Castries, the capital of St Lucia, has been chosen to host the sixth Commonwealth Youth Games in 2017, it has been announced.
The decision was ratified at the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) General Assembly here by the organisation’s Executive Board after St Lucia, which is located in the eastern Caribbean Sea, expressed an interest in hosting the event earlier this year.
The competition is a small-scale version of the Commonwealth Games and is designed for the youth of the 71 Commonwealth countries for athletes aged between 14 and 18 years old.
The first edition of the competition was held in Edinburgh in 2000 and it has grown ever since.
The Isle of Man successfully staged the competition earlier this year in September when 800 athletes competed across 110 events in seven sports.
Apia the capital of Samoa was selected as the hosts of the 2015 edition of the competition back at the last CGF General Assembly in 2008.
Six years ago, the CGF made the decision to stage the Commonwealth Youth Games outside of the Olympic year following the conclusion of the Pune 2008 competition to help enhance the reputation of the event.
As with the Commonwealth Games, every country is invited to compete in the event.
Castries is well known as a major tourist area due to its tropical weather and scenery and its numerous beaches and resorts.
Some of the main tourist attractions include a drive-in volcano, the Botanical Gardens, a world heritage site, the rain forests and Pigeon Island National Park – which is home to Fort Rodney, an old British military base.
