5 Years doesn’t seem like a long time but a lot can happen in that period. In the past 5 years:-
- Leicester City won the Premier League
- Wales reached the Semi-Final of an international football tournament
- The charge to cross the Prince of Wales bridge was abolished
- Two more Mission Impossible Films were released
- Two General Elections were held
- A lot of Celebrity deaths
- Pete became a father
5 years ago today was the start of the Jersey 2015 Island Games and the beginning of our very own love affair with the Games. Since then we’ve travelled to the Gotland 2017 and Gibraltar 2019 events and are now planning for our trip over to Guernsey next year. It really doesn’t feel that long ago that we entered the Island Games world but it’s like we’ve been part of the family for a long time now. We’ve loved every minute despite the sleeping in airports, sweltering in cheap hostels and waiting for Dave to cook the dinner! Our experiences at Jersey 2015 really have shaped the following 5 years for us as friends. Previously we’d typically be meeting up yearly to watch the Glastonbury festival from Rob’s home on Mersea Island then seeing each other sporadically during the season at Ware FC games. However now a lot of our chat is Island Games related and discussing our plans for the next one. We haven’t even just looked to the following Island Games but to years ahead and to how our trips might look. We’ve managed either together or separately to get over to Anglesey too on a few occasions usually to see some sport and even play 12 hours of football but always we go to see our new friends. It’s a brilliant and stunning place.
We’ve tried to take how we’ve supported and dedicated our time to following Ware FC over the years into supporting Ynys Môn in every sport not just the football. We’ve all found sports we’d never usually have watched before but now they’re a must for our packed-out schedule. We hope that we’ve succeeded in bringing a bit of colour, noise and cheer to the different venues across the host islands. 5 years ago while setting off on our journey down to Poole to then get the ferry over to Jersey we couldn’t have imagined the reception and welcome the Ynys Môn team would have given us and how over the subsequent years we’d become part of their island family. Here’s a look back at some of the highlights of Jersey 2015 for us and how it’s shaped Mersea to Jersey since then.
Mersea to Jersey’s Jersey 2015 recap
The first bit of Island Games sport we ever saw (except for Pete as he saw the football in 2011) was the half marathon on the Sunday morning up at the athletics stadium. It was our first chance to see it all happening and to be part of it. We could also finally see some Ynys Môn competitors in action. It was a very hot morning though and many suffered. We had a great spot though in the main stand to watch the finishers coming in. Our first but definitely not last sporting action.
Throughout the week we managed to watch pretty much every single sport even those that Ynys Môn weren’t competing in. Why not? We’d travelled all the way to Jersey to see the Island Games so we just had to fully experience it. It was also a great chance to meet the Games Makers who were brilliant all over the island. Some of our favourite sports were the IPC shooting, the basketball in a stunning arena and the cycling. We spent much of our time at the Athletics stadium as it was one of the sports Ynys Môn had it’s most competitors in. At the start of the week we had scheduled when we’d be going to see the Athletics but by the end of the week we’d scrapped the schedule and were going when we knew Ynys Môn competitors would be in action. This was especially true for finals. We managed to see Mikaela Harrison win bronze in the 400m and Iolo Hughes win bronze in the 5,000m and then on the last day of action take home the gold in the 1,500m final. Although we didn’t see the Sailing team win their Gold medals out on the water we were there to see them awarded their medals.
Football was our main sport to see. It’s what first brought the 4 of us together 10+ years ago and continues to bring us together now. Throughout our plans we wanted to see as much football as possible, and we saw a lot! We did edit the schedule slightly later in the week so we could see more Ynys Môn action in other sports but we still managed to visit almost every football ground. It was brilliant witnessing so much of a football tournament and to see all these different islands competing. There was great support for some of the other islands too especially Shetland and Western Isles. With there being so many football games over the week and the uncertainty of when teams would be playing on the Thursday or Friday it maked planning the week a real headache when trying to fit in other sports. We managed the best we could for Jersey but came away knowing that we didn’t need to prioritise football as much as we had at future Games. Fortunately Gibraltar 2019, with no football, gave us the opportunity to see loads of other sports and not just a few minutes of them.
It was such a busy week for the 4 of us. We were up most days at 6.30am to be able to leave and drive round to the first sporting action. We would then crash back at camp late in the evening for a nightcap. It certainly wasn’t a holiday. But it was an incredible week one that has shaped the future of our group and a week that we’ll never forget. Jersey 2015 will always be the start of our Island Games adventure.
Over the week we met so many kind, friendly and generous people who went above and beyond to help us out or make us feel welcome from the Ynys Môn team to officials, Games makers and the people of Jersey itself. We were outsiders really coming into a different world. We could easily have been shunned as mainlanders but the opposite happened, we were embraced into the Island Games family. Hopefully through the stuff we’ve posted online and the numerous mentions in the media we’ve maybe been able to help shine a light on the Island Games and what it’s all about. We’ve all definitely had discussions with people back home about the Games. We’re definitely paid up ambassadors for it. Some of us have even bumped into former competitors or family members of competitors in our day to day lives and that family ethos remains in those coincidental meetings.
The past few months have really been a challenge for everyone across the world. It’s difficult to look to the future at the moment to events coming up as we’ve really no idea what could happen. However all 4 of us are really excited for Guernsey 2021 and hope so much that it goes ahead and that we can all get over there. It would be brilliant if all of us can make it for the whole week as we’ve not managed that since Jersey due to factors. Whatever happens though we’re sure our Island Games adventure has many more chapters left.
See you in Guernsey!
MerseatoJersey 