With only 100 days to go before the Opening Ceremonies of the NatWest Island Games [in Bermuda], preparations continue for the competition which will see 14 sports contested at 15 venues across the island from 13th July until 19th July.

To date, 2,000 participants have registered from the 24 participating Islands including competitors, officials, and international journalists.

Final numbers will be known mid May but so far the biggest team after Bermuda [300], is Guernsey [218] followed by Faroe Islands [158], Cayman Islands [145] and Isle of Wight (136). The smallest team is St. Helena with 9, followed by Alderney with 10.

Out of the 14 sports, the largest competitions in the Games will be athletics, volleyball, swimming and football with all taking part over the entire week. Detailed schedules can be found on all events within the next week on their website.

Educational Packages will be released to all local schools to try and get as many children involved in the Games as possible. There will also be a competition for all school children to enter to ‘Name The Mascot’ [a tree frog].

A spokesperson said, “The Games are wholly dependent on sponsorship. Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to the Bermuda Government, the Department of Youth, Sport & Recreation, Department of Tourism and NatWest for their generous support.

“In addition, many local and international businesses have sponsored the Games as well such as Amlin, Argo Group, Banfi, Bank of Bermuda Foundation, BCM McAlpine,Bermuda Forwarders Ltd., Butterfield Bank, Butterfield & Vallis, Digicel, Highland Springs, Hiscox, MS Frontier Re, Platinum Re, Tops Ltd. and XL Foundation. It is never too late to be involved in the Games and any support, big or small, financial or in kind, is most welcome.

“Of course volunteers are crucial to the success of the Games and there are still a wide variety of roles to be filled. Mrs. Diane Gordon has taken on the role of organizing the volunteers for the weeklong event, which we estimate a number of 1,000 people to be involved. You can register on our website or the Center of Philanthropy website. Alternatively you can contact Diane directly via email [email protected]

Minister of Community and Cultural Development Wayne Scott said, “During the summer of 2008, Bermuda secured its bid to host the NatWest Island Games 2013. Since then a great deal of planning and preparations have been undertaken to ensure that the Games are well facilitated and the ultimate success we all envision.

“This is a unique opportunity to showcase what Bermuda has to offer not only as a venue for sports but all that our island has to offer from our beautiful scenery to our lovely people and we will do all we can to give you the best Games ever!”

For more on this story go to:

http://bernews.com/2013/04/2000-participants-register-for-island-games/