Jon Beard the Chairman of the Bermuda Island Games Association attended the Annual General Meeting of the International Island Games Association (IIGA) held recently in the Isle of Wight - Host to the NatWest Island Games XIV - 2011.
During the meeting the Membership awarded the NatWest Island Games XVI - 2015 to Jersey. The Membership will decide on the Host for 2017 Games at the Annual General Meeting to be held in Bermuda in 2012.
NatWest revealed that they will continue as Title Sponsor to the IIGA. This announcement was very warmly received by everyone as thanks to this excellent relationship our Member Islands have not only been brought together in friendly competition, they have also benefitted to a total of over £100,000 awarded through grants from the NatWest Sports Development Programme to assist with the development of the Games sports in their islands.
The Future of the Games Strategy Report was discussed and the recommendations put forward by the Executive Committee were unanimously agreed. Chairman Jorgen Pettersson said, “I would like, on behalf of the Executive, to thank the Member Islands for their support for the Executive Committee and their work on this important topic. The Executive will now begin work on the proposals to be placed before the Membership at the AGM next summer in the Isle of Wight”.
The Members had to choose between two very strong Bids which is a sign of the ever increasing development within the Islands of our Games Family. Our Association has been organizing the Games for our sportspeople every second year since 1985. It is fair to say that both of the bidding Islands deserved to become the Host for 2015 but as in any competition there can be only one winner. However many of the membership would like to see Gotland bid again for the 2017 Games so as not to waste all the work which has been put into this Bid.
|
