Yes, the Commonwealth Games have arrived. Our nation will be watching closely with unbridled passion as we attempt to defeat the English, Kiwis and the Canadians.
This attitude ruled 20 years ago. In 2010, the Commonwealth Games are somewhat of a backwater competition. Bar the home Games of 2006, the level of interest in the Empire Games has been declining slowly. No longer do we settle for beating the likes of Northern Ireland, Malawi and Bermuda, we want to beat the best and prove ourselves.
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But how can we do this between Olympics? The answer lies closer to home in the form of the Asian Games.
The Asian Games is only behind the Olympics in terms participants. Since the Games began in 1951 they have grown into a huge event that has overcome a few crises. The 2010 version will attract around 10,000 athletes in 42 sports with competitive Olympic nations like China, South Korea and Japan involved.
Already, Australia has been rejected by the Asian Olympic Council to join the Asian Games. However, with pressure and diplomacy, I believe the Commonwealth Games should be shunned to join the Asian Games.
The benefits are enormous. They will provide great competition with stronger nations making our athletes work hard to win. They will be a television bonanza with most games held in South East Asia, which is only a couple of hours behind our time zone.
While there will be some sports we won’t compete in (Dragon Boasting and Wushu, for example), these sports can provide Australia a chance to understand our neighbours’ culture. For our Asian competitors, training venues and new sponsorship opportunities await our participation in the Asian Games.
The Commonwealth Games were fantastic in its heyday. But the time has come were we need to break from the also-rans. Like football, we need to break from Oceania and join Asia to further develop our potential.
Asia beckons and we should put our foot in the Oriental sporting door.
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