By Geordie Moss:
Well it has officially been just over a month since Luke and I touched down in beautiful Nassau, and the time is already flying by! The past few weeks have been very hectic to say the least, as we’ve had two site visits from three different Commonwealth Games Association team representatives, a Technical Delegates workshop, a National Federations meeting, and a meeting from the Commonwealth Games Federation and the Project Review Team for the 2017 Bahamas Commonwealth Youth Games, which took place over the span of 5 days. Myself and Luke had the great pleasure of being a part of all the meetings and site visits, which allowed us to get ever more caught up to speed on where the Organizing Committee is at with the planning of the Games, as well as the remaining logistical components that need to be taken care of moving forward.
Press Release for the 2017 Bahamas CWYG (members include representatives from the OC, CGF and Project Review Team)
As mentioned, the meetings with the CGF and Project Review Team took place over the span of 5 days and lasted for most of the days (started at around 10 am each day and went until roughly 4 pm). The days were long and the meetings were extensive, but it was an amazing experience for the both of us as it truly exemplified the planning that goes into the hosting of a major multi-sport event. I kept reverting back to my days in SPMA 3P08 – Event Management with Professor Mallen and thinking those operational plans were extensive – little did I know that was just the tip of the iceberg with regards to the planning of a major sporting event! It also gave us a greater insight into the issues that may arise during the Games and the contingency planning required in order to manage those issues and potential risks – needless to say Professor Corbett would be very proud of their risk management policies!
The Local Organizing Committee sporting our new Team Australia hats!
Earlier in the month we hosted representatives from Team England and Team Wales for site visits of all the sporting facilities and accommodations that will be used during the Games, as well as giving the OC an opportunity to answer any questions or concerns their CGAs may have regarding the Games. As part of the CGA relations team, this provided myself and Luke an amazing opportunity to meet with the representatives we have already been in contact with since we begun working for the OC, as well as put a face to a respective (email) name! This past week we hosted two representatives from Team Australia for site visits and questions, and we will be hosting representatives from Team Scotland and Team Nigeria later this month and in early March.
On a personal note, I had the great pleasure of hosting my parents for a week in early February which was awesome. They rented a car and took us around the island to areas we either wanted to see but had not yet had the opportunity to visit or may not have had the opportunity to see as the buses did not travel there.
Doing my best impersonation of the 18-foot tall ‘Ocean Atlas’ sculpture at the Underwater Museum at Clifton Heritage Park
They also treated us to some of the local restaurants we were eager to try, and needless to say I’m falling in love with the local cuisine. My current favourite dish is the Conch Fritters (pronounced ‘Konk’) to start, the blackened Mahi Mahi with ‘peas and rice’ and coleslaw for the main, and the local delicacy Rum Cake for desert – with my preferred local beer ‘Kalik’ as a drink of course! My parents also took us to Clifton Heritage Park, home of the famous ‘Underwater Museum’. This was #1 on our bucket list of places to see as we are falling in love with snorkeling and the museum so happens to have an 18-foot tall sculpture of a woman seemingly holding up the sea. There are dozens of other submerged sculptures to see within this museum – all in the hopes of being transformed into artificial reefs to attract local families of fish and to preserve the natural reefs of damage from amateur snorkelers – but the ‘Ocean Atlas’ is by far the most breathtaking. We were also joined by hundreds of local families of fish, including Blue Tangs, Nassau Groupers, and Hogfishs.
Our time here is only going to get busier as we brace for more site visits from team representatives and Technical Delegates, but we are having more than enough fun in the sun and I am very excited for what’s ahead!
Until next time,
Geordie