2019 Gibraltar Island Games approaching fast

Monday 27 August 2018

Guernsey's Island Games Teams are ramping up their preparations ahead of the 2019 Gibraltar Island Games, which is now just over 300 days away.

The games will see a number of sports involved for the first time in years, such as Judo, but will in total host 14 sports.

As part of the preparations ahead of the next games, it has been announced that Generali Worldwide's support of the major sporting event is continuing, with it providing a bursary scheme to two sports.

Both Judo and Squash will benefit from the bursary, which will be used to help them train and prepare. 

The company’s sponsorship of the Guernsey Island Games Team started in 2011 and 18 individual sports have used the bursary scheme in different ways to support grassroots and high-performance sport in Guernsey.

Generali has committed to sponsoring the association until 2021, when Guernsey will once again host the Island Games. 

Gibraltar's games will see judo competing for the first time in the last four games. The Guernsey Judo team will use the bursary to bring two coaches over from the UK in August to assist with the team’s training. 

Edward Mann, Judo Team Manager, said: “The team is delighted to have received this funding to help in our preparation for the Island Games. To be able to bring these UK coaches over is amazing and will allow our team to learn from some of the best in the sport."

The Guernsey Squash and Racketball Association will also use the bursary to bring a coach over from the UK in September and a workshop for the whole club and a focused session for the potential Island Game team players are also planned.

The games themselves are kicking off on the 6 July 2019 and will run through to the 12 July.

Brian Allen, Chairman of the Guernsey Island Games, has voiced his admiration of the continued support Generali Worldwide has given to sport over the past years. “Going forward from this year we will be awarding the bursaries on a rotational basis. Not only is this the fairest way to decide who receives it but it also means that all sports will have benefitted twice over the years."

“A big ‘thank you’ needs to go to Generali Worldwide as they not only assist in getting the team to the Games but they also help with the future development of the local sports."