Island Games committee visit brings
international flavour
(Article dated: March, 21, 2002)

The spotlight is on local and international sports this week, as Orkney hosts a meeting of the International Island Games committee over the next two days.

Twelve members of the International Island Games Executive Committee arrived in Orkney, yesterday, from as far afield as Gotland in Sweden, Saaremaa in Estonia, and the Baltic Sea islands of Aland, for a meeting to discuss future plans for the prestigious island sporting event.

The two-day meeting is to take place today and tomorrow at the Orkney Hotel and will be followed by a civic reception at Kirkwall Town Hall on Friday evening. The weekend will feature visits to as many of Orkney’s sporting venues – as time and weather permit – a tour of Mainland Orkney, and a ceilidh at the Quayside Suite at the Pickaquoy Centre on Saturday night.

Among the visitors are Isle of Man-based representatives of Nat West who sponsor the games, and vice-chairman of the Island Games Executive Committee, Bo Frykenstam, from Gotland. Mr Frykenstam is a former chairman of the Goltland Athletics Federation and a member of the Swedish Badminton Federation’s Development Committee. He has attended every lsland Games since their inception in 1985.

Chairman of Orkney Island Games Association, Mrs Karen Williams, explained: “Every year, between games, they visit the islands. This year they chose Orkney. Two years ago they went to Shetland.”

During the meeting, she added, members are to discuss the 2003 Games, future sponsorship and options for future games. They are also set to look at applications to join the Island Games from three islands or island groups – namely Malta, Minorca and the Western Isles – which, if all three were adopted, would bring the membership up to 26.

She added: “We would like to increase awareness of the scale of the Island Games. It’s a big competition. There were over 2,000 competitors in the last one in the Isle of Man.”

Next year’s Island Games, she added, are to be held in Guernsey, with Shetland confirmed as the host for the 2005 event.

“We would love it to come to Orkney, but the scale of it is so big, we couldn’t accommodate everyone. They would like to have smaller ones so that islands like ourselves could hold one,” she said.

Although accommodation for a large contingent of incoming athletes is a problem she added, facilities in Orkney were now improving, thanks in part to the Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall Grammar School and local golf courses. At present, she explained, the Island Games feature six core sports – athletics, swimming, badminton, volleyball and shooting, with additional sporting events dependant on the host island’s facilities and specialities. However, she added, Orkney still lacks facilities for events such as small-bore shooting.

More information on the International Island Games Association can be obtained from their website at www.islandgames.net.