England Netball has made serious strides in recent times.

Participation is up by 34 per cent in four years and some of the promotional initiatives outlined by Joanna Adams, the body's marketing and commercial director, to Members of Parliament on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee are touched with genius.

But I couldn't help but chuckle on reading paragraph 10 of the written evidence the organisation submitted to that committee's recent inquiry into Women and Sport.

It said: "As a non-Olympic sport, netball does not qualify for funding or specialist support from UK Sport [Britain's elite sports funding body]; Sport England [the grass-roots agency] fund the whole sport.

"While we are grateful for Sport England financial support, we feel disadvantaged by not being able to access the specialist support provided by UK Sport.

"Arguably, this would enhance and potentially accelerate our mission to become world champions."

England Netball should be careful what it wishes for.

England's netball team failed to win a medal at Glasgow 2014 after losing the match for bronze against Jamaica ©Getty Images



If it was part of the UK Sport funding and performance system, there is a good chance it would be contemplating a likely reduction of the support it receives in the wake of the England team's failure to win a medal at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

A comparison with water polo - whose cause I have espoused in vain as it has lost all its elite performance funding, in spite of building an immensely promising women's team well-populated with potential role models - is instructive.

Water polo is, of course, an Olympic sport and, as such, is covered by a UK Sport high performance regime that, it is argued, puts team sports at a disadvantage in the line-up for Lottery cash.

It was announced last February by UK Sport that the £4.54 million ($7.53 million/€5.54 million) water polo had initially been awarded to see them through to the Rio 2016 Olympics had been redistributed to other sports.

"Water polo was among the sports that were not able to demonstrate they had a realistic chance of performing well within the top eight in Rio 2016 and targeting a medal performance in 2020," UK Sport said.

I'll spare readers another detailed run-through of why I think this is a lamentably short-sighted decision.

Great Britain's women's water polo squad has had its funding cut for not, according to UK Sport, showing future Olympic promise ©Getty Images



While water polo was not part of Glasgow 2014, around two months after that devastating funding announcement, in April, England's men's and women's water polo teams both took gold medals at their Commonwealth Championships in Aberdeen.

(The Scottish men took bronze for good measure.)

So, if water polo can take Commonwealth gold yet see its high performance funding disappear, will - or should - England Netball, having failed to make the Glasgow 2014 podium, suffer a cut in the £1.27 million ($2.13 million/€1.59 million) of high performance funding it received in 2013-2014 from Sport England?

Well, I don't think it has all that much to fear.

When I asked Sport England if netball's elite end award was subject to the same performance criteria as under UK Sport's "No Compromise" programme, it confirmed that it was not.

"We have agreed annual targets with each sport upon which the success of each programme is assessed," the grass-roots body told me.

As for whether netball should see its funding cut, while I would hate to see that happen (just as I think the water polo ruling was a mistake), it is hard equally to brush aside the argument that there should be consistency in the way individual sports are treated.

It is true that the netball team fares better in the world rankings: England lies third at the moment, against 12th for the Great Britain women's water polo team in the most up-to-date rankings I can find.

In a sport dominated by Commonwealth nations, England's netball team are ranked third ©Getty Images



But elite netball is totally dominated by Commonwealth countries - you have to descend to Switzerland in joint 30th place to find a piece of territory that wasn't coloured pink on the map at one time or another, although in the case of the United States in 29th this pre-dated the age of international sport.

Women's water polo is played most competitively by the giants of Olympic competition - the US, Russia and China are ranked one, two and three; should the British team not get some sort of credit for this when comparisons are drawn between sports for funding allocation purposes?

The bottom-line is that both these activities are energetic, skilful, highly tactical team sports that are exciting to watch and could play important roles in persuading more women to adopt healthier, more active lifestyles to the benefit of everyone - and the national Exchequer.

If given the resources to compete effectively, whether as England or Great Britain - and we are talking probably no more than £3 million ($5 million/€3.7 million) a year between them - both high performance set-ups would produce self-confident, articulate, grounded individuals capable of acting as the best sort of sporting role models.

Unfortunately, it now seems that only one of them will be in a position to do this.

"The future of weightlifting as a core sport in the Commonwealth Games programme has again been thrown into doubt," reported the Press Association on July 29, the day when it was announced that Chika Amalaha of Nigeria had tested positive after winning the women's 53 kilogram gold medal at Glasgow 2014.

It will take a great deal more than that to knock weightlifting out of its place as one of the most important sports on the schedule. Of all 17 sports at Glasgow 2014, weightlifting was the most diverse.

When Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) President Prince Imran declared Glasgow's Games "the best ever", he was taking a leaf out of the book of former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch, a consummate politician who knew that such statements played wonderfully well with the home crowd as well as setting down a challenge for the next hosts.

So when Gold Coast welcomes the Commonwealth in 2018 for the first Games under new CGF chief executive David Grevemberg, they know they have a lot to live up to.

Glasgow's Games were a triumph for the city, a tub thumping exercise for Scotland - a nation on the precipice of an independence referendum - and a massive shot in the arm for the Commonwealth Games after its difficulties in New Delhi last time out.

The Games ticked more or less every box for the host city and nation and for millions of spectators who packed stadia and arenas and lined the routes of cycling, marathon and triathlon events.

Come rain or shine, spectators packed the venues and roadsides to watch the sporting action ©Getty Images



It was all a long way from the last time that Scotland hosted the Games, in Edinburgh back in 1986. My company West Nally worked on the project to secure sponsorship funding to support the late publishing tycoon and fraudster Robert Maxwell's claims to save the Games from bankruptcy.

Those Games may have succeeded in their own way but at the time it seemed to many of us that the Commonwealth Games was a dead horse and that we were flogging it!

Glasgow staged the Games wisely and well. Its smart use of existing venues and careful legacy planning when new facilities were built is an example for others and the Games are sure to have inspired young Scots to make use of those facilities in the years to come.

But the impression I took from the Glasgow Games is that most of the impact and most of the benefit was strictly parochial. While acknowledging the lack of rigid science in my approach, I spoke to as many people - in particular younger people - as I could during the Games and asked them for their impressions. The vast majority said that despite massive media coverage and wall-to-wall free TV coverage - in the UK - it had simply passed them by.

The way the Games were staged was world class, the venues looked great, the atmosphere was outstanding and there were some great performances and great stories to be enjoyed. So why did the Games fail to register?

The Commonwealth Games may not be the best for sporting quality, but that is not really the point ©Getty Images



Maybe it's the simple fact that the only box Glasgow 2014 didn't tick was the quality of sport. The Commonwealth Games have a tremendous amount going for them but, by definition, they do not guarantee the best competitors and world class competition and that is never going to change.

The good news is that Glasgow showed other cities around the world exactly what can be achieved by hosting specialist multi-sports events like the Commonwealth Games. The success of hosting is measured by the way the host city achieves specific objectives, so perhaps it doesn't matter that youngsters in England were left unmoved by the whole thing. The Commonwealth Games is never going to deliver the global awareness and impact of the Olympics but that was never the plan. The Games achieved what they set out to achieve and did it without leaving the city skint for a generation.

Let's hope that Glasgow's success inspires not only a generation of Scottish youngsters to get involved in sport, but municipal authorities around the world to consider what can be achieved  by hosting multi sports events based on regional, linguistic and cultural affiliations and specific sports groupings.

The sports, media, commercial and municipal communities need to be thinking of new approaches to bidding and hosting events and Glasgow has proved there's tremendous value there for those who get it right.

Patrick Nally is chief executive of West Nally which is supporting UNESCO's MINEPS follow-up conference on Hosting Major Sports Events to be held in Paris on March 5 and 6 2015. To follow him on Twitter click here. 

In the Big Read currently up on the insidethegames site, Philip Barker details with customary thoroughness the Olympians who fell in the course of the First World War, the start of which has been commemorated this week, a century on from Great Britain's fateful declaration against Germany.

It is an immense, painful list. And it comes as little surprise to see how many of those who had excelled at sport also managed to excel at war, displaying outstanding valour. Notable among these valorous combatants were the Chavasse brothers, Christopher and Noel, both of whom had competed in the 400 metres at the 1908 London Games. Christopher earned the Military Cross, Noel the Victoria Cross - Britain's highest award for gallantry - for which he was posthumously awarded a bar, thus becoming the only man to earn this award twice during the War.

Chavasse was first awarded the VC for his actions on August 9 1916 at Guillemont in France. Here is the citation:

"Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, M.C., M.B., Royal Army Medical Corps.

"For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty.

"During an attack he tended the wounded in the open all day, under heavy fire, frequently in view of the enemy. During the ensuing night he searched for wounded on the ground in front of the enemy's lines for four hours.

Noel Chavasse, the only man to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice in the First World War - the second time posthumously - competed at the 1908 London Olympics over 400m ©Hulton Archive/Getty Images

"Next day he took one stretcher-bearer to the advanced trenches, and under heavy shell fire carried an urgent case for 500 yards into safety, being wounded in the side by a shell splinter during the journey. The same night he took up a party of 20 volunteers, rescued three wounded men from a shell hole 25 yards from the enemy's trench, buried the bodies of two Officers, and collected many identity discs, although fired on by bombs and machine guns.

"Altogether he saved the lives of some twenty badly wounded men, besides the ordinary cases which passed through his hands. His courage and self-sacrifice, were beyond praise."

Chavasse's second award was made during the period July 31 to August 2 1917, at Wieltje in Belgium; the full citation was published on 14 September 1917:

"War Office, September, 1917.

"His Majesty the KING has been graciously pleased to approve of the award of a Bar to the Victoria Cross to Capt. Noel Godfrey Chavasse, V.C., M.C., late K.A.M.C., attd. L'pool R.

"For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty when in action.

"Though severely wounded early in the action whilst carrying a wounded soldier to the Dressing Station, Capt. Chavasse refused to leave his post, and for two days not only continued to perform his duties, but in addition went out repeatedly under heavy fire to search for and attend to the wounded who were lying out.

"During these searches, although practically without food during this period, worn with fatigue and faint with his wound, he assisted to carry in a number of badly wounded men, over heavy and difficult ground.

"By his extraordinary energy and inspiring example, he was instrumental in rescuing many wounded who would have otherwise undoubtedly succumbed under the bad weather conditions.

"This devoted and gallant officer subsequently died of his wounds."

Both the Chavasse brothers had failed to progress from their heats in the London 400m. The eventual winner - albeit running on his own after an international incident which caused his US opposition to boycott the final - was Wyndham Halswelle, who, as a Captain serving at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in France, was killed by a sniper on March 31 1915 while attempting to rescue a fellow officer.

Earlier in the same battle he had been hit by shrapnel while leading his men across an area known as Layes Brook, but despite his wounds he refused to be evacuated and continued at the front, although heavily bandaged.

Wyndham Halswelle wins the 1908 Olympic 400m title in the re-run final which his US opponents boycotted after one of their number, John Carpenter, had been disqualified for obstruction. Captain Halswelle was killed by a sniper in 1915 as he attempted to rescue a fellow officer from no-man's-land during the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in France
©Hulton Archive/Getty Images

This "War To End All Wars" scarred a generation - prematurely ending countless lives, including those of Olympians past, and also leaving its deep mark on those young men and women for whom the Olympics lay in the future.

Steve Redgrave was the first British rower to win five Olympic golds, but he wasn't the first to collect five Olympic medals - that distinction fell to Jack Beresford, who collected a total of three golds and two silvers in a career spanning the Games from 1920 to 1936.

Steve Redgrave celebrates winning his fifth Olympic rowing gold at the 2000 Sydney Games. But he was not the first British rower to win five Olympic medals... ©AFP/Getty Images

On the eve of the London 2012 Games I spoke to Beresford's son, John, who recalled vividly how, as a teenager, he would accompany his father around the lanes near their home at Shiplake, in Oxfordshire.

Beresford senior - then well into his fifties - would reminisce. His rowing career had been stellar. At the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, aged 21, he had had to settle for silver in the single sculls after a monumental struggle with Jack Kelly of the United States - father of film star Grace Kelly - who overhauled him in the final few hundred metres to win by a second.

Four years later, having won the Diamond Sculls at Henley for a second time, Beresford succeeded Kelly as Olympic single sculls champion at the Paris Games, and four years later he took silver in the British eight at the Amsterdam Games.

At the 1932 Los Angeles Games, he added another gold as a member of the coxless four crew. But the best came last in his Olympic progress as, at the 1936 Berlin Games, he took part in what he described as "the sweetest race I ever rowed".

Beresford and his partner in the double sculls, Dick Southwood, ruined Adolf Hitler's day as they confounded the watching Fuhrer and the home favourites Willie Kaidel and Joachim Pirsch to take gold.

Jack Beresford (left) and Dick Southwood, garlanded after winning the double sculls for Britain at the 1936 Berlin Games, bringing Beresford's Olympic total to three golds and two silvers ©AFP/Getty Images

And yet his preferred topic of conversation, as he strolled with his son, was not sport, but war.

"I used to walk a lot with him," John Beresford recalled. "The thing he most often wanted to talk about was his time in the trenches during the First World War. I guess it was his way of coping with what he had been through."

Having been born on New Year's Day 1899, Beresford was just about old enough to serve in the First World War. He tried to enlist at the age of 17, only to be sent back home when his father Julius - a silver medallist in the coxed fours at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics - heard about it.

But the following year, 1918, Beresford succeeded in joining the Liverpool Scottish Regiment and went out to France in April. He was on the Somme until October, when he was shot through his leg and had to come home.

As his son remarked, that wound - among other things - altered the course of Olympic history, as at that time Beresford was inclining towards rugby rather than rowing. "He wanted to play rugby - that was his passion," John Beresford explained. "He'd been captain of Bedford School first XV but the injury put an end to that."

But the great rower's reminiscences were on the subject of others, rather than himself.

"Of his original company, by the end, he told me there were only about three officers and 14 men still alive," his son recalled. "He was lucky."

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics as chief feature writer for insidethegames, having covered the previous five summer Games, and four winter Games, for The Independent. He has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, The Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. His latest book Foul Play – the Dark Arts of Cheating in Sport (Bloomsbury £8.99) is available at the insidethegames.biz shop. To follow him on Twitter click here.

As the dust settles after Glasgow we look back with real pride and affection on an event that truly breathed renewed life into the Commonwealth Games movement.

Topping the medals table for the first time in 28 years with a total of 174 medals is a great achievement for Team England - it's a great testament to our athletes and their ability, we are very proud of them.

Of course the full venues, huge media interest and a sense of celebration owed much to the success of London two years ago - but these Games have delivered a their own unique feeling of togetherness and Civic pride for Glasgow and Scotland and everything reflected that. Seeing the reaction of erstwhile Team GB colleagues celebrating together and rapturous crowd reactions to all athletes was an inspiration and the friendliness of the Scottish people stole our hearts.

Our team, a mixture of established stars like Bradley Wiggins, Tom Daley and Greg Rutherford along with breakthrough talent like Claudia Fragapane, a history maker as the first woman to win four holds at a single Games since 1930, Anthony Fowler in boxing, Jade Jones in the T54 wheelchair 1500m, Ben Proud in swimming and Jodie Williams in 200m to name just a few, will all have learned so much from being around a multi sport environment.

England's team for Glasgow 2014 was a mixture of established talent and fresh faces ©AFP/Getty Images



We were asked how we felt Team England would be received in Scotland, and in truth we were not sure. In the end the famous Hampden roar and Scottish friendliness was inspirational, so well done Glasgow.

So how did we come from third to top of the medals table after Delhi 2010?

Of course success has many parents but failure is an orphan. For us organisationally after 2010 we set out to up our game in every way that we possibly could, building on what happened in 2012 that did so much to up everyone's awareness of the need to do things better. What we were keen to do was to surf that wave of success from London and look across everything we did and see how we could support the athletes more.

Central to it was working extremely closely with the various Governing Bodies, forging a relationship with them and setting up systems to forge a team culture through the talented network of Team Leaders across the 17 sports. We had four Team Leader meetings and numerous workshops and communication over a series of different meetings including briefings in the Athletes' Village in Glasgow.

Systems put in place ahead of the Commonwealth Games produced the results, with England topping the medals table for the first time since 1986 ©Getty Images



All the way through the process we made the event athlete focused, bringing their voices into our approach and looking closely at what they need the most.

The kit deal signed with Kukri in April 2013 was a step change in how we kitted out our athletes. Over the summer of 2013 we undertook an unprecedented number of sizing sessions. Every athlete received kit exactly right for them. It was a new approach and was appreciated. Kukri were strong

The fundamental Village innovation was the Performance Centre. In Glasgow we provided a bespoke diagnostic and treatment space for Team England athletes including a full medical facility, a physio room, an ice bath room and cycling training gym. These were totally new facilities for us and showed the range of our ambition and detail that we were just not able to do previously. They were well used and effective. The whole facility was. Everything was centred on professionalising all aspects of our approach.

The Club House situated at the Belevedere Bowls club close to the Village was a hub for friends and family of the athletes during the downtime of the Games. It also served as a place where non-rights media could go.  Marks and Spencer supplied our food and the clubhouse worked as a venue

Team England was steered brilliantly by our Chef de Mission Jan Paterson, ably supported by her deputy Chefs Graeme Dell, Hilda Gibson and Don Parker, all of whom had multi Games experience along with Claire Furlong in team media relations and Mo Diprose in commercial operations.

Working closely with them were communications, commercial and events teams keeping the media sponsors stakeholders and our organisation happy. But our greatest pride is in the performance of our wonderful massively talented athletes  - this promises well for the next four years in which Rio and the Gold Coast will be tremendous opportunities.

Sir Andrew Foster is the chairman of Commonwealth Games England.

Those who say sport and politics don't mix are way off the mark. They have been compatible bedfellows for ages.

If it wasn't for their union, apartheid might have prevailed in South Africa far longer than it did and racial equality in the United States might still be simmering on the back burner.

Boycotts and protests may never be welcomed but they sometimes achieve their objective, and Nelson Mandela once testified and Tommie Smith and John Carlos still maintain.

Which brings us to us to Glasgow 2014. While in the end, there was nothing disturbingly politicised about the 20th Commonwealth Games there is little doubt that, inadvertently or otherwise, the cause of Scottish independence been enhanced by their unquestionable success.

When polling day comes on September 18 the lingering feel-good factor surely will play a critical role.

The case for Scottish independence has been enhanced by the successful staging of the Commonwealth Games ©Getty Images



I have a Scottish son-in-law, a Glaswegian himself, who is vehemently opposed to separatism (well he does live in Surrey!), but he now reluctantly acknowledges that because of the Games many hitherto uncommitted voters, particularly the young, will tick the "yes" box in the belief that Scotland is now a nation capable of running its own affairs as capably as Glasgow did the Games.

As it happens we were spared First Minister Alex Salmond doing the Braveheart bit - or the Saltire-waving Highland Fling - because he didn't have to say a word. Glasgow's superbly efficient organisation and Scotland's own record medal haul spoke volumes for his cause.

The city's professional presentation, welcoming geniality and all-round competence, said all that was necessary to ensure Glasgow 2014 was a mini replica of London 2012.

But were these really "the best Games ever" as declared by Malaysia's ebullient Commonwealth Games Federation President Prince Imran when doing a Samaranch at the closing ceremony?

Maybe, though Manchester and Melbourne might demur, with the latter arguably edging it because of the weather.

But Glasgow did itself and Scotland proud, and, if they are still bothered about being part of us, Great Britain too.

Whether the need for independence has been irrevocably enshrined as a result will be determined on the political podium in the coming referendum.

Salmond's deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, suggests the Games have provided a perfect platform for the yes campaign, invigorating the belief that Scotland now has the potential for going it alone in the world - as well as the next Olympics.

One wonders what one man who kept an anxious lookout for any political hijacking of the Games thinks about that. Sir Craig Reedie, another Glaswegian who is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president, needed to see strict adherence to the IOC rule - and that of the Commonwealth Games Federation - that the Games must not be manipulated as a political vehicle.

Sir Craig Reedie is known to oppose Scottish independence, but he may be at the forefront of helping a team from the country compete at Rio 2016 ©AFP/Getty Images



Reedie, 73, finds himself in a tricky situation. A former chair of the British Olympic Association, a principal architect of a successful London 2012 and now president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, he is known to be opposed to Scottish independence yet wearing his IOC hat would be expected to help expedite Scotland's wish to compete as an separate nation in Rio 2016 should the referendum be affirmative.

Such an eventuality would need to be fast-tracked by the IOC but precedence suggests they may be compliant as they were with Montenegro for Beijing 2008.

We shall see. Meantime, while we laud the Games for what they were, let's not lose all sense of perspective and be as ridiculously carried away as the BBC were throughout the 11-day carnival.

BBC? More like OTT.

Some of the commentary box eulogising and obsequious trackside interviewing was positively cringe-making, so much so that the usual Skyperbole we have to endure whenever Premier League football is on the satellite channel seemed under-stated by comparison.

The supply of patronising superlatives from Gary Lineker, Hazel Irvine, Clare Balding and co  was inexhaustible..."Amazing...astonishing...astounding." And that was just the start of a breathless lexicon in which every home nations bronze medal was heralded it as if the recipient had won the lottery.

Thank goodness for the measured baritone wisdom of Michael Johnson on athletics and the thoughtful ringside summaries of Amir Khan at the boxing arena.

Not that the public gave a hoots.

They were there to cheer the talent, not evaluate it. And why not?

They didn't seem to much care what they were watching. This was their party and they were determined to enjoy it.

Crowds packed into the Glasgow 2014 venues not to evaluate the talent, but to cheer on the athletes ©Getty Images



There is a video clip of an American TV quiz now doing the rounds on YouTube in which a presenter demands of the audience: "What the f.... are the Commonwealth Games?"

They are then lampooned as "an off Broadway version of the Olympics" and we are informed: In America we don't know what the hell they are?"

Not that it matters what the most insular breed on earth think of them.

More to the point, let us not be seduced here by our own TV into believing we witnessed a sporting epic, because judged by the true standards of elite sport, it was not the case.

Enjoyable, yes; a great show, most certainly. But these were not the Olympics or a World Championships, or anywhere near them in the majority of sports with the US, Russia, China, Japan and continental Europe missing.

How many world records were broken? How many of the 100 metres line-up, for example, would actually have got into an Olympic final?

Yet the essence of the Commonwealth Games is not to celebrate super-stardom but to offer a platform for sport's little people from little places on the global map, like the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Gibraltar.

Who cares if they were lapped three times on the Hampden track? These Games were for them as much as the fistful of sporting powerhouses.

They were also for sports such as netball, bowls and squash (ironically one where the best players in the world actually compete at Commonwealth level) who are left waiting in the wings when the curtain is raised at the Olympic theatre every four years.

Ok, there were some brilliant individual performances but by and large standards in most disciplines were at best moderate.

But moderate is hardly an adjective that could be affixed overall to a magnificent Scottish showpiece, which, insignificant it may be soulless Uncle Sam, may have helped create a whole new political ball game as well as being a timely reminder that sport can be fun, as well as Games.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Games, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.

It is rather a shock coming from Kylie and Lulu, not to mention all the other fun but rather meaningless components of last night's Closing Ceremony, to the harrowing commemorations today to mark 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War.

Like all other walks of life, the sports world was affected by the "Great War" and for anyone interested in how exactly, I would point them in the direction of my colleague Philip Barker's excellent piece on insidethegames: A tribute to the Olympic Movement's fallen.

When British and German troops joined together for a spontaneous football match on No Man's Land on Christmas Day, 1914, sport also provided one of the most enduring memories of the four-year conflict. This match was possibly something of a myth - although multiple accounts insist it did occur - yet it still illustrates the wider role of sport to spread unity and harmony, and does so in a better way than probably any other case in history.

The "Friendly Games" which concluded last night in Glasgow seeks to do a similar thing. And although the name "Friendly Games" is beginning to resemble one of those irritating buzz-words, like "legacy" or "gender-equality", the Commonwealth Games does achieve this in a more effortless and natural way than many other competitions.

Sport united conflicting people in World War One as it still unites people today, including at Glasgow 2014 ©Hulton Archive via Getty Images



When asked to provide her enduring memory of Glasgow 2014, insidethegames managing director Sarah Bowron spoke about how the Games are like a "great big family wedding reception" with people joining together to celebrate shared values and experiences.

One of the great components of this is the opportunity for athletes from small countries to compete on the same stage as more established nations, and in the case of Kiribati weightlifter, David Katoatau, to defeat them to deem the Pacific Island's first ever Commonwealth Games medal a golden one.

In terms of the sport itself, I feel with hindsight that the first week of the Games largely passed me by. Yes, I enjoyed the likes of Alistair Brownlee illustrating his enduring brilliance with two triathlon titles, South Africa stunning New Zealand in the rugby sevens, and the likes of Euan Burton, Hannah Miley and Daniel Keatings lighting up the home crowd to win for Scotland.

Hannah Miley provided one of many great moments for the host nation in Glasgow
©Getty Images


But, maybe because we were too busy going from events in a constant rush to keep our live blog up to date, aptly described as a "monster that always needs feeding" by one of my colleagues, I wasn't really absorbing all of the drama as much as I would have if I had been watching it on the couch at home.

So in the last few days I made a conscious decision to do exactly that and was duly rewarded with a trio of equally exciting sporting experiences over the last three days of action.

The first came at Hampden Park in the crème de la crème of any athletics competition that is the men's 10,000m. In a 25-lap affair that was lacking the world and Olympic champion Mo Farah, which arguably made it that bit more exciting as a contest, half a dozen runners were still in contention with a lap to go. It was Cameron Levins of Canada, a training partner of Farah, who took up the running with 200 metres to go. He surged on the bend and for a moment seemed to be opening up daylight before Josphat Bett of Kenya edged ahead on the outside.

Moses Kipsiro edged a thrilling 10,000m race for the only Ugandan gold of the Games
©Getty Images



But then, out of nowhere, came Moses Kipsiro, who, four years after winning double gold at Delhi 2010, had been a lowly eighth in the 5,000m final five days earlier and had considered not even starting the longer affair. Yet, rather like his biblical namesake when he parted the Red Sea, the Ugandan surged clear to win a spectacular contest by mere inches.

Today is a time for "thank yous". It has been, quite simply, an incredible 11 days. And it is all down to the efforts, enthusiasm and energy of many thousands of people.  From athletes and officials to our clyde-siders and staff, from spectators at our venues to our partners and sponsors - everyone has gone out of their way to make Glasgow 2014 an extraordinary festival of fun and sport.

As Glasgow 2014 comes to an end tomorrow at Hampden Park ,the ceremonial Commonwealth Games flag will be passed to Gold Coast City Mayor Tom Tate. As the event has developed into a television spectacular over the last 30 years or so, the usual practice has been for the next hosts to offer a glimpse of  what they have to offer.

When Sydney took the flag in Atlanta at the 1996 Olympics, however,,they were criticised for a performance in which  the image which lingered in the memory was of kangaroos on bicycles. The Gold Coast would not reveal any details of their handover segment  although Mayor Tate insisted "we have moved on from Kangaroos".

The Gold Coast party piece  has been devised by David Atkins, one of the creative brains behind the Sydney 2000 ceremonies.

After the problems experienced with opening the Queen's Baton at the opening ceremony, the Gold Coast team were taking no chances and headed to Hampden to take part in rehearsals following an early morning press conference.

Queensland Commonwealth Games Minister Jann Stuckey will deliver a speech. "It will be one of the most nervous speeches of my life it is such a deep honour," she said.

Kangaroos on bicycles at the Closing Ceremony of Atlanta 1996 was a memorable part of the Sydney 2000 handover ©Wikipedia

Mayor Tate then receives the ceremonial flag. This will be kept in the Municipal buildings on the Gold Coast for the next four years until the Games are due to open on April 4, 2018.

"I was joking  with the Lord Provost of Glasgow, it is going to be hard to let go," said Tate. "I am going to have to tug hard to take it off her.When I touch the flag it will inspire our city."

Since its introduction, the handover segment has been a golden opportunity for the next host city to introduce itself. In Delhi, a lone piper played the opening chords of the popular bagpipe tune "The Black Bear". He was not alone for long as a "Highland  Charge."of some 350 youngsters raced into the stadium.

Some lifted the piper above their heads as the rest of the company performed Highland dances to traditional airs "Scotland the Brave" and "Auld Lang Syne". A maze of tartan appeared  on the floor of the arena and then as a grand finale  a representation of the "Armadillo" - officially the Clyde Auditorium - suddenly took shape in the Nehru Stadium. All that was missing was the waters of the River Clyde.


Glasgow's handover for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi featured a bagpiper and the Armadillo ©Glasgow 2014

There was no shortage of water the last time an Australian city performed at a handover for a Commonwealth Games. As the rains fell in  Manchester 2002, the Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks promised " another golden year " as he received the flag from Roy Walter, Lord Mayor of Manchester.

Singing star Vanessa Amorosi was revealed on stage behind a huge parcel bearing the legend "From Manchester to Melbourne". Dressed in bright red dress, she  received a soaking as she performed her hit "Shine" front of The Queen. Kylie Minogue will be hoping to stay dry when she sings at tomorrow's Ceremony. Although she is Australian she is not part of the Gold Coast segment. 

Her Majesty the Queen declared the Games closed for the first time at Edinburgh in 1970, the first occasion they were held in Scotland. Since then she has performed the closing on six other occasions, more than any other individual. She had been  also been scheduled to do so in 1958 but illness had prevented her from attending the Games in Cardiff. 

Her son, Prince Edward, VIce-Patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation, will close Glasgow 2014 with a traditional wish. "May they continue to display friendship and concord, so the spirit of our family of nations  may be carried on with enthusiasm, courage and honour for the good of humanity and peace of the world."

Philip Barker has worked as a television journalist for 25 years. He began his career with Trans World Sport, then as a reporter for Skysports News and the ITV breakfast programme. A regular Olympic pundit on BBC Radio, Sky News and Talksport, he is associate editor of the Journal of Olympic History, has lectured at the National Olympic Academy and contributed extensively to Team GB publications. To follow him on Twitter click here.

My palms were sweaty, knees were weak, arms were heavy; there was vomit on my sweater already, mum's spaghetti. I was nervous, but on the surface I looked calm and ready to drop bombs...

So, these Glasgow Games. Are they a "bit sh**" so far - or are they in fact "awesome"?

The latter judgement was voiced yesterday by the Games' highest of high profile competitors, Usain Bolt – the same man, according to a journalist on The Times, who voiced the former judgement on Tuesday as he waited in the rain for a car in the Athletes' Village.

The first thing Jamaica's multiple Olympic and world sprint champion did on hearing of The Times report was to deny it on his personal Twitter feed: "I'm waking up to this nonsense.. journalist please don't create lies to make headlines".

The paper stands "100 per cent" behind its story. (Incidentally, have you ever heard a paper stand anything less than 100 per cent behind its story?. "We stand 83 per cent behind our story." Doesn't quite cut it, I suppose...although on some occasions it might be a more accurate estimate.)

Meanwhile Bolt - who was flag-waving on behalf of the Jamaican netball team yesterday and giving a convincing imitation, if nothing better, of a man having a perfectly nice time - stands behind his denial.

Usain Bolt, who has denied describing the Glasgow 2014 Games as "a bit sh**", waves the flag for Jamaica's women netballers during yesterday's match against New Zealand 
©AFP/Getty Images

And the man standing behind him, his manager Ricky Simms, told the BBC the newspaper allegations were "utter rubbish."

And the man standing at the head of the Commonwealth Games Federation, its President Mike Hooper, announced: "We are taking Mr Bolt at his word."

In truth, you can imagine Bolt being less than totally thrilled to be in Glasgow in the rain at a time when injuries have hindered his preparations for the season. His decision to compete in Scotland was necessarily delayed, and the fact that he will compete only in the relay makes it clear that his commitment to the event is measured.

Five-times Olympic champion Sir Steve Redgrave, who took three rowing medals at the 1986 Edinburgh Games, the last Commonwealth Games to host the sport, understands what the sporting world looks like from the top.

"When you're a world megastar as he is, the Olympics is his platform, the world platform that he's looking for," Redgrave commented.

"I don't think the Commonwealth Games has captured his imagination or he'd have been trying to compete in all the events that he normally competes in instead of just the relay, so that's a little bit disappointing."

Four years ago the question of Commonwealth participation was academic as far as Bolt was concerned as he brought his season to an early end after his 100m defeat by Tyson Gay at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stockholm. That said, he had never indicated any intention of extending his season to October, when the Games were held in Delhi.

Having followed Bolt around the circuit that year, in the course of which I wrote a book about him - Usain Bolt, Fast As Lightning, BlackAmber Publications, £6.99 ($11.80/€8.81) if you must know - I can vouch for the fact that he was quite openly taking things easy in what he viewed as a gap year between the IAAF World Championships of Berlin and Daegu, speaking candidly about "slacking" in training.

After Gay had beaten him to the line in Stockholm's venerable stadium - built to host the 1912 Olympics, and offering the closest experience you can get to watching athletics at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - Bolt freely admitted: "I told you I'm not unbeatable. I did not train as hard as in past years, so I can't complain."

Usain Bolt is beaten by Tyson Gay at Stockholm's Olympic Stadium in August 2010. The Jamaican did not go on to run in that year's Commonwealth Games in Delhi, ending with immediate effect a season in which he freely admitted he had "slacked" in training
©AFP/Getty Images

Back in the eighties, the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Michael Kelly, launched an advertising campaign with the title, "Glasgow's Miles Better". This week it has been a case of "Glasgow SMILES Better" fronted up by mascot Clyde, for almost everyone in this city has embraced these 20th Commonwealth Games.

From the moment the cheers erupted as the Queen arrived at the Opening Ceremony, you knew this had the potential to be very special indeed.

It all began with double English gold in the triathlon on the opening day. Jodie Stimpson was the first to stand on the rostrum in the entire Games and in the men's event, Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and brother Jonny both emulated their Olympic success, this time it was with gold and silver

There was a Scottish sister act by Louise and Kim Renicks who each won a Judo title on the same day. It recalled the exploits of Australia brother and sister John and Ilsa Konrads, who also struck gold within a couple of hours in Cardiff in 1958.

Sisters Kim (left) and Louise Renicks of Scotland each won judo gold at Glasgow 2014 on the same day ©Getty Images



Glasgow had its own Australian swimming sibling sensation. David and Emma McKeon walked away with four gold medals between them and when you consider their dad, Ron, was a multiple Games champion, the family medal cabinet will be positively bulging when they touch down back home over the next two days.

The Aussie swim mascot Boxing Kangaroo or "BK" for short, has been ever present at the newly enlarged Tollcross International Pool. His designated handler is known as "The Zookeeper". On one night he even met Wills and Kate, or to give them their proper title when in Scotland, The Earl and Countess of Strathearn.

By their own high standards Australia had a disappointing time of it at London 2012, but as gold medallist Ben Treffers observed, "You don't look back, the past is something you cannot change. We have moved on from 2012, it is two different teams."

Australia's marathoners also continued a glorious trail which stretched back to 1958 when Dave Power won in Cardiff through Rob the Deek de Castella and Steve Moneghetti, now Chef de Mission of the entire Australian team.

The Commonwealth Games could teach the Olympics something about the choice of presenters. Wherever possible they ask a distinguished former champion to do the honours. Thus we saw Jim Alder back in the stadium to present the men's marathon medals.

The medals had not yet been decided when the Queen headed for the hockey centre but in these first Games to really embrace social media, a delightful photo of two Australian athletes appeared to show the Queen "photo bombing". The cue for every grandmother in the country to try and do the same.

The Queen photobombed a selfie by Team Australia hockey player Jayde Taylor ©Twitter

Can the Olympics put some spring back into the step of golf, a sport that has been struggling in recent times to attract new players at a fast enough rate in mature markets to replace old-timers hanging up their clubs?

We will begin to find out the answer over the next few years, after the ancient game has made its Olympic return, along with rugby, at Rio 2016.

In the meantime, just how gloomy has the situation become?

To be honest, based on statistics supplied to me by Sports Marketing Surveys Inc, a specialist sports research consultancy, there must be plenty of sports that would love to have golf's problems.

An economic impact study for Europe, compiled by the firm on behalf of golf bodies led by the Professional Golfers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland, concluded that in 2012 the game of golf contributed more than €15 billion (£12 billion/$20 billion) to the European economy.

To put this into broader context, as the report itself says: "In 2012, Spain's defence budget was €10.5 billion (£8.3 billion/$14.1 billion); the UK overseas aid budget was €11 billion (£9 billion/$15 billion) and its protection budget (police, fire, criminal justice, prisons etc.) was €16.9 billion (£13.4 billion/$22.7 billion)."

Furthermore, golf was found to be responsible in Europe for "a minimum of 180,000 full-time equivalent jobs and employee wages of not less than €4.4 billion (£3.4 billion/$5.9 billion)".

Extending the geographic scope, the study alludes to other estimates of the economic impact of golf in the United States - €52.6 billion (£41.6 billion/$70.6 billion) - and Australia - €2.3 billion (£1.8 billion/$3.1 billion).

Add it all together and you are left with a sport that makes a €70 billion (£53 billion/$94 billion) contribution to the global economy - and that is taking no account of Asia, a vast continent in parts of which the sport is both highly aspirational and popular with both genders.

Where the picture becomes less positive is in golf's rate of growth, at least in mature markets.

As the Sports Marketing Surveys Inc study explains, "the golf economy in the US has been hit by the global economic crisis"; meanwhile the €15.1 billion (£11.9 billion/$20.3 billion) figure that the study came up with for Europe was actually marginally smaller than an estimate it had produced in 2006, before recession hit.

The researcher's analysis of golf participation in Great Britain, the most mature golf market of all, maintained over a long period, found that the number of adults who had played at least one round of golf in 2013 was down to 3.36 million - equivalent to 6.6 per cent of the adult population - whereas in some years over the previous decade this figure had flirted with, and once exceeded, the 4 million mark.

The number of "core" golfers (adults playing a full-length round of nine or 18 holes at least once a month) is about 1.5 million, down from a high-water mark of close to 1.8 million in 2004, based on a two-year rolling average.

Golf contributed more than €15 billion to the European economy in 2012 ©Getty Images




"Avid" golfers, playing what is an undeniably time-consuming game, again on a full-length course, at least once a week, have halved to around 400,000 since 2001.

The average age of golfing adults in Britain is 45 - up from 41.6 in 2007, and the average age of "avid" golfers, as most of those of working age rush from pillar to post trying to make ends meet, is 63 - which at least underlines one of the sport's main strengths: its ability to be played enjoyably throughout life.

So where does this all leave us?

Stephen Proctor, one of the experts behind the Sports Marketing Surveys Inc data, who has now been studying golf markets for three decades, observes that, while participation in developed and semi-developed golf markets is in slight decline, peripheral activities linked to the elite end of the game, such as corporate hospitality and sponsorship, are showing "significant growth".

This trend, he says, is "tied into people liking to watch sports on TV".

The relative affluence of golf fans, in comparison to followers of perhaps the majority of other sports, also augments the game's appeal to many prospective corporate partners.

Could Rory McIlroy's popularity stimulate growth in golf? ©Getty Images




From which one might conclude that one effective way of stimulating growth, beyond the boost that the incipient economic recovery will in any case provide, might be to augment free-to-air coverage of the sport - particularly at a time when a charismatic young champion, in the shape of Rory McIlroy, looks on the verge of recognition as a true great in the making.

Free-to-air coverage of golf, Proctor says, alluding specifically to the United Kingdom, is now "very, very low"; the pay-television programming, he adds, though offering "excellent coverage", is "preaching to the converted".

The vast majority of the Olympic Games' enormous television audience around the world do tune in, of course, on free-to-air television.

So this is one way in which the sport's return to the Games after a more than century-long hiatus should help, even if we are only talking about a few days of supplementary free-to-air coverage once every four years.

Where Proctor expects a real stimulus, however, is in the new markets of South America, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa, where the sport has made strides in recent times, but from a low base.

He explains: "In a lot of less developed markets, financial support for sport is limited to the Olympic programme.

"Therefore all sorts of relatively undeveloped markets will now put a certain amount into golf development.

"This is potentially hugely beneficial to the game."

The gender balance of golfers varies significantly from country to country, with the proportion of women golfers ranging from about 15 to 35 per cent, depending on the market.

It will be interesting to see if an Olympic golf competition in which men's and women's competitions will take place nearly simultaneously will have any impact on this.

"Simultaneous men's and women's competitions don't happen at all at the moment," Proctor says.

"The closest we have had was this year's US Open, where the women played [on the same course] a week later."

George Lyon was the last Olympic golf champion ©Wikipedia




As for other changes that could help golf to capitalise fully on its growth potential, Proctor cites a "more open and welcoming attitude" on the part of golf facilities.

Though quite a lot of progress has been made on this front in recent times, sometimes under commercial pressure, he feels that many clubs are still "over-formal for the younger generation".

He appears somewhat sceptical about the likelihood of gimmicks, such as formats of the game with larger holes to speed up play, making much of a difference.

"Lots have been tried and none have really succeeded," he says.

"Maybe at some point someone will come up with something that works, but nobody has yet done it.

"It doesn't seem to catch the public imagination, probably because golf is a very good traditional game and, once you have played it that way, that's the way you want to go on playing it."

George Lyon, a Canadian cricketer who took up golf at the age of 38, has reigned as Olympic golf champion for a very long time, since 1904.

Whatever the wider impact of Olympic golf on the sport at large, that reign is nearly over.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

When I first touched down on Scottish soil last Saturday, at Edinburgh Airport to be precise, I realised moments after landing that my trusty rucksack had disappeared from the overhead locker where I had left it.

To my surprise the aircraft crew were not particularly sympathetic and were just launching into a well rehearsed line about how "it is always people forgetting where they put things in these situations", when a sheepish co-passenger wandered back up the steps clutching the bag he had taken by mistake.

After then struggling to find directions to the right bus stop before encountering weather completely alien to someone who had arrived straight from a balmy Lausanne, I was beginning to be worried...

Were these Games going to be difficult? Had the Scottish Independence vibe got so bad that anyone from south of the border would meet with hostility?

But as soon as I got into Glasgow I realised I was completely wrong to even consider these views. The Games have been extremely well organised, the volunteers helpful and enthusiastic, the many soldiers and police a reassuring presence, and the spectators successfully recreating the levels of excitement that made London 2012 such a resounding success.

Even the weather has joined the party, and at time of writing at the Kelvingrove Lawn Bowls Centre, the heat and bright sunshine is deeming ice creams and sun-tan lotion far more important than umbrellas and copious layers of clothing.

Lawn bowls at Kelvingrove is one picturesque venue at the Commonwealth Games
©Getty Images



Yes, there have been occasional problems, but this is purely nitpicking. Like at every other multi-sport event I have attended, there are occasional issues with the transport system, and I had one memorable journey to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome when, after the bus lost power and was forced into an emergency stop on the hard shoulder, the driver radioed for a back-up vehicle to be sent to rescue us, only for no-one to answer his call in the transport office, and us to be left to make alternative arrangements.