Preparations gaining momentum

Preparations for three main events are fast gaining momentum in the administration corridors of the Malta Olympic Committee. The Volunteer Programme for next year`s Games of the Small States of Europe will be officially launched early next month.

Some weeks back I had stressed the importance of volunteers for such events. Elementary accounts would clearly value the sterling work carried out by these individuals as amounting to thousands of Maltese liri.

The feedback so far has been very encouraging, especially in the last few months and people from all walks of life are expected to enroll in the Volunteer Programme by the end of next month.

In England, thousands of volunteers have signed up to assist in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Manchester with the aim of enhancing the name and image of Manchester as a city capable of putting up a massive sports spectacle.

Meanwhile, all the national federations to participate in the next edition of the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in late July and early August are following a rigorous training programme.

Just like when they are preparing for the Small Nations Games, Maltese athletes have to undergo medical tests at the Functional Diagnostics Laboratory of the Malta Olympic Committee to ensure that they are in the right shape for the upcoming assignments.

Although the Commonwealth Games are outside the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, they are nonetheless considered as the most important games after the Summer Olympics.

The event will bring together some 70 countries from the four corners of the globe. World-known athletes from Australia, Canada and other big countries will be showing off their skills against amateur athletes from minnow countries such as Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Vying for a medal is indeed a tough task for our sportsmen who will be participating in athletics, swimming, freestyle wrestling, weightlifting, shooting, squash and triathlon.

Coming a few weeks after the World Cup, the build-up to the Commonwealth Games is likely to be overshadowed by the events in Asia.

However, come July, Manchester is expected to be in the limelight as thousands of officials and athletes converge on the city for what promises to be another good sporting showdown.

One sport which will be missing from these games is waterpolo. For fairness sake, a Commonwealth Championship was organised some weeks back and our national team managed a creditable fourth place beating the likes of South Africa and Singapore in the process.

Apparently there is a lobbying group pushing for waterpolo to become part of the calendar of the games but so far few countries have expressed their support to this suggestion and waterpolo seems set to miss out on Melbourne 2006.

However, the experience gained in Manchester should prove beneficial to our lads as they travel to Sofia over the coming days to compete in the European B Championship.

One event which is closely linked to the Commonwealth Games is the Queen Baton Relay. The concept is to have as many Commonwealth countries as possible organising a leg of the Baton Relay.

Malta has been scheduled to stage the penultimate stage of this relay before the baton boards the plane to England for the final home leg.

In fact, the baton will be flown in from India for a four-day visit. The only setback to this otherwise enticing venture is that the visit will coincide with the start of world cup fever and therefore all the events would have to be scheduled for late afternoon and early evening to ensure maximum participation.

The baton will tour most of Malta`s towns and villages including a one-day tour of Gozo. The organising committee is drawing up a route which has symbolic and historical ties to our colonial past.

Such event should serve as a dress rehearsal for the torch relay of next year`s Small Nations` Games in Malta. People from all walks of life will be given the chance to run alongside the Queen Baton and a commemorative athletic meeting is planned at the Marsa track on the first day of the visit.

All is set for a series of planned events as the baton will be carried from village to village before embarking on its final stage to the host country England and finally making it to the city of Manchester which will be brimming with sporting stars throughout the duration of the Games.