T&T will be the host of the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) for 2021 and it set a new bar for the Commonwealth Games in this modern era of sport movement in the region, David Grevemberg, the Commonwealth Games Federation's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said.
The CEO is here to ensure that a successful tournament is put on. Grevemberg who made an appearance at Wednesday's press conference held at the T&T Olympic Committee office in Port-of-Spain, for the T&T successful Pan American Games cycling team, which won three medals in Lima Peru, told Guardian Media Sports that he's here to work with the Local Organising Committee, to ensure that all the dreams, bids and promises of an outstanding Games become a reality.
The Commonwealth Games boss also made a visit to the National Cycling Centre (NCC) in Balmain, Couva, one of many top-class sporting facilities he has visited over the years and said, "I have had the opportunity over the years to see some great sporting facilities and this is one of the best Velodromes I can honestly say that I have seen, not only in North America and the region but certainly in the world. So there is no excuse why it shouldn't host a great event."
Grevemberg who admitted that he is also getting the opportunity to learn the culture of the T&T said, "The Commonwealth Games Youth Games has a track record of coming to small states and island states. So we came to Samoa in 2015 where we had an enormous swell of interests and enthusiasm from the communities and the citizens of Samoa. We then had a fantastic game in the Bahamas in 2017 and again, tremendously successful. T&T was there and they did tremendously well. And we know the warmth, the welcome, the excitement and also, there is a great Carnival atmosphere that T&T has by reputation, so we are confident the people will come out and enjoy this fantastic festival."
The Youth Commonwealth Games will feature 71 nations and territories, representing one-third of the world's population.
The commonwealth CEO explained that though T&T is a twin-island Republic he didn't foresee any major challenges, noting- "The important thing is understanding the scope and scale of what you're trying to do, so the purpose of this visit is to see what is on offer, what are our possibilities, where do we have challenges, where do we have opportunities."
He also added "The principle is that we're looking to make this manageable, we're looking to make this impactful, both locally and globally, and also from a regional perspective there is an enormous amount of support, an enormous amount of excitement within the Caribbean. I think T&T can set a new bar for the commonwealth youth games and that is something that will be fantastic to continue to put the commonwealth sports in the modern sports movement on track."
Grevemberg's team is set to be in T&T twice each year before the games are held.