Team USA December Update The following is a summary of Team USA’s December update. Everyone who has contacted Team USA will be receiving an expanded version of this information within the next 24 hours. If you are not on the mailing list yet, please email us at teamusa.worldgames@gmail. As you know, the Games will be in Mar del Plata, Argentina on August 23-30, 2015. Mar del Plata is the premier beach resort city in Argentina, and in the summer Argentinians visit in the tens of thousands to enjoy its beaches and its scenery. The World Transplant Games features age group competition for transplant athletes in the following sports which are listed in the order that they will be held: 5K Road Race, Volleyball, Cycling 20K Road Race and 5K Time Trial, Squash, Bowling, Darts, Golf, Swimming, Badminton Singles and Doubles, Petanque Singles and Doubles, Golf (Team), Tennis Singles and Doubles, Table Tennis Singles and Doubles, Track and Field, and Tejo Individual and Doubles. Those of you who have gone to the World Games before will probably notice that there are a couple of new sports listed above. Darts is being added to the World Games program as a permanent sport. Also, tejo is being added by Argentina for 2015. Tejo is a game universally played in Argentina and is very similar to petanque. The rules for these sports and additional information will be found in the Games Sport Rules which should be available in final form by the end of January at the latest. For those who have been part of Team USA before, the registration process will be the same as it was in 2013 for South Africa. You’ll are able to register yourself for your events and you will have the ability to make any changes in your own sports. If you’re an athlete, you will also be able to download the medical information and forms and have them completed by your health care team. Your team managers will only need to be involved in the last part of the process, when you submit your medical information and pay for your registration (team managers are required by the WTGF to review forms for completeness and proper signatures before submission). Registration is supposed to open in the second half of January; we’ll be sure to notify you when that occurs. The registration fee for the Games is still not set, but Argentina says that it will be between $1,100 and $1,300 US dollars. For those who have gone to the Games before, this year you will be able to pay the fees in US dollars—no more finding a bank that will do international payments! The fee basically covers all of one’s expenses from when you clear Argentine customs upon arrival until you depart from the country the day after the Games—airport transfers, hotel double accommodations, all meals, and admission to all events and social activities from dinner on August 23rd to departure on August 31st after breakfast—a total of seven nights. Given the length of this trip, many decide to arrive at least a day earlier, this would be an additional expense. Travel to Argentina will be to Buenos Aires’ international airport, Ezeiza [EZE]. There are two airports and they are about one hour apart, so flying to Mar del Plata is not recommended as it involves a transfer to the other airport. Once you arrive at EZE, you will exit customs and then team members will board a motor coach for an approximate five hour trip to Mar del Plata. The coaches are very nice (double decker) and there will be a refreshment stop on the way. But it will be a long ground connection, so sleeping might be the best suggestion. Flights to EZE from a US gateway city cost about $1,500 at present, and the fare has stayed constant for a couple of years. There may be additional costs for connection flights from where you begin your trip. There will also be a Team USA fee which covers team uniforms, a team welcome social function in Durban, etc. Hopefully this fee will be minimal, as we plan to look for uniform sponsorship and team sponsorship to reduce this cost. Team USA members will need to pay for their trip, which depending on airfare from one’s location, is expected to cost approximately $3,000 in total. In addition to financial support that team members might be able to arrange on their own, Team USA members will have the option of using online fundraising tools to raise funds and to receive a grant to subsidize the costs of attending the World Games. Additional information on this program will be forthcoming shortly. The next update will include updated and more detailed information on the Games and the sports, and additional details on housing and travel, including a recommended arrival day/time in Argentina. In the meantime, please direct any questions to us at teamusa.worldgames@gmail. Happy Holidays, and we hope to see you in Mar del Plata!
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 19:09:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015