World Youth Games Guadeloupe 2008

Young sportsmen and women from the Isle of Wight are shortly heading off to the Youth World Island Games. To celebrate the forthcoming games, Isle of Wight Council Leader, Councillor David Pugh, gave the 32-strong team an official good luck message at Sandown High School Sports College where he will be presented the team uniforms to "Team Isle of Wight."

This year's games are being held on the French Caribbean Island of Guadeloupe between 24 - 31 May. Thirty two athletes under the age 17 will be representing the IOW in five sports - 12 athletics, nine swimmers, six tennis, four sailors, and one surfer.

Twenty four Islands from around the world will be taking part in the 2008 event - including guest entries from Cuba, Haiti, Barbados and Dominican Republic. Other Islands include Crete, Koncula, Jersey, Sardinia, Sicily, Canaries, Elba, Mayotte, Majorca, Azores, Corsica, Corfu, Martinique, Madeira, Malta, Guadeloupe, Reunion, Cape Verde, Peak.

It is the 5th time the Isle of Wight has taken part in the Youth World Island Games and it is becoming evident that many of the stars are progressing well and have or will be representing the Isle of Wight when we host the Natwest Island Games in 2011.

1500 young people will be taking part in this year’s Games and the Isle of Wight Team's participation is funded by Isle of Wight Council, Youth Opportunities Fund, sports organisations, and Wightlink.

Lee Matthews Team Manager said "The Games are such a wonderful opportunity for our talented young sports people to compete against some of the world's best. With the introduction of strong Caribbean Islands this year's event will provide an even tougher challenge for our team. However the team have always risen to this challenge and have returned with personal best performances and memories that will last a lifetime".

With the Isle of Wight 2011 Natwest Island Games coming around the corner I am sure some of these young athletes will be representing the Island."

Cllr Pugh said "I wish the team the very best of luck in their various sports and I have no doubt that they will all be tremendous ambassadors in trying their best to bring medals home to the Island. This will provide valuable experience of competing in top level competitions that will hold them in good stead for the 2011 Island Games. This is when thousands of athletes will be competing on the Isle of Wight in another event that continues to keep us in the international spotlight. By supporting this event, it also maintains the council's Eco Island commitment to improve the health and wellbeing of youngsters"

Coverage of the games on iwight.com

Please use the links on the left to view daily reports from the games, read the media reports and view photo galleries from the games.

Additionally please use the following link to navigate through to the official Guadeloupe 2008 website.

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