St Helena Sports
History
St Helena first became involved in international sport when it accepted an invitation
from the Isle of Man in 1985 to take part in the newly organised Island Games held in the
Isle of Man that year,
Funding was provided by the Governors Discretionary Fund and voluntary donations as
well as through fund raising activities to send a team of athletes and shooters and a
manager to take part in the Isle of Man Sports.
A further team was sent to the Island Games held in Guernsey two years later: this too
was funded by public subscription.
This was the last time St Helena could participate in the Island Games largely because
of a lack of funding, until in 1997 interested persons in the Island of Jersey became
interested in bringing St Helena back to the Games and launched a successful appeal in
Jersey to raise sufficient funds to fund the travel costs of a team of six competitors and
a manager to participate in the Island Games. About this time the Foreign &
Commonwealth Office offered also to assist but as Jersey had already reached it target the
monies granted by the FCO were set aside to help finance a future Games set down for
Gotland, Sweden in 1999.
The Island Games Association of St Helena has been formed for the purpose of
identifying sponsors and raising funds through local activity to enable a team of
sportsmen to travel to the Games in Gotland in 1999. If successful the Island Team will
have to travel more than 5000 miles to the Games.
Eric Benjamin
Chairman, Island Games Association of St Helena
Update 2013:
St Helena has continued to participate
in international games
as well as expanding the island sports associations. There are now football,
cricket, volleyball, tennis, golf, shooting and yachting groups on the island.
St Helena has also been able to send teams to a bumber of the Commonwealth Games
and is a member of the International Island Games Association. In 2011, the
cricket team
was able to make its international debut at the World Cricket League. For people
outside of St Helena, the island is probably best known for two main sports
attractions. The first is the beautiful golf course, which brings tourists with
their golf
clubs in from all over the world. The second is the Governor's
Cup, a yacht race between Cape Town and Saint Helena island held every two years
in December. Completion of the proposed airport will very likely allow for more
international competition, as well as a broader array of sports associations
to form and be sustainable on the island.
Read more about Island Games 1999 http://www.gotlandweb.com/islandgames/
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