Sport is One Way Forward
Tue, 17 Jul 2012
At the Annual General Meeting of the IIGA last Saturday the Membership unanimously elected Gotland as the Host of the 2017 Games.
It was also agreed that discussions regarding the hosting of future Games would continue - with the Faroe Islands for the 2019 Games and Menorca for 2021. This way our Association will be securing Host Islands for many years to come. This is both necessary and progressive. The Membership of the IIGA are determined to make a difference and to help their Islands and islanders become a little less insular. We all want to help our people grow in sport and make friends, all of which they might not do if the NatWest Island Games did not exist. By developing sport and encouraging international competition we are inspiring our youth of today to make a difference tomorrow. Thanks to the friendship in sport, societies have been improved and young islanders have grown into international citizens.
The International Island Games Association has, together with the people within its family, been developing sport since 1985. Ten of our Member Islands have hosted our Games. The legacies are many and varied. Venues have been built and upgraded, sports have been developed and people have grown, thanks to this international competition. The reason the Games have succeeded is not only down to the Host Islands. We are all in this together; the success of the NatWest Island Games is the direct result of many islands working together for the love of sport and for the development of their island communities.
On behalf of the IIGA, the organisation with overall responsibility for the success of the NatWest Island Games, we cannot stress enough the importance that all of our Member Islands take an active part in the ongoing development of our Association by doing their utmost to attend the Annual General Meetings as well as sending competitors to the Games. I would like to express my thanks to all those present at the AGM in Bermuda last Saturday. Thanks to your input we can continue to build an even stronger and better Association.
Sincerely
Jorgen Pettersson
IIGA Chairman
