In 2007 the decision was taken to award the 2014 Games to Glasgow – meaning that between 23rd July and 3rd August 2014 a host of world class athletes will be coming to Scotland to compete. In addition to the athletes, fans from all over the world will visit Scotland – they won’t only be watching the Games though, they’ll stay here and finding out firsthand what Scotland has to offer. This is obviously great news not only for people in Glasgow but for everyone in Scotland.
What it means for Scotland!
As Scotland is the host nation everyone is hoping our athletes will do us proud and achieve a record number of medals though the Scottish Government also want to use the games as an opportunity to improve the fitness and health of the general population. To help achieve this ambition the Government is using the Games as an opportunity to build and improve facilities throughout the city so that when the Games have finished everyone will be able to benefit from them.
Some of the new facilities will be:
- a new National Indoor Sports Arena village where the athletes will stay
- a new indoor velodrome – the first of its kind in Scotland
- a mountain bike centre
- 12,500-seater entertainments arena on the site of the existing Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre for gymnastics and netball
- an international hockey complex at Glasgow Green.
Getting ready
From July 23rd to August 3rd 2014 Glasgow will host the 20th Commonwealth Games.
For these 11 days millions of people from all over the world will be watching Scotland as athletes from 71 countries gather here to compete in 17 sports.
This is a great chance to show that Scotland is a really exciting place to be - with friendly locals, a wonderful environment and full of all kinds of opportunities.
Obviously you can't just host an international sporting event without serious preparation so Glasgow has a lot of work to do before it's ready to welcome the world in four years time!
Glasgow will be building 3 new competition venues, refurbishing 25 existing venues and constructing an athlete's village for the 6500 athletes and officials who will all need a place to stay.
Sports
The 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games will be made up of 17 sports. 10 of them are 'core' sports that have to be included no matter what but the other 7 have been decided by the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee.
The 10 'core' sports are:
- aquatics
- athletics
- badminton
- boxing
- hockey
- lawn bowls
- netball
- squash
- rugby 7s
- weightlifting.
The 7 'chosen' sports for Glasgow are:
- cycling
- gymnastics
- judo
- shooting
- table tennis
- triathlon
- wrestling
Volunteering
15000 volunteers are going to help make sure the Games run smoothly. Some of which will be highly skilled timekeepers, doctors and judges but with 400 different voluntary roles there will be opportunities available that will suit everyone.
Volunteering at Glasgow 2014 will be a fantastic experience. Not only will you get to contribute to a successful and exciting international global sporting event but you can also make friends, learn new skills and share some truly unforgettable memories.
The Glasgow 2014 volunteering recruitment process won't start until 2013 but that doesn't mean that there isn't anything you can do right now! Why not apply to become a Youth Legacy Ambassador and help shape the way the Commonwealth Games affects your area?
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