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Gibraltar 2019 preview visit

News Release - 02 July 2018

Gibraltar panorama, looking south across the Strait of Gibraltar. Credit: Gibraltar Tourist Board Enlarge Image


Representatives of competing islands will meet in Gibraltar later this week for a preview visit exactly one year ahead of the 2019 NatWest International Island Games. 

Two delegates from Shetland Island Games Association will also attend - Karen Woods, Chair and Bob Kerr, Secretary - along with representatives of the other twenty three competing islands.  Delegates will also attend the Annual General Meeting of the International Island Games Association, due to take place on Saturday.

Among items on the agenda for the AGM will be whether to award the 2023 Games to Orkney, who are bidding to host the event that year.  In 2016, Guernsey was awarded the honour of hosting the 2021 Games, having hosted the Games twice previously, in 1987 and 2003.

The next Games will take place from Saturday 6th – Friday 12th July 2019 in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory dominated by the famous Rock of Gibraltar and with a resident population of around 33,000.  The Gibraltar Island Games Association has been a regular Games participant since 1987 and previously hosted the Games in 1995. 

The 2019 Games will include a programme of fourteen sports: athletics, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, cycling, judo, sailing, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis, tenpin bowling, tennis and triathlon.   Among this list, the sports of bowling, judo, sailing and squash make a return to the 2019 Games, having been left out of the sports programme of the 2017 Games, held in the Swedish island of Gotland.

Karen Woods said: "The Gibraltar Organising Committee have been in regular contact with islands throughout their early preparations for 2019.  We're looking forward to a visit in person, to inspect their sports venues and their plans for accommodation for Games participants. 

“We'll also have the chance to find out details of the sports programmes and local transport.  On our return, we'll be sharing this information with our committee to help with our planning for 2019, which will gather pace over the coming months."

Local engineering firm Malakoff Limited is the current Team Sponsor for Shetland Island Games Association, having supported the Team's participation at the Games since 2013.

ENDS