Falklands : ISLAND GAMES TEAM TO DEPART FOR ISLE OF WIGHT
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 17.06.2011 (Article Archived on 01.07.2011)
“It’s a really great occasion having so many people heading off to the Island Games – a team of 30 plus with officials as well. I think it’s outstanding that we have managed to put teams together in five separate sporting activities....
ISLAND GAMES TEAM TO DEPART FOR ISLE OF WIGHT
(A Speech by Mr Mike Summers as broadcast over FIRS)
Preamble by H. E. the Governor Mr Nigel Haywood:
“It’s a really great occasion having so many people heading off to the Island Games – a team of 30 plus with officials as well. I think it’s outstanding that we have managed to put teams together in five separate sporting activities. I know with the Attorney General just having turned up, he will be looking to add Archery to that list for the next Island Games. But I think what is especially good is that such a small community has managed to get a team together.
I was talking to Mike (Summers) earlier and we noted that Prince Edward Island with a population of 130,000 has had to pull out of the Island Games simply because it couldn’t get the backing, the sponsorship, the money to take the teams to the Isle of Wight.
Without the support of a wide range of sponsors and individuals on the Islands this wouldn’t be possible. And, thank you all very much indeed for enabling this to happen. I am looking forward to great games on the Isle of Wight and I can see the Isle of Wight from the hill above my house in England. Sadly, it takes about 4 hours to get there. But I look forward to being there for the opening ceremony and to watching the half marathon team come in on Sunday morning. I am looking for great things from Rex. Obviously I need to up my game so that the Islands can be represented by two 58 year olds in 2 years’ time in Bermuda. It gives me something to work for.”
The Speech by Mr Mike Summers, Chairman of the Falkland Islands Games Association:
“Your Excellency, MLA Dick Sawle, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am fishing for this piece of paper. I am not going to make a long speech but I will have to remember Paul Hauteur to thank because I think this is an occasion for thanks for many, many people. We have the biggest team we have ever taken to the Island Games. We first went to the Isle of Wight in 1993 so this is our return to the Isle of Wight. This time we have 43 competitors in 6 sports and I think that is just a fantastic effort by all the sportsmen and women of the Falklands to do that.
I am really looking forward to it and quite excited by it now because after the fun and excitement we had in Delhi I think this is just going to be great and we’re really going to enjoy it.
I would especially like to thank the commercial sponsors who’ve made not only these games possible but any number of games that the Falklands have competed in over the past several years and looking forward. And I would just like to mention them because it’s important that the sponsors get public acknowledgement for what they do for us.
I would like to Thank Cable & Wireless, Falkland Islands Holdings and Caribbean Alliance, who are two principle supporters who give us money every year, the Falkland Islands Government and Stanley Services who also contribute on an annual basis. For these particular games the Falkland Islands Company is sponsoring the track suits as it has done for many, many years now. I would also like to thank a group of people put together by Rockhopper Exploration, who collected a significant amount of money from what I generally call the ‘oil group.’ It is a major one-off donation that’s enabled us – the Falkland Islands Games Association – to make a subvention to all of the competitors in the Island games of £1,200.00 each.
It’s no mean fete to get from here to the UK or to a Scandinavian island or elsewhere to compete. It costs the individual competitors a lot of money. And Prince Edward Island just dropped out. We hear any number of Scottish islands –wouldn’t they be – of having to go to Bermuda in two years’ time.
So the people here and the General public as well make a huge contribution. And, from the oil group – Falklands Oil and Gas, AGR Peek Well Management, Diamond Offshore, Rockhopper Exploration, and Argos all committed significant amounts of money – very significant amounts of money actually – as well as North Sea Limited and Weatherford, UK.
Besides these people any number of other small businesses around town, individuals make contributions, Brian from South Harbour who’s invested quite a lot of his money on our website, Synergy, Commonwealth Games of Canada, who have donated us Natalie Bret for a year, who is going to make a significant contribution to sports development in the Falklands.
I would also like to thank all the employers who let all these guys go. That’s three weeks during the winter – not always popular – not always easy but thanks to them, too, for letting them go.
I must thank Nigel for not only this reception this evening but also the brilliant fund raising dance we had here a few weeks ago, which was entirely donated by Government House. It was an excellent event and raised a significant amount of money that Michael now has squirreled away in our accounts.
I think they are all the thanks. I hope I haven’t missed any. I would just like to wish the very best of luck to all the competitors and to the officials who are going to support them in the Games. I hope you have a great time. I hope you all do better than you’ve ever done before because that’s what we aim to do.
We are a very small place; we are the smallest Islands probably us and all the competing in the games; we don’t necessarily expect to win gold medals though we would like to; but always do better than you did last time. And, if we do that, then we are doing our best.
Thanks to all the competitors. Do take care getting out of here this evening. We can’t afford to lose any one of you to broken legs or broken arms. And once again thanks to all the sponsors and the whole of the Falklands’ public who support the Island Games overseas.
We are going to have brilliant media coverage this year. We’ve got Penguin News going, We’ve got the Radio Station going; we’ve got FITV going and hopefully, through our website and the various media outlets here in the public in the Falklands, we will be able to see what actually goes on in the Island Games for the first time in all its glory.
So thanks to everybody and I wish you all the very best of luck.”
(100X Transcription Service)
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