games and it really has. everybody here has a good time. zoe clements attending her first island games. what an honor to do the water ceremony. this just feels like one big family reunion. we ve got so many communities from so far away, but they ve all got one thing in common, which is to do their absolute sporting best for their islands. i ve played davis cup for bermuda. i ve traveled around the world, but the island games, with all the islands coming together, the energy is great. one island s success will contribute to another island s success. that s what it s all about. welcome to guernsey. a new day and the games
the chance to get together and show what they can achieve. but every two years, it s sport that brings them closer. they come from europe, the south atlantic and the caribbean. 2a islands, 1a sports, across six days of action. this is the island games.
across the island, jacqui bowles is on a mission. i ve been here for a week and i ve set myself a quest to get a photo of myself with every island competing in the games, all 24. and i literally have st helena to get my 24. so i ve come to a football match. with just a couple of hours left before her ferry home, jacqui s tracked down the missing team as they played their last game. now, we didn t know what to expect. we came into the unknown. so we only have six teams in a league and no international competition here. and that s probably if they come to the island, the navy or something come in once in a blue moon. yeah. and we play them and then we only play six months of the year because six months the field is used for cricket.
orderfor the parade. oh, what s that? that sjersey, isn t it? yeah. everything must run like clockwork. well, the media, we re putting up on the walkway so that you get a bit of a better view over there. right. so behind the wall, on the raised bit. yeah. and then they get brought over here where the attaches will get the flags and get their placards. the games have happily combined the entrepreneurial flair of the olympics with the enthusiastic dedication of the true amateur. the island games began with just 700 athletes. tojoin, an island must have a population of less than 120,000. over a0 years, the event has just kept on growing. it all began in douglas, isle of man. they realised in 1985 that they should provide better opportunities for their youngsters to do sport.
you ve got the world championships. charmaine s positive attitude shines brightly. for alderney s young athletes, it s infectious. we want to try and develop athletics on the island, and i wanted to get more people involved. so we ve got a young lady who s running for us today who started running two years ago. 19 year old emma etheridge was persuaded to run the half marathon at the very last minute. i think it was yesterday. last night, i did the 1500, did ok, but a friend gave me a lift back to town. and was like, you know, why don t you give the half a go? and i didn t think it would be possible, but the county guys got me in last minute. so she is now training at one of the london centres for excellence for middle distance runner. she s got a coach, she s got all sorts of paraphernalia going on to help her. give the ladies a big cheer. they re going to need it.