Team Shetland ready to go

SHETLAND’s team of 83 sportsmen and women are in the process of final preparations before setting off for this year’s NatWest Islands Games, held in the Isle of Wight between 25th June and 1st July.

The island off the south coast of England is set to welcome 3,500 competitors from 24 islands for one of the largest sporting events in the run up to the Olympic Games, next year.

The Shetland team plus their 12 officials will leave the isles on board a NorthLink passenger vessel on Thursday night. The team will stay at a caravan park at Cheverton near Sandown where most of the events will be taking place.

Shetland’s athletes will this year participate in ten sports: archery, athletics, badminton, cycling, golf, sailing, shooting, squash, swimming and table-tennis.

The first medals up for grabs are those for the half marathon on Sunday (26th June) when Karen Fraser and Charlotte Black start in the women’s half marathon, and Karl Simpson and Russell Gair in men’s.

Team manager Bob Kerr said preparation was going well and everybody in the team were keen to get going.

“The excitement is building across the team. We are looking forward to a week of exciting competitions and some medals across the range of sports,” he said.