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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Site Inspection Team for the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is pictured during a recent courtesy call with Dame Marguerite Pindling, Governor General. From left: Romell K. Knowles, Bahamas CGA Secretary General; Wellington Miller, Bahamas CGA President; Louise Martin CBE, Commonwealth Games Federation President; Dame Marguerite; Hon. Dr. Daniel Johnson MP, Minister of Youth, Sports & Culture; Rachel Simon, CYG Co-ordinator; Grafton Ifill Jr. MYSC consultant.
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Gibraltar (January 29) -- The Bahamas has been awarded the 2017 edition of the Commonwealth Youth
Games, it was announced today, aiming to unite 1000 young athletes aged
14-18 in a Caribbean carnival of impactful competition, personal
development and new Commonwealth friendships.
The 6th
edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games will take place from 19-23 July
2017 in the nation’s capital, Nassau and seven sports are proposed:
Aquatics (Swimming), Athletics (Track and Field), Boxing, Cycling
(Road), Judo, Rugby Sevens and Tennis. It will be the first time Judo
has been presented at a Commonwealth Youth Games.
As part of the Federation’s commitment to partner and support peaceful,
sustainable and prosperous Commonwealth communities, it will be the
second edition of the Youth Games to be held on a Small Island
Developing State, following the hugely successful Samoa 2015
Commonwealth Youth Games in September last year. It will also be the
first Commonwealth Games event to be held in the Caribbean for over 50
years, with Commonwealth athletes last participating in the 1966
Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.
Speaking after the CGF’s Executive Board meeting in Gibraltar,
Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin CBE
said: “It gives me the greatest pleasure to announce that the Executive
Board of the Commonwealth Games Federation has unanimously voted to
award the upcoming edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games to the
Bahamas.
The Commonwealth Youth Games are a unique and empowering opportunity to
celebrate and engage young people on the level playing field of sport. I
congratulate and commend the Bahamas Bid Committee for their passion,
commitment and expertise and look forward to helping realise their dream
of an impactful and inspiring Games for the Bahamas, the Caribbean and
the Commonwealth.”
Almost all events will be held in the same sporting precinct, the Queen
Elizabeth Sports Centre, which includes the world-class 15,000-seat
Thomas A Robinson stadium, host to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies
and Athletics. The sporting action will also reach out to the
communities and streets of the island, with the Cycling competition to
be held on the streets of New Providence.
With just over 500 days to go to the Opening Ceremony, the Youth Games
partners across the Bahamas plan to draw on their experiences
successfully coordinating the 2014 and 2015 IAAF World Relay
Championships. The island is also a former host of CHOGM (1985) and the
most recent Commonwealth Education Ministers Meeting (2015).
CGF VISITS THE BAHAMAS – Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie, centre, welcomed Commonwealth Games Federation officials in a courtesy call on Wednesday, January 13, at the Office of the Prime Minister. Pictured from left are: Paul Major; Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture the Hon. Dr. Daniel Johnson; Commonwealth Games Federation Head of Youth Games Rachel Simon; Prime Minister Christie; President of Commonwealth Games Federation Louise Martin; President of Bahamas Olympic Committee Wellington Miller; and Minister of Tourism the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe. (BIS Photo/Kemuel Stubbs)
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Welcoming the announcement,
Bahamas Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) Secretary General Romell K. Knowles said:
“We jubilantly thank the executives and members of the Commonwealth
Games Federation for the confidence placed in our country by the award
of the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games to The Bahamas. We also thank the
CGA of St. Lucia, who first had the vision to bring the Games to the
Caribbean. Additionally, The Bahamas CGA expresses enthusiastic
solidarity with our Caribbean brothers and sisters in the regional
Commonwealth Games Associations as we will all be hosts to our fellow
athletes and officials from across the Commonwealth.
“On behalf of The Bahamas CGA President Wellington Miller, I especially
thank the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie MP, Prime Minister of The Bahamas,
the Hon. Dr. Daniel Johnson MP and Minister of Youth, Sports &
Culture and the Hon. Obie Wilchcombe MP, Minister of Tourism for the
solid executive and moral support and technical advice that they and The
Bahamas administration provided during the bidding process.
“The 6th
edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games is by far the largest sporting
event ever undertaken by The Bahamas as a host and we look forward to
presenting the best Commonwealth Youth Games ever.
“Having been awarded these Games, thousands of young Commonwealth
athletes will now be inspired to compete in the sport of their choice in
the hope of representing their country at these prestigious Games.
Everyone wants to come to The Bahamas.”
The Bahamas is a Caribbean archipelago of 700 islands spread across
100,000 square miles, of which 30 are inhabited by a population of under
400,000. It is located around 50 miles off the coast of Florida. In
addition to the sporting action, the VIth
Commonwealth Youth Games promises a rich, colourful and diverse
cultural and Commonwealth celebration, inspired by the islands’
world-famous carnival parades which acknowledge and recognise the
Commonwealth diaspora and emancipation of former African slaves in a
vibrant musical celebration.
Following today’s decision, the Commonwealth Games Association of the
Bahamas and its Government partners have been mandated to constitute an
Organising Committee to deliver the Games coordination and begin
preparations with the 71 participating nations and territories. The
Commonwealth Games flag and ceremonial Quaich, the special gift that has
been entrusted to each Commonwealth Youth Games host since the
inaugural Youth Games in Edinburgh in 2000, will be handed over to the
Bahamas at a special ceremony at the Commonwealth Games Federation’s
General Assembly in October later this year.
© Copyright 2016 by thebahamasweekly.com
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