The history of the olympics - Essay Example

Is it worth hosting the Youth Olympic Games? The Youth Olympic Games has been conceived by the International Olympic Committee in 2007 in order to “inspire young people around the world to participate in sports and live by Olympic values”. Its objectives were to “educate, engage and influence young athletes to inspire them to play an active role in the community”. (Youth Olympic Games 2009) The YOG is patterned after the international Olympics which will be held in a host country every four years.

The First Youth Olympic Game was held in Singapore in 2010, and a Youth Winter Sports Festival is scheduled in Innsbruck in 2012.CRITICISMS OF YOG I believe that holding of a Youth Olympic Games is no longer necessary because it will be at a huge expense for the host country. The Youth Olympic Games is already a duplication of the many games being held in a country. It has been said that hosting an Olympic game is a national pride to any country, but a lot of Singaporeans were found not to be interested in the event (Ng E-Jay, 2010.) There are by now so many sporting events taking place that are already crowding out the interests of people.

Take, for example, the World Cup and the International Olympic Games that will be joined in by young athletes around the world, as well as other sports events taking place in the country. Hosting Olympic Games will take a lot of preparation and necessary expenses that later on will be taken from the taxpayers. For instance, Jonathan Bailey (2008) states that hosting an Olympic event is very costly, and that it does not provide direct profit. He cites the expenses of Olympic Games involved in Paris and Athens wherein, he says, are shouldered by taxpayers.

This will be the same scenario that is expected when a country hosts a youth Olympic game. In Singapore, people are lukewarm on the idea because of the cost involved, and that the timing for such event is not perfect because the country is still experiencing economic hardships. The Singaporeans even question the attention given to foreign athletes (Ng, E-Jay, 2010). Conclusion I think that the Youth Olympic Game is no longer necessary, because the enthusiasm it creates is not long enough to compensate for the economic disruption caused by the event.

Take for example, the inconveniences of the host city that will suffer in the run up of the games due to the massive building of work structures for the games and the security worries to safeguard the foreign participants I think, YOG is a duplication of the international Olympic event. Patrick Johnston (2011) also feels that there are already too many committees organizing sports event and a Youth Olympic Games is no longer needed, and the sports is already an overcrowded event. I agree with this statement since duplication is expensive; if the event does not generate the expected profit, it is the people who will be at a loss; they will share the burden and pay for it for a longtime.

The YOG done in Singapore did not create a stir in people’s interest. The marketing effort, despite of publicity was not enough to pull foreign interests. After the event, it is time that we study the impact of the YOG to the sport related policies of the government, particularly the sports related funds, and make a policy decision on youth sport development initiatives and programs.ReferencesBailey, Jonathan (Dec, 2008). Olympic Games- Hosting Of. Retrieved 07 February 2012 from http://www.idebate.org/Debatabase/Topic_Details.Php?Topicid=306Ng E-Jay (Aug, 2010) The Youth Olympic Games-why the great apathy?

The online citizen, Retrieved 07 February 2012from http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/08/the-youth-olympic- games-why-the-great-apathy/Patrick, Johnston (Aug 14, 2011) Olympics- Inaugural Youth Olympics Opens In Singapore. Retrieved 07 February. 2012. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/08/14/olympics-youth- idUSSGE66R03W20100814 Olympic Org. 2008. Youth Olympic Games. (2009). Retrieved from Olympic.org. Retrieved 07 February, 2012 from http://www.olympic.org/content/youth-olympic-games/