The first legacy project of the Durban 2022 Commonwealth Games has been launched by organisers‚ aimed at the youth by stimulating job creation and delivering free education. Nation of Champions — coined after a 2003 statement by Nelson Mandela‚ who said‚ “Let us commit to our common goal‚ a nation where all of us are winners. Let us build a nation of champions” — is a portal that will provide youth with free access to courses‚ skills‚ mentorship and networking.Madoda Khuzwayo‚ who is spearheading the project alongside the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and Dr Nik Eberl‚ the creator of the Peer-to-Peer Mentoring System‚ is targeting one-million registered users within 12 months.He believes big business will benefit too because they can access the skills they need using the portal.“Nation of Champions‚ with its intended ability to unite communities through the power of sport‚ and the generation of business opportunities for years to come‚ supports these and provides the base to secure our youth‚” he said.Khuzwayo stressed he wanted no tax money used in the project — it will be self-sustaining‚ with funds generated being ploughed back.His model is to raise cash through advertising sales and sponsorships.Free courses would be offered through open.edu‚ and once funding came in‚ he would organise paid courses through colleges.The portal is already accessible at www.nationofchampions.com‚ but Khuzwayo said an application was planned.Present at the launch in Johannesburg on Wednesday were Sascoc president Gideon Sam and Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevenberg‚ who was impressed with the project.“The concept of Nation of Champions is pure genius in its simplicity and formidable in its ambition‚” said Grevenberg.“By harnessing the online social power of the internet‚ Nation of Champions will support the development of a learned and sharing economy that aims to connect young citizens with opportunities in order to nurture a sustainable and prosperous citizen and workforce base that benefits South Africa and the nations of the Commonwealth in the lead-up to…Durban 2022…and beyond.”He hopes the project will spread to the 71 Commonwealth members.The Durban 2022 local organising committee has yet to be established‚ but Sam said it had to be instituted within 100 days from September 2‚ when the city was officially awarded the Games. That is in early December. ..