The stage is literally set at the University at Buffalo, where tonight nearly 6,000 athletes from throughout the state will march into UB Stadium and cheer the lighting of the Empire State Games torch.

The 14 venues throughout Western New York that will host 25 sports are set to host four days of competition.

For a moment, one can almost forget the Games ever went away.

But they did -- just ask any athlete who was used to participating in them. It was "a bummer," "just ridiculous." The most common response: "We were so disappointed."

The 32nd edition of the Games was scheduled to occur last year in the Hudson Valley before state budgetary problems led to their cancellation. The Games return tonight in Buffalo after two years of planning, more than a year of uncertainty and an unprecedented effort by the host region.

"My first time playing in the Games was in 2008 and it was a great experience, a lifetime experience, and I'm looking forward to doing it again," said men's open volleyball player Hans Schroeder, a Kenmore West graduate who won gold in 2008 and helped Nazareth College to the Division III final four this past season. "It's a mini-Olympics. It feels like an honor -- you're playing a sport you love to play, but you're playing for more than your sport or your team. You're playing for your region and you take a lot of pride in it."

On the fields, in the pools, on the courts and around the track, the Games will very much look the same. The ESG template for the athletic competition between the six regions (Western, Central, Adirondack, Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island) is almost exactly like the 2008 Games in Binghamton.

The 25 sports is down from 26, with sailing the only sport missing. Sailing, as well as the skeet and trap competitions in shooting, were left out this year but not due to financial reasons -- both were not held due to venue issues, according to Games director Fred Smith.

In the track and field competition at UB Stadium, some of the same high school athletes who lined up against each other at the state championships will be there while several of UB's own Division I athletes will compete on their home track.

The ice hockey competition at the Audubon Recreation Complex will feature the kind of young talent that in recent years has produced recent Olympians like Buffalo's Patrick Kane and Rochester's Lyndsay Wall.

At the lacrosse venues at Canisius College (boys) and Niagara University (girls), the fields will be full of some of the nation's top recruits in the sport.

Team sports like baseball, basketball, volleyball and softball will feature top high school players, current Division I standouts and even some former college stars who get to put on a uniform again and show they've still got some game. There are Section VI champions competing in wrestling, diving and tennis. In Olympic sports like archery, shooting, weightlifting and synchronized swimming, top competitors will again have their chance to bask in the state-wide spotlight.

In size and talent level, the Western roster appears very much like Games of the past decade. There was negligible turnover among coaches as many returned from 2008.

Western Region director Doug Ames said that local teams appear strong even though the total number of athletes that attended tryouts were down from 2008. The Western Region has dominated the Games, topping the overall medal count in 28 of its 31 years.

"The numbers are down but the quality is there," Ames said. "Western is going to have a good showing -- we'll showcase athletes from Buffalo and Rochester and we'll have a good Games."

Smith said the feedback he has gotten from regional directors has been similar -- that numbers are down slightly but that regions have fielded teams in most every sport -- with Hudson Valley's lack of a men's and women's open soccer team the exception.

"It was not too difficult getting things going because the players are still so honored to be a part of the Games," said Central girls lacrosse coach Lyn Reitenbach, who said her tryout numbers were actually up from the 2008 Games hosted by her region in Binghamton.

"One of the humps we had to get over was that some people weren't convinced that this was going to happen and I think some people made plans early on," said Smith.

In addition to dealing with the year off, Smith and Games officials had to navigate the new online registration system which accompanied the new fee system that helped fund this year's Games.

The fees ($10 for tryouts, $25 for open athletes' room and board) helped fill the budget gap that forced the cancellation of last year's Games, when the state's contribution went from $2.7 million to zero.

That created a tremendous task for the Local Organizing Committee. Such committees have always been required to raise funds and provide crucial volunteers, but never the amounts that needed to be made up this year.

"It was a challenge, no question about it," said Ralph Galanti, chairman of the local organizing committee. "But I always say this -- and I sound like a broken record -- the Western New York community is just wonderful. I asked for volunteers to be on the executive board of the LOC and 32 came on. We had hundreds in the subcommittees and volunteers started coming out of the woodwork.

"The main thing was the money part, and that's when big business stepped forward. Those people really came through for us. They believed in the Games and they believed in Western New York."

The biggest step came when First Niagara signed on as a presenting sponsor with $500,000.

At the time of the announcement of First Niagara's support, Carol Ash, commissioner of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, said: "The state of New York and the Empire Games were in real trouble. We were not going to be able to have enough money to put on the Games this summer."

First Niagara then helped rally other businesses to provide about $600,000 in funds and support and then devoted more of its own money to publicizing the Games in advertisements and marketing, like the Games' Torch Tour throughout the state and several billboards around the region.

"Things really took off when First Niagara signed on as a presenting sponsor," said Smith. "That really gave not only us administratively, but locally, a lot of impetus in moving forward, and it helped in signing on more sponsors. It's just been terrific."

The preparation of this year's Games have already set a new standard for local organizing and fundraising, but what happens on the field of play this week may affect what the Games' event list might look like in 2011.

"We didn't want to mess with too much of [the Games' sports] going into this year because of the cancellation," Smith said. "It was difficult enough to get by that issue and people want to put games back on their schedule. With the change with online registration and the fee, we didn't want to come into 2010 with a whole slate of changes to the sports.

"But we've put everyone [in their respective sports] on notice. We'll certainly evaluate each and every aspect of the Games with our regional directors in September. We'll take it apart and put it back together and see what needs tweaking."

Ames, the athletic director at Newfane, is in his first year leading the Western Region after more than a decade of involvement with the Games. Ames took over the post from 11-year director Lou Reuter, who died of cancer last August.

"It was hard dealing with the loss of Lou, but even though he is gone he is far from forgotten," said Western wrestling coach Jeff Mye. "Lou was one of the finest men I have ever met and he worked tirelessly and dedicated himself to the athletes of Western and to the Games themselves. Replacing Lou was a very difficult task, and Doug Ames has been up to the challenge."

Said Smith: "Doug, who worked with Lou for years, has taken on a big task but he's up to it. I'm sure the people who knew and loved Lou will certainly support Doug and all the athletes in Western New York. Lou will certainly be missed."

kmcshea@buffnews.comnull