Easter Games 2018

Have you seen the TV commercials for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games; they are only a year away. Some of the world’s greatest athletes will be in Queensland in less than 365 days. I have asked the question before; are we going to get any of these athletes to train in the Capricorn region in readiness for the Games? I assume we are trying or have tried like I suspect most other centres in the country.
Instead of just hoping that some country or sporting body says yes could we get on the front foot and hold our own sporting games?
Depending on who gets behind it call it Rockhampton Games or Capricorn or CQ; just get one organised.
Easter weekend next year will be March 30 to April 2. The Commonwealth Games opening ceremony is on April 4. Seems to be an ideal weekend to hold the Games.
Encourage each sporting organisation to hold their own event, particularly swimming, athletics, mountain bike riding, cycling, basketball, gymnastics, rugby 7’s, hockey, lawn bowls – sports that they compete in at the Commonwealth Games.
By being proactive we might attract some athletes coming for the Commonwealth Games to train and perhaps compete in our games. If we don’t we are still highlighting the winning benefits of sport and the Capricorn region.
A migration of people to Rockhampton than exodus over the Easter weekend would be a welcome change.
It’s got me beat why this isn’t already in the planning.
There would be a cost that someone would have to bear, but would it be more than $100K? The infrastructure needed exists, the sporting organisations already hold their usual events – either add another next year or change dates to suit and plan for more participants.
Hold an opening and closing ceremony but keep it simple and feature local talent. I imagine the Council will be producing another superb musical next year; involve parts from that in the ceremonies.
Collaboration between the sporting bodies, sponsors and Council(s) should keep costs reasonable and the economic spin-off positive.
Is there anyone out there interested in making this happen?
We need to help ourselves and not just be reliant on hand outs to stimulate and sell our economy. So who is going to step up to the plate?