With about two months to go before the start of the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) here in The Bahamas, members of the games' local organizing committee (LOC), on Friday night, assured the various participating local member federations that the country is on stream to host a successful, well-organized event in the coming weeks.
The CYG Bahamas 2017 is set for July 17-24 on New Providence, and will be the largest multi-sport event to ever be hosted in The Bahamas. It will also be the largest edition of the youth games to date, with up to 1,300 athletes ages 14 to 18 set to compete.
According to CYG Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Romell Knowles, the plans for the games are on stream with the deadlines they have in place. He said that the public can expect to see a grand show come July. He added that the games would be held under the theme "Who's next?", with the hopes that the nation's next big sports stars would emerge during the competition.
"An event like this, with multiple events going on at the same time, is the first of its undertaking here in The Bahamas," he said. "We are trying to use these sports as a catalyst to motivate our inner city. We are asking our member federations to also take up programs in the inner city, where we know we have a great deal of talent. Some of the social challenges we face, we feel that sports can help us to make that turnaround we need to as a people. I'm excited to be the CEO of these games. At the conclusion of these games, we will prove that The Bahamas is indeed open for sports, and that we can host any kind of event."
CYG Managing Director Drumeco Archer said that, although things have been going as planned up to this point, the support of corporate Bahamas is still needed to help things run smoothly as the games approaches.
"We had quite a number of exciting sporting events that have already taken place this year, but the biggest event of all will take place in July," he said. "We are appealing to every single Bahamian to be a part of this movement. We are hoping that we can fill the stadium for every sport out there.
"We are appealing to corporate Bahamas. This can only work if they get involved. The banks, the gas stations, and the mom and pop shops. We need everyone. We are pleased to announce that BTC is our title sponsor. We have several other tiers of sponsorship available, which include the Royal Partner, the Windsor Partner and the Commonwealth Partner."
Coordinated by the Bahamas Commonwealth Games Association (BCGA) and The Bahamas Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, the nation's first-ever international multi-sport event will see 94 medals events contested across athletics, aquatics (swimming), beach soccer, cycling (road), judo, rugby sevens, tennis, beach volleyball and boxing.
It will be the first time judo, beach soccer and beach volleyball will be contested at the Commonwealth Youth Games.
Local sporting federations are expected to submit their final CYG 2017 rosters by the middle of June.

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