The Team

It's very nearly that time again! As I type this there are only 38 days until I begin my 2-day trans-European journey to the Finnish islands of Aland for the 2009 NatWest Island Games, and I am looking forward to these Games possibly more than ever before. I've been to Shetland in 2005 and Rhodes in 2007 to support the athletics team and thoroughly enjoyed both, although I doubt whether there have been two more contrasting Games in the event's 24-year history. Put bluntly, Shetland was miserably cold and damp but superbly organised - Rhodes was stiflingly hot and humid, and an organisational shambles! We are all hoping for a combination of the best bits of the last 2 Games with decent weather and efficient organisation, and I think we have good reason to be optimistic on both counts.

Firstly, I would like to say congratulations and very best of luck to the 20-strong team (10 male, 10 female) who will be competing in Aland. It's a great honour for anyone to be invited to represent the island whether in sport or anything else, and I'm sure this team will represent the Isle of Man with pride. The team is:

Men

Ben Brand
Andy Duncan
*Ryan Fairclough
Darren Gray
Ed Gumbley
Michael Haslett
Kevin Loundes
Peter Richardson
*Tom Richmond
Thomas Riley

Women

Gemma Astin
Hollie Bass
Charlotte Christian
Sarah Dowling
Rachael Franklin
Gail Griffiths
*Ciara McDonnell
Harriet Pryke
*Danielle Ross
*Marit Zahkna

* = Island Games debutant

The management team is Andy Fox and Di Shimell, with Andy Watson providing sports massage support.

This is a strong-looking team which I hope will achieve plenty of success and do the island proud. Several members of the team were Island Games debutants in Rhodes in 2007, and most have raised the level of their performances significantly over the past 2 years - in some cases by spectacular margins. It is still a generally young team, but with a solid backbone of established senior athletes and more experience than we had in Rhodes. There are 5 debutants in this year’s team – from memory I think there were 13 in Rhodes. I feel genuinely excited by the team's prospects and I am really looking forward to supporting the team in Aland.

For the record, 4 athletes were selected but have since withdrawn – they are Keith Gerrard, Martin Aram, David Munro and Rachael Tewkesbury. Undoubtedly these withdrawals have affected the overall medal potential of the team to some extent, but at the same time there will now be added responsibility on others, hopefully lifting them to greater heights (or longer throws and faster times!)

Others would certainly have been there but for injury problems, including John Halligan who ran so superbly in Rhodes in 2007, winning gold in the steeplechase and silver in the 10000m. Unfortunately a long-term foot injury has kept him out of action for most of the past year and continues to do so.

A word of sympathy also to Sarah Astin who has achieved so much success since coming into athletics a few years ago, only to be hit by persistent injury problems over the past couple of years which have ruined her hopes of going to Aland. Thankfully, Sarah now appears to be over the worst and is steadily building her training back up again – I have no doubt that she will be a major success when she makes her Island Games debut 2 years late in 2011.

IOM Long Jump record holder Phil Riley has also been out of action for most of the past 2 years with a badly broken arm, and this will be the first Games Louise Kneen has missed since making her debut in 1991 - coincidentally also in Aland! Louise has a tremendous record in the throwing events over many years, and if she has reached the end of her Island Games career she can look back with great pride on her achievements. She's still good enough to come back again though I reckon.

However, from now on the blog will concentrate very much on the athletes who will be in Aland rather that those who won't. In the next entry I will look in a bit more depth at the chosen team, as not all will be familiar to the Manx athletics public. I will also post a few thoughts as to what sort of place I am expecting Aland to be.

See you on Sunday at the Northern 10 or the NSC Track (Day 2 of the IOM Track & Field Championships).