The success of the Barbados Olympic Association’s Independence Invitational Games (BiiG) has made it an annual event on the sporting calendar.
This was disclosed by president of the Barbados Olympic Association, Sandra Osborne, during the closing ceremony at the Wildey Headquarters on Sunday.
“The success of the inaugural games last year to salute Barbados’ 50th Independence celebrations made it an easy decision for the BOA to turn this event into an annual multi-sport event which is open to all member national federations,” she said.
Osborne said that this year’s edition surpassed the expectations of many, since a total of 36 sporting events and 29 national federations were showcased across the six-week period.
She added that she was very pleased with the participation of regional and international teams and the availability of social media platforms, which made it possible for persons outside the island to have updates on the happenings.
Osborne added that the Beach Festival was also successful and had the ability to stand on its own.
Interim chief executive officer of the National Sports Council, Jerry Blenman, said he too was pleased with the number of local federations and regional and international participation in this year’s Games.
“This second hosting of these Games, therefore, signals an achievement of importance to the positioning and development of sports in Barbados and more particularly is a fine example of the synchronisation of foresight, actualisation of collective planning and exemplification of an intent to augment the value of sports in the region,” he said.
“That these Games on these two occasions had the capacity to assemble the most talented of competitors in a wide range of sporting disciplines is without doubt unquestionable.
“Participating in these Games were world-class athletes, world-class coaches and world-class administrators, who I believe set the stage for a new dispensation of sports development in the region,” said Blenman. (RG)
