News Release
NATWEST ISLAND GAMES XI, SHETLAND - 9-15 July 2005
What:
The NatWest Island Games are a biennial international multi-sport event - larger in scale than the Winter Olympics - established in the Isle of Man in
1985 by the International Island Games Association (IGA). 2,500 athletes, team managers and officials, from 24 island communities throughout the world will compete in 15 sports in a unique week long festival of sport.
When:
From 9 to 15 July 2005
Where:
The Shetland Islands are situated 200 miles North of Aberdeen and 225 miles West of Bergen. Made up of a diverse group of over 100 islands, bordered by jagged cliffs and bleached white beaches, Shetland is ruled by water. The mainland of Shetland is approximately 70 miles in length and 35 miles wide, with a population of around 23,000. http://www.visitshetland.com
Sports & Venues:
15 different team and individual sports have been chosen from a list of 18 set down by the IGA: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Bowls, Cycling, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Sailboarding, Sailing, Shooting, Squash, Swimming, Table Tennis and Volleyball.
Shetland will host more than 390 top class sporting events being staged at more than 18 venues across Shetland's 100 islands; venues that include Britain's most northerly golf course, clay pigeon shooting range and floodlit Astroturf pitch and some of the best indoor sports facilities to be found anywhere in the UK.
Competing Islands & Athletes:
Athletes will travel huge distances to compete in Shetland. The 24 member islands of the IGA are: Aland, Alderney, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Froya, Gibraltar, Gotland, Greenland, Guernsey, Hitra, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Jersey, Orkney, Prince Edward Island, Rhodes, Saaremaa, Sark, Shetland, St. Helena, Western Isles, Ynys Mon.
The NatWest Island Games have produced many sports stars who have gone on to shine at Olympic and Commonwealth levels. Among these talented sports men and women are Kelly Sotherton (Isle of Wight), the Olympic bronze medal winning heptathlete; Simon Militis (Jersey) and Darren Mew (Isle of Wight), arch rivals in the pool throughout the 1990's, who both represented Great Britain in Sydney and in Manchester, with Militis winning a Commonwealth Games bronze medal; Mattias Sunneborn (Gotland) who won a long jump world indoor silver medal; and Carl Prean (Isle of Wight), one of the world's top ten table tennis players.
Scotland will be well represented at this year's NatWest Island Games with three teams attending the event. The Western Isles, who were accepted into the IGA in Guernsey in 2002, will participate for the first time alongside Shetland and Orkney. However they will have strong competition from the other British islands in the competition Alderney, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Jersey, Sark and Ynys Mon.
History of the Games:
The NatWest Island Games were established in 1985 by the International Island Games Association (IGA) to provide an opportunity for athletes from island communities, with a population of less than 125,000, to compete at international level. Shetland, whose team has participated in every one of the ten previous Island Games, is the first Scottish member island to host the games; and with a population of approximately 23,000 it is the smallest island population ever to host this large-scale event.
The 'Inter' Island Games were established in the Isle of Man in 1985 by the International Island Games Association (IGA) to provide an opportunity for athletes from island communities, with a population of less than 125,000, to compete at international level, whilst fostering strong cultural exchanges and lifelong friendships. Initially 700 competitors from 15 islands took part in 7 sports. Guernsey hosted the Games in 1987 and they have subsequently been held in the Faroe Islands, Aland, Isle of Wight, Gibraltar, Jersey, Gotland, Isle of Man and Guernsey.
Shetland is the first Scottish member island to host the games; and with a population of approximately 23,000 it is the smallest island population ever to host this large-scale event.
Rhodes will host the games in 2007.
NatWest is the official sponsor to the IGA and the NatWest Island Games and have sponsored the Games since 1999.
Funding Partners
Shetland Islands Council, Shetland Charitable Trust, EventScotland and sportscotland
Sponsors and Supporters
NatWest is the official sponsor to the IGA and the NatWest Island Games.
A large number of Shetland businesses are also supporting the games.
http://www.shetland2005.info/
Useful Websites
NatWest Island Games XI, Shetland 2005: http://www.shetland2005.info/ NatWest Island Games and the IGA: http://www.Islandgames.net/ NatWest Island Games XI, Shetland 2005, event results website http//www.shetlandresults2005.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
Paddy Cuthbert - Podge Publicity :
17 - 23 Calton Road, Edinburgh EH8 8DL
T: 0131 477 2037 / F: 0131 558 3904 / M: 07968 699 636
E: paddy@podge.co.uk / W: www.podge.co.uk