In preparation and anticipation of the upcoming 1st Youth Olympics to be held in Singapore, the Palau National Olympic Committee in collaboration with the National and State Governments, will be hosting the 1st Belau 18 & Under Youth Games. The Games are scheduled to be held from 14-19 July 2008. Staff of the NOC office have meeting with the States' representatives on a regularly basis for the past several months to discuss the various aspects of holding this event. However, with current ongoing national and state programs and events, not all sixteen states will be able to participate. Nonetheless, the Games must go on, as they say.
There are eight states that have committed to participate in the Games; these states include Airai, Aimeliik, Ngarchelong, Ngardmau, Ngeremlengui, Ngiwal, Peliliu, and Sonsorol. As this is the first ever Games of this caliber, there will only be four sports in both men and women's divisions. These sports include Athletics, Basketball, Softball, and Volleyball (Beach & Indoor). However, there were concerns from other sports officials from baseball, canoe and triathlon and therefore requested to include said sports in the Games. Since the Games success rests on the States and their athletes, they were given a choice to put to vote whether to include these sports in the games or not. As a general rule of the Games, for a sport to be included in the Games there has to be at least three states entered. So far it looks like triathlon will be included in the Games as we now have the required three states, bringing the total sports count to five.
Last Modified on 09/02/2009 14:38