‘Birmingham will deliver’
BIRMINGHAM 2022 is shaping up nicely despite the challenges it faced in formation.
That’s the opinion of Garry Collins, chef de mission and treasurer for the Guernsey Commonwealth Games Association, following last weekend’s Sport and Venue Programme announcement.
Collins toured the Games Village recently and felt that the organisers had dealt well with last year’s surprise withdrawal of initial host Durban.
‘The facilities on offer look really good – normally an organising committee gets seven years’ preparation time, but they have only four years due to South Africa withdrawing,’ he said.
‘All the sports they have selected are really there and the major upgrades are well in hand.
‘I am happy with what I have seen and the Games will be a great success.’
Among them, the Guernseyman welcomed a familiar venue for bowls, the sport in which he holds high office as the regional director for Europe.
‘The bowlers will to travel to Leamington Spa, which is a distance from the village, but the venue is well known to them,’ he said.
‘Even this year [it] hosted the British Championships, where Guernsey won the silver medal in the fours, so perhaps it’s good on that point whereas newly-built greens perhaps are not fully prepared or up to speed.’
Collins was also pleased to see the initially disregarded sport of shooting holding a ‘foot-in-door’ for Birmingham.
Both he and fellow GCGA representative Angela Stuart will travel to Cyprus next week for advanced discussion at the main European Group Meeting.
More on the Birmingham 2022 venues in Thursday's Guernsey Press.
