Four years ago I wrote an opinion piece as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games reached its climax.
Some things have changed and Glasgow 2026 will be very different, but the allure of the Commonwealth Games and its unique place in the sporting ecosystem endures.
I’ll explain why.
It has been a bumpy four years for the Commonwealth Games with the withdrawal of the state of Victoria (Australia) and a period of uncertainty before Glasgow stepped in to deliver a re-imagined Commonwealth Games.
The Games, starting today, will feature 74 nations and territories competing in 10 sports and six parasports across a range of iconic Glasgow venues.
Notwithstanding the well-documented challenges, the future looks positive: the 2027 Commonwealth Youth Games is looming large (Malta and Gozo), and the venue for the Centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030 was announced late last year. They will take place in Amdavad, India, in what promises to be a ‘full-scale’ Games with some innovative twists.
So, as we look ahead to some brilliant performances and some great memories being made in Glasgow, let’s take a moment to reflect on why the Commonwealth Games is often cited as a formative and special experience.
At the outset I should stress that Team England is an inherently collaborative endeavour that’s prepared and presented by Commonwealth Games England.
They work in concert with the relevant national governing bodies (NGBs) and world class programmes to identify and select athletes (and the team behind the team) across the sports, and to prepare them for success.
But this goes beyond the athletes. The games present an important development opportunity for coaches, team leaders and practitioners, and they motivate and inspire people playing key roles in clubs and facilities across the nation.
Many athletes benefit from World Class Programme funding from UK Sport, and many of the coaches and practitioners will be employed elsewhere across the system in UK Sport-funded NGB programmes.
The Commonwealth Games is a special opportunity for British athletes to represent their home countries.
For our sporting system it's also an important chance to showcase its success and our rich and diverse sporting offer.
Glasgow will feature a portfolio of sports that are played and built in community sports and leisure facilities across the nation, including some that don’t get much airtime but that also deserve to be celebrated.
Our delegation in these games will include Team England Futures – a ‘non-competing’ Team England who will visit Glasgow as part of a carefully coordinated programme delivered by SportsAid, commissioned by Commonwealth Games England and funded by Sport England.
The initiative consists or circa 100 athletes and 30 coaches that’ll receive an immersive games experience designed to support their development.
It'll also help them prepare to thrive in the major games environment when they make their competitive ‘debut’. For many this will come when representing Team GB or ParalympicsGB at LA2028.
They will be England’s living legacy from the Games – and from what we have seen already through the programme, they have a bright future ahead of them.
Firstly, Glasgow is an ‘integrated’ games.
What that means is that para-athletes and athletes live, train and compete alongside one another, in our context, as part of One Team England.
Glasgow will feature a portfolio of sports that are played and built in community sports and leisure facilities across the nation, including some that don’t get much airtime but that also deserve to be celebrated.
Glasgow is also reported to be the largest ever Para-sport programme with a total of 47 medal events being contested.
Team England will field 60 para-athletes (or 24% of the Team England athlete delegation) in bowls, para-powerlifting, track cycling, athletics, swimming and wheelchair basketball 3x3.
All sports are presented as part of an integrated programme of competition and given equal billing, sharing the programme means that spectators get to enjoy the best sport and para-sport as a matter of course.
Team England is relentlessly focused on ensuring parity of support for all athletes, and on giving them the best possible experience and opportunity to fulfill their potential.
This has created an environment that’s genuinely special, as it demonstrates and reminds us of our common values and aspirations, not our differences – physical or otherwise.
In terms of women’s sport, the number of medals available is strikingly similar and Team England will have more women competing than men.
Amongst them is netball, which is a particularly high-profile event and the Commonwealth Games rivals the Netball World Cup for perceived importance and profile.
At the preparation camp and ‘kitting out’ – where everyone goes to collect their kit, complete their preparations and receive their final training on aspects such as anti-doping and media – there is a map of England and athletes are invited to take a photo and place themselves on the map.
This is a visual representation of where athletes originate from and how they represent the full spread geographically of the nation.
Watching the map get populated as athletes come through the prep camp is fascinating.
Besides, the team has an age spread between 14 and 73 years of age and yet we come together as one Team England of 251 athletes and para-athletes, all with their unique stories and backgrounds – a truly inspiring and exciting prospect.
All the athletes started their journeys in grassroots sport, where volunteer coaches and officials provided fun and impactful opportunities for them to explore and develop their potential.
I can’t stress enough just how much that matters and how amazing a journey can be started with that important first step, plus all those accessible and inclusive first experiences.
Now the baton of supporting the athletes passes to the team behind them.
The commitment and passion from the team at Commonwealth Games England, plus the professionalism and dedication of the sport team leaders is genuinely inspiring – these roles are hard work and I hope very rewarding too.
However, these people won’t stand at the summit of the mountain.
Instead, they are the sherpas staying quietly in the background enabling athletes to focus on their experience, process and performance. I applaud every one of them.
If you want to watch the games and share some of the magic there are different TV options, including daily highlights on Channel 5 and live coverage throughout on TNT, and also on BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT.
If you love sports, you can’t miss it. For me, it’s the sports event of the summer!