Guernsey Island Games Association chairman Jon Marley was one of several prominent figures addressing this year’s crop of athletes at the official send-off event at Beau Sejour on Wednesday night.
Bailiff Sir Richard McMahon and Martin Talbot from new Team Guernsey title sponsors Healthspan also wished them well as they bid to follow-up 2023’s medals table-topping performance on home soil.
This year’s Island Games get underway on 12 July with Orkney set to become one of the smallest hosts of the event.
Marley told his team the main advice was to ‘get out and spectate as much as you can’.
Speaking to the Guernsey Press afterwards, he put that advice in the context of his impressive 34 years’ total involvement in the Island Games, which includes playing volleyball at Aland 1991 and, at the same location 18 years later, fulfilling his first team manager role.
‘In all that time, if there’s one piece of advice I can give, it’s to get out and support the rest of Team Guernsey,’ he said.
‘Be as noisy as you can, respectfully.
‘And enjoy the experience. For many, this is the highlight of their sports careers.’
Especially due to logistical factors surrounding travel and accommodation, planning Orkney has not been plain sailing.
But he praised the rest of Giga – which includes Karen Archenoul, whose background is also in volleyball, as team manager – for getting them to the position they are now.
‘It’s crazy how much work has gone into it and how fast it has come around,’ he said.
‘Thanks to our committee, we are in as good a place as we possibly could be. I would like to thank them personally for that.
‘I would like to thank the people of team Guernsey 2025 who are choosing to represent, despite all the difficulties that Orkney presents.
‘For that I am thankful and wish them the best of luck in their competitions.’
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