Saint Lucia, who was awarded the original bid, was unable to carry out its commitment, they have proven so far that the games are “in the right place at the right time.”

He recalled how they begin the process of getting their team together once they got the approval of the Bahamas Government through Minister Johnson and Prime Minister Perry Christie.

“We’ve had our ups and we’ve had our downs, but this is the first time that the Bahamas will be hosting a multi-sporting event and I can assure you that these will be the best Commonwealth Games ever held,” Knowles said.

He publicly thanked Grafton Ifill Jr, who played an integral role in the organizing of the games from the day they put their tender to bid and he has continued to ensure that the work is getting done.

Likewise, he also commended Drumeco Archer, the secretary general of the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations and Cora Hepburn, a vice president of the BOC, who have both assisted in the operation of the LOC.

Keith Joseph, known as the voice of Carifta from St Vincent & The Grenadines, said the Bahamas has always had great organizations and leaders, who have stepped up to the plate from former BOC president Arlington Butler to former BAAA’s president Dr Bernard Nottage.

And coupled with the success of the Bahamian athletes from the Golden Girls women’s 4 x 100m relay team to the Golden Knights men’s 4 x 400m team, Joseph said the Bahamas has held its own in the region and indeed around the world in terms of sports.

With just about a year and a half ago when many people threw their hands up in the air after St Lucia pulled out of hosting the games, Joseph said they were quite relieved when the Bahamas put in a bid with Glasgow and Sri Lanka and was eventually granted permission.

“I believe it was because of your courage and your commitment to sports that you were awarded the bid to host the Bahamas,” Joseph said. “In everything you have done in sports, you have always aspired to excellence and we are proud of your tradition.”

Joseph said although they have been here from time to time, they are leaving this time with more confidence that the Bahamas will live up to that commitment to hosting a successful games.

“The young athletes of the Caribbean are looking up to you,” Joseph stressed. “Your place in history is indeed remarkable.”

Miller said they appreciate the Bahamas being in the spotlight as the host of the sixth edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games and he assured the rest of the Commonwealth that while they have accomplished a lot, they would make sure that the games are indeed a success.

“The Bahamas is taking the games as if it’s our very own personally,” he insisted. “The Bahamian people are depending us and the 70 countries in the Commonwealth are depending on us and we will deliver the kind of games that everybody will be proud of.”

In 2000, the Commonwealth Games Federation, headed by president Louise Martin of Scortland, hosted the first Commonwealth Youth Games in Edinburgh. The second games was in 2004 in Bendigo, Australia. It went to Pune, India for the third edition in 2008 and The Isle of Man hosted the 2011 with the 5th edition in Samoa in 2015.