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The organisers of EYOWF 2011 passed their readiness test
Thursday September 16 2010 01:13 PM
The organisers of the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival (EYOWF) 2011 in the Liberec Region passed an important test regarding their readiness this week. During his three-day visit to Liberec, Janko Dvoršak, President of the EOC Coordination Committee, personally inspect the current state of the preparations.
This experienced official from Slovenia presided over the Organising Committee for the 2003 Winter Festival in Bled and was the President of the Committee for Spanish Jaca in 2007, which is the same Committee as for EYOWF 2011. The last time he visited the Liberec Region was at the beginning of November of last year. The 10-month progress in the preparations for the top sporting event was openly acknowledged with respect and admiration.
"Over the course of that period, the Organising Committee has done a tremendous amount of work. I have spoken with the directors of all the departments and I can say that five months before the opening ceremony the Festival is very well prepared. Only minor details need to be fine-tuned. All the members of the Organising Committee know perfectly where they are in the preparations and what will be their next steps. The state of things in Liberec fills me with a justified optimism that the EYOWF 2011 in the Liberec Region will be one of the most successful in history,” Janko Dvoršak summarised his stay in Liberec.
His inspection trip took place two months prior to other important events which the organisers have to deal with. In the middle of November, Liberec will successively host a meeting of the EYOWF Coordination Committee, a meeting of the technical delegates for each discipline and finally the meeting of the Chefs de Mission. The Festival will be attended by some 1,500 participants from 49 European Countries and members of all the National Olympic Committees will come to see what conditions Liberec, Jablonec nad Nisou and Kořenov-Rejdice offer to their young athletes under 18 years of age.
"The meeting of the Chefs de Mission consist of an important milestone. For the first time they will see the venues and facilities with their own eyes and will familiarise themselves with the complete organisation of the Festival. The impressions we will leave will undoubtedly shape their opinions of the Liberec Region, the Festival and consequently the size of their delegation. The Organising Committee is currently working on two publications: the Chef de Mission Manual and the Technical Manual, which are key documents for the Festival. Janko Dvoršak's visit was also invaluable from this point of view as we appreciated his advice on mutual cooperation among the departments, links between them and collaboration. We are interested in not doing things in a complicated way but instead keeping things simple," says Kateřina Nyčová, Executive Director of the EYOWF 2011 Organising Committee.
Roman Kumpošt, Honorary President of the Festival's Organising Committee, added: "The Chefs de Mission Meeting will be attended by people who understand what it means to organise international sporting competitions. They will scrutinise our level of preparation through the lens of their experience. What is more, in the light of the recent economically oversized Youth Olympic Games, the EOC have assured its members by saying that this is not the direction youth sport should be heading. A reasonable and at the same time all-round high-quality event will be presented next year in the Liberec Region. This is an enormous obligation for us."
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