A Busy Few Months for Team Wales

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It’s been a busy few months behind the scenes for Team Wales, with plans and preparations for Glasgow 2014 now in full swing and the host city elections for the 2018 Games. 

But before I go on to talk about what’s next for Team Wales I want to take this opportunity to congratulate and thank each and every athlete, coach and team manager that did us so proud out at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man, back in September. Coming home with 26 medals from 31 athletes is no mean feat and everybody involved should be extremely proud of what we achieved.

So, what’s been happening since then? I have just returned from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly, where I was elected as the Regional Vice President for Europe, which in essence means that I will now sit on the Commonwealth Games board. It is going to be an exciting and challenging role, and one that is great for Wales.

It will involve me chairing the European group of countries at our meetings throughout the year and working with most of those countries to address and try and find solutions for common issues, for example smaller countries aren’t able to compete in team sports because of their size. We’ll look at ways of addressing these kinds of problems, whilst also increasing the levels of cooperation between countries in and outside of Europe.

Glasgow 2014 is now just two and a half years away and preparations have really stepped up a gear. As part of the CGF Coordination Commission for Glasgow 2014, I’m part of a group that monitors the progress of the organising committee. The first meeting was held in October and there are great signs of progress in venue construction and a very strong partnership developing between the Scottish Government, Glasgow Council and Glasgow 2014 which will help deliver a fantastic Games.

After each Commonwealth Games the CGF reviews the sports programme and decisions were made and debated at the General Assembly. Wales have been heavily involved in the process, which started late last year, and many of our ideas were accepted for 2018 onwards and some may even come in for Glasgow. Women’s rugby and boxing, open water swimming and triathlon relay will join the programme in the future.

And of course the decision as to who will hold the Games in 2018 was also made. We’re delighted that the Games have been awarded to the Gold Coast; it will provide a fantastic opportunity for athletes.

We have a pretty exciting few years ahead of us with the challenge of four Games in four years.

• Glasgow 2014
• Samoa Commonwealth Youth Games 2015
• St Lucia Commonwealth Youth Games 2017
• Gold Coast 2018

It doesn’t get much better than that!

Chris Jenkins

Chief Executive

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