Dear Editor,
For one to know how the Commonwealth Youth Games came about, you must first understand the story of the Commonwealth Games.
After 30 years of talks among Commonwealth nations, it was Bobby Robinson, a major influence in athletics (Canada) who was the main figure that actually had the event implemented.
The Commonwealth Games is referred to as the ‘Friendly Games’ and it was in 1930 in Hamilton, Canada that they began with 400 athletes that participated in 6 sports and 59 events. Thirty thousand dollars was provided by the city of Hamilton to help offset the travelling costs of participating nations.
The games have been conducted every four years since 1930 with the exception of 1942 and 1946 due to the war and to date, the name has changed four times. There were only single competition games from 1930-1994 and it was at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games that team sports were introduced, namely, cricket (50 overs), hockey (men and women), netball (women) and rugby 7s (men). The latter three disciplines were continued during the 2002 and 2006 Manchester and Melbourne Games, respectively and basketball made its debut at the 2006 games. Hockey, netball and rugby 7s will continue at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.
A limited number of full medal events for elite athletes with disabilities (EAD) were introduced at the 2002 Manchester Games and continued at Melbourne in 2006 with participation in athletics, swimming, table tennis and power lifting.
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in 2000 had the Commonwealth Youth Games introduced for athletes under the age of 18 years. The inaugural games were held in Edinburgh 2000 (Great Britain). Bendigo, (Australia) hosted the 2004 games and Pune, India, will host the 2008 Games which is just a matter of days from now.
The Isle of Man has been identified as the next host for the Youth Games in 2011 and on the other hand, Glasgow, Scotland, will host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Television coverage of the Youth Games from October 12-18 by one or more channels with the support of sponsorship from the business community would be an ideal gift for family viewing.
Yours faithfully,
T. Pemberton
