The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN preparation for the Commonwealth Youth Games, the Bahamas Commonwealth Games Association will host the first Americans and Regional Meeting this weekend as the event takes on its own brand heading into the hosting next year in the Bahamas.

Australia, who are hosting the next Commonwealth Games, will also be among the 30 delegates expected to participate in the meeting that will be held at the SuperClubs Breezes as the 2022 vision is launched when the two sessions get underway at 9am on Saturday and Sunday.

“The Commonwealth Games wants to brand itself and we have a vision called 2022 vision. We are hoping that the president (Louise Martin from Scotland) and her executive team got together and brought this vision,” said Wellington Miller, president of the Bahamas Olympic Committee.

“The Commonwealth Games is the second largest games next to the Olympic Games with 71 countries. Many of our top athletes who have won medals are from the Commonwealth countries. So we want to re-band ourselves because we figure that we are a very large games and we have the potential to attract our top athletes.’

By the time the 2022 Commonwealth Games are held in Durban, South Africa, Miller said it’s their hope that the top athletes in the Commonwealth Games will be participating in the event.

Miller said the Commonwealth Games, which is the second largest games held in the world, has not been able to consistently attract a lot of the top athletes because there are no incentives as given to the athletes at the IAAF World Championships, accordding to Miller.

“We have to face reality. It’s a living for the athletes,” Miller said. “The president and her team will resolve that problem by 2022 so that they can have that same type of spotlight as the Olympic Games. The Commonwealth Games is a huge games.”

As for the meeting this weekend, Miller said it’s very important for the way forward because a lot of the decisions will be made here,” he said. “The Bahamas’ name will be involved in the decision making. We have all of the leading sporting personalities in the region coming here for the meeting.

“We look forward to a good meeting and a very historic meeting. We want to make our dent in sports and in the history of the Commonwealth. So we are very excited to have the meeting held here in the Bahamas.”

On Sunday, Miller said the delegates will be given a tour of all of the facilities that will be used for the hosting of the Commonwealth Youth Games next year.

“The Bahamas is ready for this Bahamas Youth Commonwealth Games 2017,” he said. “The progress is moving. It’s now on wheels and really moving forward. I think over the next two months or so, you will really see great movement with the Commonwealth Youth Games.

“The good thing about it is that we don’t have to build anything (stadium). All we have to do is repair and renovate, so it makes it much easier for us to host the Commonwealth Youth Games. You might not see all of these big buildings going up and all these trucks running up and down. Our stuff is in renovations.”

During the meeting, the Bahamas will be presented with the quaich from the Commonwealth Games. The quaich is a commemorative symbol of the Commonwealth Youth Games and was the initiative of the organisers of the inaugural Games in Scotland in 2000.

Donated by the City of Edinburgh, the quaich is a two-handed silver cup sitting 13 centimetres high and 18cm wide - with a rich heritage in Scotland - that is passed on from one host to the next at the closing ceremony.

The last Commonwealth Youth Games was held in Samoa in 2015.

After the games are finished next year, Miller said it will be passed on to Northern Ireland, host of the next Commonwealth Youth Games.

Miller said based on early projections, the Bahamas Commonwealth Youth Games is expected to attract representation from all 71 countries as they compete in athletics (track and field), boxing, cycling (road), judo, rugby sevens and tennis. It will be the first time that judo will be a part of the games. There is also the possibility that beach soccer will be included.

Just about all of the activities are set to be staged in the Queen Elizabeth Sports Center where the opening and closing ceremonies will be staged in the new 15,000-seat Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

The youth-games will be the first Commonwealth Games event to be held in the Caribbean since the 1966 Commonwealth Games was staged in Kingston, Jamaica.