CANOC commends organisers of Commonwealth Youth Games

President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) Keith Joseph, on behalf of his organisation, has expressed gratitude to all who made the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games(CYG) a success.

The CYG took place in Trinidad and Tobago August 4 to 11.

“The Commonwealth Games Association of Trinidad and Tobago, its executive past and present, and the government and people of the nation, all deserve our commendations and congratulations for hosting CYG 2023 under trying circumstances… The experience has been enabling and ennobling, for us, the peoples of the Caribbean,” Joseph, a Vincentian expounded via CANOC’s newsletter.

Joseph added, “There were kudos everywhere for what proved to be yet another legacy-filled edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games and a fitting finale of Games under the stewardship of retiring President of the CGF, Dame Louise Martin”.

Joseph noted that Martin, in her capacity, carried “the mantle of leadership since 2015, and taken the organisation through remarkably challenging times with a flair and confidence that has assured the organisation’s membership that there is in place a very rich legacy of transformative development, keeping pace with the challenges of the times while positively impacting them”.

Joseph however intimated that the TRINBAGO2023, as the Games were called, were not without their attendant challenges.

“The participants, especially the athletes, will forever have as their legacy, the bonds of friendship they forged over the brief period together, youths of the Commonwealth, fully immersed in friendly rivalry, creating history that will impact generations as yet unborn, and the fond memories of a genuinely Caribbean culture made manifest through sport”.

As the Commonwealth Games Federation seeks out the next hosts for the next two editions of the CYG in 2026 and 2030, Joseph revealed, “ the one challenge for the CGF regarding the CYG’s future, is whether to have them held biennially or quadrennially, a very good place to be in at this juncture”.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was among the 71 countries that contested the CYG in three disciplines – Athletics, Fast5 Netball and Swimming.

Seventeen athletes between 17 and 19 years old, accompanied by seven officials represented St Vincent and the Grenadines.