With approximately 13 months to go before the start of the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games, the CGF flag was hoisted by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) in charge of the games at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium on Thursday.
The sixth edition of the games will be held July 19-23, 2017, in New Providence, and will be the largest sporting event ever hosted on Bahamian soil. Over 1,200 athletes from 71 countries in the Commonwealth of Nations are expected to participate in the multi-sport event. Six sports are proposed to be contested, including: swimming, judo, boxing, athletics (track and field), rugby sevens and tennis. This year will mark the first time that judo will be contested at the Youth Games. Beach soccer could also be contested, but that decision is still pending.
Along with the flag hoisting, The LOC also held a press conference, formally mounting its operations, marketing and promotional campaign for the much anticipated games.
Speakers at the event included Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Hon. Dr. Daniel Johnson, Bahamas Olympic Committee president Wellington Miller, CYG LOC Managing Director Romell Knowles, Deputy Managing Director of the LOC Grafton Ifill, Marketing and Community outreach projects leader Drumeco Archer and Deputy Managing Director of the LOC Lynden Maycock.
The conference came on the heels of the Commonwealth Games Federation Regional Meeting, which was held on April 22-24, where the LOC provided a formal report to member federations within the Caribbean and the Americas. This event marked the unveiling of the games logo, which was unveiled to the Bahamian public on Thursday.
