Island Games sponsor in running for award

THE sponsor of the Island Games - NatWest - has been shortlisted for the 2006 Hollis awards, the UK's major sponsorship awards. The recognitions come on the back of the bank's agreement to further extend its sponsorship agreement of the event to cover the 2009 Games in Aland.

NatWest has first option to extend the agreement further until 2011.

Its rival for the Hollis awards is NatWest UK, for its 25 years of cricket sponsorship, Flora for the London Marathon, Tennant's Lager for T in the Park and Unilever for the Unilever Art Series.

In the latest NatWest Island Games sponsorship agreement, the structure of the payments has been redrawn to recognise the fact that staging the Games is becoming ever more expensive.

From now on, the host island will benefit from increased funding.

Brian Partington, chairman of the IGA, said: 'Our relationship with our main sponsor is now in its eighth year and the partnership brings added value for both parties with each successive year.

'We meet regularly with NatWest to review and refresh our agreement and the IGA is keen to support host islands in the significant task they face in mounting such a major event.'

Apart from financial support for both the IGA and the host islands, the NatWest Sports Development Scheme has contributed directly to the improvement of coaching standards in many member islands.

In the last eight years, more than £85,000 has been given towards local schemes, the most recent grants going to support football in Jersey, gymnastics in Aland, athletics in Orkney and volleyball in Gotland, among others.

But both the IGA and NatWest want to encourage more applications from any member island association wishing to improve the standard of local coaching in Games sports.

The NatWest Island Games

in Rhodes in 2007 is likely to involve as many competitors as this year's winter Olympics in Turin.

Meanwhile, there are two islands bidding to host the Games in 2011, the Isle of Wight and Bermuda.

Representatives of the IGA executive committee have undertaken fact-finding visits to both islands recently and will be presenting their reports to the rest of the executive at their meeting later this month.