Jersey stakes its claim for 2015 Island Games
Jersey News, 10 December 2009 – Jersey has formally submitted its bid to host the 2015 Island Games.
The island, which last hosted the Games in 1997, is vying with Gotland (hosts in 1999) to stage the 16th Games, which have been held every two years since the inaugural competition in the Isle of Man in 1985.
A final decision on the host island for 2015 will be made by the 25 member islands of the International Island Games Association (IGA) at its annual general meeting in the Isle of Wight in June 2010.
In the meantime, two representatives from the IGA Executive will be visiting Jersey in late January to view the proposed facilities and assess the technical and operational arrangements outlined in the formal bid document.
Phil Austin, the chairman of the Jersey 2015 Bid Committee, explained that the main purpose of the January visit was so the IGA Executive could satisfy itself that Jersey had the necessary infrastructure in place to host the Games.
“Since we last staged the Island Games, both the number of islands and the number of competitors has risen and this summer in Aland there were over 3,000 athletes taking part,” he said
However, as the number of sports is capped at 14, the Jersey Bid Committee has had the difficult job of deciding which sports should form part of its formal bid.
“There are 18 approved sports which have traditionally been part of the Island Games and we have had to leave out four, which is never easy,” added Mr Austin.
He said they had used two key criteria to determine which ones to put forward. Firstly, they had looked at whether each sport had the necessary facilities, as well as the technical knowledge and administrative ability, to successfully host Island Games competition.
“Unsurprisingly, all did,” said Mr Austin. “Therefore, we had to decide which sports would be most attractive to the other member islands, so we looked at how often each sport had appeared in the Games and at how many islands and competitors had taken part in them. We also surveyed the other 24 islands to see what sports they wanted us to put on, as ultimately it will be for them to decide which of the two bidders gets the Games.”
The final 14 chosen were archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, cycling, football, golf, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon and volleyball.
However, for those sports which haven’t made the final selection, Mr Austin stressed that both the Jersey Island Games Association and Education, Sport and Culture are keen to work with them to ensure that their development is maintained in the coming years.
“We understand the importance of giving all our sports the opportunity to compete and to foster links with other islands.”
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