This in from the organisers of this year’s NatWest Island Games, in their own words. Ed
Over 3,000 athletes and officials from 25 islands around the world will be attending the NatWest Island Games on 25 June – 1 July to compete in a range of 14 sports, two of which will be held in Ventnor: Cycling and Volleyball.
Cycling Criterium
On Sunday 26 June, Ventnor has been selected to host the Cycling Criterium races.
This exciting event consists of cyclists riding around a town circuit for a set time (35 minutes for females and 60 minutes for males) followed by five laps of the circuit.
The circuit is about 800 metres and will use the following roads: High Street, Victoria Street, Albert Street, Pier Street, Pound Lane and Market Street (route map below).
Look out for road closures
It will be necessary to close some roads (as with the Ventnor carnival) and full details will be made available soon.
The races will start at 1pm with the ladies race, and 3pm for the men’s race, finishing at about 5pm when medal ceremonies will take place. These will be the first Gold medals presented at the Games.
The Cycling competition is being sponsored Eneco and the Isle of Wight Team is sponsored by Wightlink.
Volleyball at Rew Valley Sports Hall
Ventnor will also host the Volleyball competition (jointly with Sandown) at Rew Valley Sports Hall, Ventnor Middle School from Sunday 26th June through to Friday 1st July.
David Ball, Chairman of the Island Games Association IW states, “Having these two sports taking place in Ventnor will create a great boost for the town. We are expecting large numbers of spectators and media to attend the criterium event, and we hope local businesses will benefit from this.”
Ventnor Rugby Club have come to the aid of Western Isles Ladies and Men’s Football teams, who are staying at Bonchurch, by making their pitch and clubhouse available to the footballers for practice between their competitive matches.
For full details of these and other sports, please visit the NatWest Games Website.
