From left: Iain GC Campbell from WIIGA, Jane Hird from Bakkafrost Scotland, Erin Smith (swimming), Iain Macleod (shooting), Liam Macfarlane (swimming), Jane Nicolson (golf); back row: Jonathon Fairgrieve (athletics), Elliot Ruddal (football), DJ Macleod (golf); front row: Muriel Macleod (athletics), Keira Macdonald (swimming), Matthew Hanlon (swimming) and David Hanlon (swimming team manager).

Islands athletes dressed to impress in kit from salmon farmer

Editorial team
Published

Salmon farmer Bakkafrost Scotland, which is the main sponsor of the Western Isles Island Games Association (WIIGA), has presented the squad with their kit for the upcoming NatWest International Island Games XIX Guernsey 2023.

The team of 92 athletes plus management, coaches and medical team flies out from Stornoway on Friday, 7 July to take part in the biennial multi sports event.

WIIGA is competing in nine sports - athletics, swimming, shooting, cycling, badminton, men’s and women’s football, men’s and women’s golf, indoor bowls and archery - in what will be its ninth Island Games. The squad will be competing in women’s golf and archery for the first time and bowls for the first time since Shetland 2005, and 54 of the squad will be competing at the Games for the first time.

Fostering friendships

Ian Laister, managing director of Bakkafrost Scotland, said: “With less than a fortnight to go until the start of the Games, the arrival of the WIIGA team kit is another exciting milestone for the athletes as they prepare to travel to Guernsey.

Events like the Island Games help present opportunities to foster friendships through sports and represent the Western Isles at international level.

Bakkafrost Scotland managing director Ian Laister

“Events like the Island Games help present opportunities to foster friendships through sports and represent the Western Isles at international level.

“We are proud to be sponsoring WIIGA for the ninth consecutive time and wish all the athletes taking part the best of luck in the NatWest International Island Games XIX Guernsey 2023.”

Elite event

Norrie MacDonald, WIIGA chair, said: “As always, we are delighted with the kit, which provides a real feeling of identity for the athletes. We are so grateful to Bakkafrost Scotland for their continued sponsorship and support of the association.

“Our continued membership of the International Island Games Association (IIGA) is so important in providing our talented athletes the opportunity to compete at an elite international sporting event where they can also mix with other islanders from around the world and learn about their cultures. All our athletes have worked incredibly hard to prepare for their events and we can’t wait to get down to Guernsey.”

As well as backing from Bakkafrost Scotland, WIIGA and its sports teams have received financial support from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council), and local businesses and organisations.

Teams competing in the Games, which run from 8-14 July, include two from the South Atlantic (St Helena and the Falkland Islands), and two from the Caribbean (Cayman Islands and Bermuda) as well as some from closer to home, such as those from Orkney, Shetland, and the Isle of Wight.

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