Commonwealth Youth Games
Ottawa, Ontario | November 24, 2014
After extensive consideration, Bowls Canada Boulingrin has made the decision to not participate in the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa scheduled for September 2015.
Information regarding participation in these Games was distributed in late October. With teams needing to be named by May 2015, it was clear that the the ability to run a meaningful selection event was going to exceed the capacity of the organization. Bowls Canada is not alone in this decision as to date there has been limited participation commitments by the other Canadian sports on the schedule for 2015.
Unfortunately, the Commonwealth Youth Games does not have the same amount of funding as the Commonwealth Games and is 100% funded by the NSOs. With a final price tag estimated to approach $25,000 for a team of four athletes and one staff, this initiative exceeds Bowls Canada’s financial capacity. Further, an investigation led by Bowls Canada President Ian Tyzzer did not result in the required volume of interest amongst age eligible athletes who were also able to self-fund.
Bowls Canada is aware that it must invest in youth development. Attending international competitions such as the Commonwealth Youth Games must be built into a development plan and a pool of athletes developed with the potential to successfully compete in the international arena. Given our limited resources, it is imperative that the programming is strategic — balancing the quantity of youth reached with the quality of the development experience.
First steps have been initiated towards creating a youth development program this past summer with the attendance of a representative of the high performance program at the 2014 Junior and U25 Championships to identify up and coming talents. The Bowls Canada High Performance Committee will be discussing a strategic and sustainable approach to moving youth development forward at their program review meeting on November 27th, 2014.
Should you have any further questions on the Commonwealth Youth Games, please contact:
Anna Mees
Executive Director, Bowls Canada Boulingrin
amees@bowlscanada.com
