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One of those middle of the night moments...If we were to "save" the full adult edition of the CWGs...Instead of throwing the resources of the Commonwealth behind the Youth CWGs, which IMHO is the way forward for global soft power influence in nurturing our young up and coming future sports stars for the Olympics. Have been watching You Tube downloads on the various CWGs since TV was invented and comparing them over time. for me it's mainly around 1974 to 2006. Trying to find out what went wrong with hosting these once popular sports festivals. Clearly showing each host trying to better the previous games host. BUT one that stood out and still stands out today are the 1994 Games of the XV edition located in an unknown smaller (Canadian size) city of Victoria, British Columbia. It was panned at the time as being a mild let down from the spectacular Auckland XIV games four years previously, as too budget and rather basic in venues. Today in hindsight...that small city got it right. 1994 was the last time a "nine sport" games was hosted as the CGF suddenly got delusions of grandeur when Kuala Lumpa was chosen as hosts of the XVI and team sports were to be added, ramping up the size of teams and facilities to cope. From there on in the games "maxed out", culminating in the disastrous XIX edition in New Delhi. By the time it came to find a host for the XX edition in 2014, the CGF was struggling to find a host with applicant cities suddenly dropping away when confronted with what cost would be needed to host. We know the history from there to now... But getting back to 1994...This could be the answer to a future if the CWGs wish to survive. Commonwealth sports are what made these game great. We can't please every sports code out there and what they had in Victoria seem to balance out well. Do we need Sevens and Cricket in there now that the Olympics have embraced both sports with massive enthusiasm? Does the Olympic staple Lawn Hockey need to be there? Those facilities are expensive to build...When was the last time it was played on an actual lawn? The CWGs did their bit to get them noticed but surely, they don't need to add cost to a small city hosting the CWGs. Looking back now it's quite nostalgic watching the Opening and Closing ceremonies of 1994, that amazing Thunderbird depiction, the local Indigenous Salish peoples adding vibrancy...Oh and that amazing 1939 McLaughlan Buick straight six open top Royal Limousine being brought back as the official regal car. It look all so basic and budget at the time, and I was quite indifferent to 1994 as compared to the last time NZ would host in 1990 which many considered the first of the "mega games" in spectacle. Probably didn't help that the Australian athletes were predicted to completely mop the floor with everyone (as they just won the rights to host the 2000 Olympics), and then did!!!
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