Countdown to Commonwealth Games begins

THE countdown to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia begins on March 13 when the Queen’s Baton Relay will commence from Buckingham Palace in London, England.

From there, the baton will travel for 288 days through 70 nations before it arrives in the Australian host city.

The baton carries a personal message to the athletes of the Commonwealth from Queen Elizabeth II, on a journey from Buckingham Palace to the opening ceremony of the Games, where the message will be removed and read aloud by the Queen or a representative.

At a press conference at the Namibia National Olympic Committee on Thursday, the president of the NNOC Abner Xoagub said that thousands of athletes will carry the banner during its journey.

“The baton’s first port of call from London is Sierra Leone. During its global journey, thousands of baton bearers will carry the Queen’s baton over 230 000km as it makes its way through the six Commonwealth regions of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania,” he said.

Xoagub said the baton will arrive in Namibia on 27 April and that numerous activities are being planned to coincide with the event.

“Celebrations will take place on Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29. Namibians from all walks of life will have the opportunity to carry the baton during activities that include the relay and the Athletics National Championships of the Namibia School Sport Union,” he said.

“A fundraising gala dinner will also form part of the celebrations. The funds raised will be used to assist athletes and officials to attend the Youth Commonwealth Games from 23 to 29 July this year in the Bahamas,” he added.

As in the past, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) will be a primary partner of the NNOC for the Commonwealth Games and it’s Namibian representative, Micaela de Sousa said the relay would provide an opportunity to demonstrate the critical role that sport plays in the lives of children.

“This is where we come in as Unicef – to use the vehicle of sport to reignite the hopes of our young people for better education, better health and better protection. Unicef embraces the power of sport towards dismantling the economic and social barriers that affect children and young people in Namibia.”

According to De Sousa, the levels of teenage pregnancies in Namibia are high and stand at 19 percent, while the lack of knowledge of HIV and Aids is also high.

“This sad scenario is most pronounced among the females, with 62 percent of them lacking this critical information to protect and safeguard their lives and that of their partners, compared to 51 percent among the males,” she said.

She said that sport had made a big impact in the lives of young children in Namibia.

“Nearly a decade ago Unicef entered into partnership with the Namibia Football Association, whereby the NFA introduced and ran the Gala and Goals program. It is reassuring that today, more than 3 000 girls in eight regions have been reached by the program, influencing a positive refocus of their minds and attention towards healthy lifestyle choices both on and off the pitch,” she said.

“Some of the girls have earned themselves the enviable position of being in the women’s national football team, the Brave Gladiators, while some have been awarded sport scholarships abroad. It is such successes that convince us to continue supporting sports for development initiatives in Namibia,” she added.

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