GLASGOW, Scotland — Like life itself, not everything goes exactly to plan. If you are lucky, however, most things may.

Chef de mission of Jamaica’s delegation at the XX Commonwealth Games, Major Desmon Brown, is happy that “most things” have gone to plan, and for that, he seems grateful.

On arrival here just ahead of the start to these games, there were some nervy moments. The Jamaicans were confronted with, among other things, an issue with accommodations for their athletes due to an oversubscribed games’ village. Then there was a matter of late registration, but those matters were resolved without any lasting pain.

“We had some issues with accommodations and had to have some athletes being housed at the University of Glasgow, and we have had a challenge getting them around,” Major Brown told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Regarding the matter of housing, the Jamaican lead official put the source of the problem down to numbers. “I think the organisers got some 1,000 athletes more than they expected,” he said.

Jamaica has some 159 athletes on their list and 25 officials, the largest contingent ever dispatched to the Commonwealth Games. They are also participating in a record 11 disciplines of 17 offered here.

Brown, the general manager of Independence Park Limited (IPL), said now that the championship is off and running, his team’s organisational work will manifest itself. He said he foresees no glitches with the start of the massive track an field programme on Sunday.

“The games have started and things are going well… our netballers have won their first game and we could win our first medal tonight (yesterday) in swimming.

“I don’t expect any problems now that the track and field will start. It’s our job to continue to support our coaches and athletes, and we will do that.”

Overall, Major Brown has graded Glasgow favourably as a host.

“The facilities here are very good, I wish I could just lift some of them and just take back to Jamaica. So when you look at it, it’s amazing what our athletes have been able to do,” he said.

The warmth of the Scottish people cannot be missed, and Major Brown believes that quality has helped in shaping what is on course to be a successful 11 days of competition.

“The people of Scotland have been very friendly and helpful. Whenever there is an issue they are always ready to help in having it resolved,” he noted.

Asked to compare his job as IPL boss and his current role as chef de mission, Brown conceded they are both vast in scope and engaging, but there is a fundamental divide.

“They are really different challenges, as my world at IPL is more about managing infrastructure, while here it’s more to do with people,” he concluded.

— Sean Williams