It's huge­ly sig­nif­i­cant in the con­text of Trinidad and To­ba­go's sports his­to­ry. Host­ing a mul­ti-sport event can be a pos­i­tive cat­a­lyst. We were en­trust­ed with the re­spon­si­bil­i­ty to de­vel­op and present the Trinidad and To­ba­go Com­mon­wealth Youth Games bid con­cept and vi­sion and why Trinidad and To­ba­go. To­day we use this col­umn to share our ideas and thoughts.

Why Trinidad and To­ba­go?

The Com­mon­wealth Youth Games has not been to the Caribbean and as the Games looks to com­plete its jour­ney around the Com­mon­wealth Games Fed­er­a­tion re­gions, Trinidad and To­ba­go is an ide­al des­ti­na­tion to host such an event.

Our rich his­to­ry, amaz­ing cul­ture, beau­ty and sport­ing her­itage will cap­ture the imag­i­na­tion of the youth of the Com­mon­wealth.

A small is­land na­tion with world-class fa­cil­i­ties and ath­letes. Trin­ba­go 2021 will cre­ate a wel­come like no oth­er. Trin­bag­o­ni­ans are sports en­thu­si­asts and will en­sure a vi­brant at­mos­phere that will live long in the mem­o­ries of the Com­mon­wealth Games fam­i­ly.

Trin­ba­go 2021 will en­gage, in­spire and unite the youth and young peo­ple of the Com­mon­wealth. The Ba­hamas host­ed the 2017 edi­tion of the Games but that na­tion is part of the Amer­i­c­as zone with­in the Com­mon­wealth Games or­gan­i­sa­tion.

*will give hope, dri­ve as­pi­ra­tion and demon­strate that the Com­mon­wealth is a glo­ri­ous place to be proud of and ex­plored.

*will have a lo­cal im­pact in terms of ad­dress­ing so­cial is­sues with young peo­ple, bring­ing about com­mu­ni­ty co­he­sion.

*will em­brace the is­sues that im­pact our youth and young peo­ple as a con­se­quence of the eco­nom­ic and so­cial chal­lenges.

*will bring hope and change for the youth and young peo­ple of Trinidad and To­ba­go.

*act as a cat­a­lyst for youth en­gage­ment, youth en­tre­pre­neur­ship and em­pow­er­ment

*the cel­e­bra­tion of Eman­ci­pa­tion will be part of the fab­ric of Trin­ba­go 2021

Vi­sion and Con­cept

To use the Com­mon­wealth Youth Games (CYG) to in­spire youth en­gage­ment, em­pow­er­ment and en­tre­pre­neur­ship in sport. It will serve as a cat­a­lyst to mo­bilise Trinidad and To­ba­go's po­ten­tial as A Glob­al Hub for Sports Busi­ness and Tourism. This aligns with the vi­sion of the Com­mon­wealth Youth Games of in­spir­ing and en­gag­ing up to 1000 of the Com­mon­wealth finest youth ath­letes in a fes­ti­val of Sport, De­vel­op­ment and Glob­al friend­ship.

Trin­ba­go 2021 will be trans­for­ma­tive, holis­tic and cause peo­ple to re­think how the games can be de­liv­ered. Trin­ba­go2021 in­tends to leave a lega­cy of youth and young peo­ple en­gage­ment, em­pow­er­ment and en­tre­pre­neur­ship.

Trinidad and To­ba­go has a his­to­ry of host­ing cul­tur­al, en­ter­tain­ment and sports events with sup­port from both the pri­vate and pub­lic in­dus­tries. It will be the first ever mul­ti-sport event host­ed by the twin is­land Re­pub­lic and the key suc­cess of the Games will be the re­la­tion­ship de­vel­oped with the pub­lic and pri­vate sec­tors.

The de­ci­sion is now in the hands of the Com­mon­wealth Games Fed­er­a­tion Ex­ec­u­tive Board. Who will host the Com­mon­wealth Youth Games in 2021? The wait for the de­ci­sion be­gins.

Ed­i­tor's note:

Bri­an Lewis, the pres­i­dent of T&T Olympic Com­mit­tee (TTOC),the au­thor of this col­umn de­cid­ed to fea­ture - Chanelle Young, Rheeza Grant and Kwanieze John, the trio who pre­sent­ed T&T's bid to host the 2021 Com­mon­wealth Youth Games (CYG).