Ephraim Serrette, the newly appointed chairman of the organising committee of the T&T Commonwealth Games Association (TTCGA) for next year's hosting of the Commonwealth Youths Games (CYG), has stated the budget for the event to be hosted both in Trinidad and Tobago will surpass $35 million.

In addition to Serrette, the vice president of the TTCGA, the local committee which will also comprise secretary general Annette Knott, TTCGA overseeing the CGA Relations, Gabre Jesu Mc Tair, deputy permanent secretary (Ag.) of the Ministry of Sport and Community Development (MSCD) while Kairon Serrette, head of partnerships and alliances, Sport Company of T&T (SporTT) will both lead the government's representation, and president of the TTCGA, Diane Henderson on the five-member board.

The sports programme for the event dubbed "Trinbago 2023" will see seven sporting disciplines being featured from August 4-11, 2023, among athletes between the ages of 14 to 18.

The sports will take place in two clusters, one in Couva, Trinidad and the other in Tobago, to bring a diverse perspective of the twin island country to the nations of the Commonwealth, as well as showcase a festival of the country's activities.

The seven sports that will feature at the Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games are aquatics (swimming), athletics, cycling (road race, time trial, and track), rugby sevens, triathlon and beach volleyball for both boys and girls, while the Fast5 netball will be contested by girls only.

Commenting on the presentation of the sports programme, Commonwealth Games Federation president Dame Louise Martin said: "We are delighted to confirm the Sports Programme for the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games, featuring much-anticipated debuts in the Youth Games for the dynamic and innovative Fast5 netball and triathlon. It promises to be a thrilling and competitive Games and an exceptional showcasing of Caribbean and Commonwealth sports.

"An invaluable springboard for the stars and leaders of tomorrow, the Games will be a truly special and inspiring experience for young athletes from across the Commonwealth."

TTCGA president Henderson said: "T&T were awarded the right to stage the seventh edition of the Games by the Commonwealth Games Federation at its General Assembly in Birmingham. The decision came after T&T was initially awarded the 2021 Commonwealth Youth Games in June 2019, but that event was postponed due to the impact of the pandemic on the international sports calendar. We look forward to great things in the near future!"

Commenting on his appointment, Serrette noted that hosting the event is not going to be an easy task, but one that he is confident that T&T will pull off very successfully.

It's going to be seven different sporting disciplines and we now have less than a year for us to make it happen. Some of the venues would be close to being ready as we were due to have the event in 2021, but because of the pandemic it was postponed, so in some cases, it will be for us just to revisit our plans for these venues and most definitely rethink the overall budget, said Serrette.

"The government has already committed a financial support of $35 million but we already know that the hosting of the event will now cost more than that figure and we will be going after the support of the corporate sector of T&T to come on board with us.

This is going to be a really big event for us and I think that with the continued support of the sitting general secretary, and the immediate past president of the T&T Olympic Committee Brian Lewis, we are in a very good place for the event to be a success.""Ê"