Leah Ingram Eagle
At the July 28 Shelby Chamber luncheon, Vice President of Community Engagement for The 2022 World Games took questions from the audience and gave a presentation with information about the upcoming event that will take place at locations in and around Birmingham from July 7-17, 2022.
Boswell said it is always an honor and a joy to be able to stand before people and share about TWG with them.
Originally planned for 2021, TWG had to be pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the running against Birmingham to host the games were Peru and Russia. Birmingham was chosen, and this will be the second time in the history of TWG, which began in 1981, to be hosted in the United States. The first games were held in Santa Clara, CA.
“The team put together a bid and we were very fortunate that Ron Froehlich, who was president of TWG for over 20 years,” Boswell said. “He lives here in Birmingham and he was a big part of why we were entrusted to host the games. He has put on nine TWG events across the world.
Boswell said since the U.S. has only hosted the event once, there is no playbook to go by. “We are writing the book and creating an experience based on very little information,” she said.
Some of the numbers about the 2022 TWG include:
- 3600 athletes
- 34 sports
- Over 100 countries represented
- Over 1,500 credentialed media
- Projected 500,000 spectators
- $256 million economic impact to the city
“We have to provide housing for dignitaries, athletes and media for the event, and we have already booked over 32,000 nights in hotels alone to accommodate all required guests,” Boswell said. 75 percent of the athletes will reside on campus at UAB and the other 25 precent will be housed at Birmingham-Southern College.
For the first time in history TWG will feature an adapted sport. Wheelchair rugby will be played at the Birmingham Crossplex and the Lakeshore Foundation is the sponsor for the inclusion initiative. Those athletes may also have their housing there, as they are equipped with the accommodations they will need.
Outside of the Birmingham area, the city of Hoover and Oak Mountain State Park will host four events. The canoe marathon, wakeboarding and waterskiing and orienteering will be held at OMSP while the softball games will be played at the Hoover Met.
TWG has signed an agreement with CBS and CBS sports to negotiate a specific amount of airtime that TWG will be broadcasted.
Boswell said TWG needs about 3,000 volunteers for over 133 different areas and opportunities where they will be able to serve. Each volunteer is asked to serve a minimum of 20 hours, as the event takes place across 11 days.
“We have five values of willingness,” Boswell said. “Be willing to serve, willing to listen, willing to respect others, willing to be solution centered and willing to be a great teammate.”
The opening ceremony will take place at Protective Stadium with a kick off at sunset on July 7. The games begin July 8 and the closing ceremony will be held July 17.
Five Alabama natives have been selected to be honorary co-chairs for TWG and include: Charles Barkley, Randy Owen, Vonetta Flowers, Noah Galloway and Cat Reddick Whitehill.
Competition venues include the BJCC, Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham-Southern College, Legion Field, Oak Mountain State Park, Railroad Park, The Hoover Met, Birmingham Crossplex, Sloss Furnaces and UAB.
For more information on anything related to TWG, visit twg2022.com
