Island Games: Get to know... Bermuda
Guernsey holds a special place in the hearts of Bermuda’s sporting fraternity, as it was the first venue at which the British overseas territory competed, when the games were last held here in 2003.
‘We had a great experience and all the athletes had a great time,’ said Bermuda Island Games Association chairman Jon Beard.
‘Everybody came back full of it and loved it – loved the people, loved the competition – and we’ve gone on from there.’
The western North Atlantic island has a very similar population to Guernsey’s and is slightly smaller in area, although its fish-hook shape means that a journey from St David’s Lighthouse in the east to the Commissioner’s House at the tip of the north-western headland is 40km (25m).
Jon told us a familiar tale when it came to how Bermuda had made its way in the world in recent decades.
‘Years ago, it was tourism,’ he said.
‘Obviously, that’s still important but the main thing now is international business – insurance and reinsurance – that’s gone from strength to strength. We’re 650 miles from the United States, stuck out in the middle of the ocean but it works very well.’
Politics has dominated the Bermudan news agenda since Brexit, with what Jon called ‘a greater connection with the British Government’.
‘There’s been a lot more discussion about how Britain can or will help the overseas territories, so people are looking at that much more carefully,’ he said.
As for the island’s sporting pursuits, ‘football is by far the number one’ and yet, Jon said, the biggest annual sporting event is cricket’s Cup Match.
Played from 1-2 August every year, it pitches Somerset CC from the west against St George’s CC in the east and has been a national holiday since 1940. It is a celebration of cricket but also of emancipation, with its roots in the abolition of slavery in Bermuda on 1 August 1843.
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‘Just like Guernsey, sport is a very big part of our community. Football and cricket are probably the two main sports but netball and hockey are also massively important, while athletics, sailing and tennis are popular too,’ said Jon.
He considers the Island Games to have been a crucial factor in the development of several sports in Bermuda, including archery, badminton, golf, shooting and triathlon.
He looks enviously at the rivalry enjoyed by Guernsey and Jersey – two islands with very willing, nearby (if not always reachable) opponents.
‘It’s a problem for us,’ he said. ‘For our athletes to compete, it’s an expensive undertaking every time. It’s no good playing Canada or the USA at something because it’s just not an equitable competition. That’s what’s great about the Island Games – it’s a terrific yardstick.’
Given the challenges of travel from such a remote location, Bermuda rarely has the chance to send one football team to the Island Games but will send two this time around.
The men have been drawn against Greenland, Froya and Orkney, while the women will face Jersey, Hitra and Aland.
ABOUT BERMUDA
Area: 54 sq. km (21 sq. miles)
Population: 63,779 (2016 census)
Population density: 1,181 per sq. km
Time zone: Four hours behind Guernsey
Distance from Guernsey: 5,407km (3,360m)
Total IG medals won: 331 (105 G, 113 S, 113 B)
Medals won in 2003: 37 (15 G, 14 S, 8 B)
Competitors coming to Guernsey: 77
Route: Scheduled flights to Heathrow, flights to Guernsey from Gatwick or ferry from Poole.
Sports in which competing: Archery, athletics, badminton, bowls, golf, football, sailing, shooting, tennis, triathlon
Biggest sports star: Flora Duffy (triathlon)
National delicacy: Sunday breakfast (cod, potatoes and bananas)
Parliamentary representation: 36 (24 Progressive Labour Party, 12 One Bermuda Alliance)
