Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie has promised to deliver the best-ever edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games as organisers celebrate the One Year to Go milestone today.
The event, due to run from July 18 to 23, will be the first multi-sports competition to be held in the Caribbean nation, with around 1,300 athletes expected to compete for 94 medals.
Athletics, swimming, rugby sevens, road cycling, judo, boxing, tennis and beach soccer have all been confirmed on the programme and insidethegames understands beach volleyball will be included for the first time.
The decision to add the sport to the event is likely to be ratified in the near future by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).
Beach volleyball will also make its debut at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in 2018.
The CGF said they were “very pleased” following a recent inspection visit to The Bahamas, led by director of sport and International Federations relations Matt Curtain and Rachael Simon, the head of the Commonwealth Youth Games, and Christie is confident the seventh edition of the event will surpass those that have gone before in terms of success.
“We fully expect that these Commonwealth Youth Games will be the best yet,” he said.
CGF President Louise Martin, who played an integral role in the establishment of the Commonwealth Youth Games project, believes the Bahamas 2017 Organising Committee have made “great strides” in their progress to date.
The Scot also hailed the One Year to Go milestone as “an important moment in the journey towards the biggest sporting event The Bahamas has ever hosted”.
“With one year to go, it is wonderful to see the Local Organising Committee making great strides towards their ultimate goal of delivering an inspiring and inclusive Youth Games for the young athletes of the Commonwealth,” Martin said.
“It will be a unique and empowering opportunity to celebrate and engage young people on the level playing field of sport, and we all look forward to experiencing Bahamas 2017 this time next year.”
The majority of the events at next year’s Commonwealth Youth Games will be staged at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre, which includes the world-class 15,000-capacity Thomas A Robinson stadium.
The facility is due to host athletics and both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.
Beach soccer and beach volleyball are set to be held at the National Sports Centre, while road cycling will take place on the streets of New Providence, where capital city Nassau is located.