By her own admission Helen Phillips, the highly successful chair of the Commonwealth Games Federation of Wales, has two huge problems ahead of the 2022 Games in Birmingham.
Building on the back of the most successful overseas Games at the Gold Coast will be a challenge, but the difficulties facing Phillips and her back room staff in four years time aren’t centred around medals.
“My biggest headaches ahead of Birmingham are going to be trying to find another eye-catching shirt for the team to wear at the opening ceremony and discovering a venue on a par with the surf club we adapted for our Team Wales house,” Phillips told First Minister Carwyn Jones at the official homecoming ceremony for Team Wales at the Senedd.
“Wales were the talk of Gold Coast and became the host nation’s second favourite team. That’s a position we want to find ourselves in once again in Birmingham.
“The work towards 2022 has already started and I’m delighted that a strong commercial programme is already in place. I am incredibly proud of the achievements of the whole team, both athletes and support staff, and the backing they received throughout the Games was magnificent.”
They certainly made the nation proud with their 36 medals, 10 of which were gold. There was also a significant shift in the level of financial assistance needed to send to Australia arguably the most competitive Welsh team of all-time across the board.
Under Phillips’ expert guidance, the reliance on governmental support has dropped from 90% to 40% and the commercial programme is growing stronger and stronger as companies see the value of partnering with such a strong, well-prepared, well-managed, highly motivated and cohesive team.
The representatives from CGI and the University of South Wales were wearing some of the biggest smiles of them all at this week’s homecoming.
“The Team Spirit was magnificent and something that was commented on by some many people in Australia. Every athlete supported each other and every sport backed all the others in the team,” added Phillips.
That was very much in evidence at the Senedd, where gold medallists Sammy Lee, Lauren Price and Mike Wixey were the centre of attention once again among a group of 120 athletes who turned up to receive a well-earned slap on the back for their superb efforts down under.
“Thanks for all you have done for Wales, and not for just what you have done for our country, but what you’ve done for so many people out there, who look at you as an example. You do so much to inspire people,” the First Minister told the athletes.
“The first Games I can remember were in 1978, when Berwyn Price won a gold medal. There weren’t many others to shout about.
“We have come a long way since then and we all enjoyed following your progress with tremendous pride. The success of the medallists was built on the foundation of great team work.
“The Commonwealth Games is the only multi-sport event in which Wales is able to compete and we punch well above our weight. Countries like Australia and England are always going to dominate, but the important thing was that we beat Scotland, with their 5 million population, in the medal table!”