Island Games

The Badminton National squad represented Gibraltar at the Island Games at the Isle of Wight in June 2011.

This year Bob Brooks, the National Coach, selected a mixture of experience and youth.

Where would the squad be without their stalwart Ivan DeHaro, who has been Gibraltar’s number one player for the past 20 odd years. At the age of 39 (sorry Ivan) he is still playing with quality and determination and headed the squad as Team Captain. His only weakness being that he does tend to experience mishaps and illnesses from time to time and hence is affectionately known by his nickname, ‘Calamity’. Luckily he escaped all injuries this time.

Next up is Kasper Thy Jessen who, although heralds originally from Denmark, has been representing Gibraltar for three years now. Kasper is a welcome addition to the squad once again, as he proved his worth two years ago in Aland. He played well, even though he has undergone a major operation on his knee earlier in the season.

Alison Avellano is our senior lady (30 years young) who has come back to Badminton after a number of years out due to Hockey commitments. She is a very welcome return to the squad and has already shown her value to the squad by recently winning the 30 to 35 age group veterans tournament up in Alhaurin de la Torres. Alison is fiercely competitive and this is just the sort of quality needed for the Island Games.

Both Sevelene Gordon and Jennifer Kwan were selected to represent Gibraltar once again. Both of these ladies are presently studying and working in the UK. They are playing Badminton on a regular basis over there and whenever possible they travel to Gib to visit and train with the squad whilst they are here. Sevelene is the more experienced of the two and is a key member of the squad when it comes to the doubles and mixed play. Jen, although not as experienced, is a very promising singles player and will only get better the more she plays in these tournaments.

Apart from the senior members of the squad Bob also selected some of the up and coming junior players to travel to the Isle of Wight. He felt it was time for them to taste what the Island Games are all about and therefore gain experience and knowledge of what is needed to perform well at this standard in the future. The junior section of the squad was made up of James Linares, Thomas Reidy and Chantal De’Ath. All are training regularly (although Chantal is also studying in the UK). Coach Brooks believes that, as long as they continue to be committed to playing Badminton and getting ‘Badminton Fit’, they promise to become the next generation of players representing Gibraltar in the Island Games for many years to come.

A special thanks has to go to our Sponsors this year without whom this wouldn't be happening.