Scott Myers discusses 2021 World Games with Chamber

The World Games are coming to Birmingham in six years.

At the October Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Scott Myers discussed how the city made it to this point.

As the Executive Director of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Myers said he recognized the potential Birmingham had as a host city. The 2013 World Games were held in Cali, Columbia, and the 2017 World Games are set for Wroclaw, Poland.

“I started thinking, we’ve got all the venues in the greater Birmingham area that we saw in Cali, Columbia,” Myers said. “I started thinking, they’re in Wroclaw, Poland in 2017 – Why not Birmingham?”

From there, they started the process toward getting an endorsement from the U.S. Olympic Committee and formulating a bid. The U.S. Olympic Committee’s endorsement also excluded any other city in the country from bidding on the games, Myers said. They then compiled a bid document after speaking with community leaders in the Birmingham area.

“We called upon the leaders of industry, whether it was security, or transportation, or ceremonies,” Myers said. “We called upon the leaders in the city to be involved in this process and help build this bid. It was a daunting task.”

Birmingham was selected as a final city in September 2014 and hosted the International World Games Association (IWGA) Site Selection Committee that October.

The venues and preexisting infrastructure was a draw, Myers said. He noted that Samford University’s housing capabilities impressed some of the selection committee members. Myers also said they took the committee to Tuscaloosa for an Alabama football game to show them the crowd.

“We assured them that was also the type of crowd they would have for korfball and net ball and fist ball,” Myers said. “They didn’t believe it. I also told them it was 72 with a slight breeze in July in Birmingham – they knew the answer to that question as well.”

The city signed the agreement in April 2015. One difference between Birmingham’s bid and the bid from the two other finalist cities was that Lima, Peru and Ufa, Russia proposed mainly publicly funded bids, Myers said. Birmingham’s $75 million budget, Myers said, is less than 6 percent public funding.

One advantage for Birmingham, Myers said, is the existing facilities.

“This is not about building any new facilities,” he said. “In fact, we need no new facilities. Not $1 of our budget is set aside toward any kind of building fund. … We’ve got everything in place today, with a little upkeep, that can house these games.”

The games could bring an economic impact of around $256 million, Myers said, and will bring in around 4,500 athletes from more than 100 countries.

Myers also discussed the potential for further opportunity in the community. He said the greater Birmingham area should take full advantage of the games, providing the example of using it as an educational opportunity.

They are working with Birmingham City Schools to have the city’s 18 middle schools each adopt a city. From now until the games in 2021, those students will study the culture, customs and even languages of the cities participating in the World Games.

“When the games come in 2021, we will have built a group of attachés, that are essentially knowledgeable about their customs or cultures,” Myers said. “It gets our kids in the middle school thinking globally, in the global economy.”

For more information about the 2021 World Games, including volunteer opportunities, visit theworldgames2021.com.