Signed, sealed, delivered.
Yesterday the three significant entities for the hosting of the Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games signed the official host-city agreement.
At the National Aquatic Centre in Balmain, Couva, Dame Louise Martin, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) president, Dianne Henderson, Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) and Trinidad and Tobago Commonwealth Games Association (TTCGA) president, and Shamfa Cudjoe, Minister of Sport and Community Development (MSCD) signed on the dotted line to render this country as the official hosts of the Trinbago 2023 event.
It was done in the presence of other CGF officials and representatives from the nine sporting disciplines that will form the gamut of athletics tournaments involved in the CYG.
Dame Louise Martin said the CGF was absolutely delighted that T&T will be hosting the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) this time next year, after the cancellation of the planned 2021 event.
“It was heartbreaking for us that we needed to postpone the 2021 event due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we never gave up on our commitment to hosting this event in this magical country,” said Martin.
“This twin-island country will showcase the very best of a youthful Caribbean and Commonwealth sport to the rest of the world, not just the Commonwealth.”
T&T will be staging the seventh edition of these Games after the inception of the first CYG in Scotland in 2000, followed by hosting in Australia, India, the Isle of Man, Samoa and the last edition in the Bahamas in 2017
Martin thanked the TTCGA and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for all the support given over the last few years .
“This country is second to none in its culture of festivals and carnivals…. We do some of it but we just say sport is just the beginning.
The CYG in 2023 will be an opportunity for athletes administrators of the Commonwealth to not only participate but experience the cultural richness of the Caribbean.
This will be a life-changing moment for them, an event where many records will be broken, lifetime friendships formed and many memories made. I am told you party well here and this is going to be a big one.”
Henderson thanked the trio of young women -Chanelle Young, Kwanieze John and Rheeza Grant, under the guidance of the former TTOC president Brian Lewis – whose proposal gained the nod for this country’s successful hosting bid.
“The objective remains the same: changing lives for the better! It is our belief that the people of Trinidad and Tobago will be positively impacted through the engagement of sport and the activities with our youth and young people. There will be many opportunities for involvement for all,” Henderson said.
She added that through the CYG Trinbago 2023, the vision as it was in 2019 should inspire the empowerment and entrepreneurship of young people and others.
She said further: “With just under one year to go, we look forward to healthy collaboration with the members of the TTCGA and healthy deliberations with Gabre Mc Tair from the Ministry of Sport and SPORTT respectively.”
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