The Isle of Man is sending a team of nearly 200 athletes to the NatWest Island Games which get underway in Guernsey this weekend.

The 2023 running of the biennial event is the 19th edition of the Games after the 2021 competition was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Games last took place in Gibraltar in 2019 when Team IoM finished second in the medal table - behind Jersey - with a return of 29 golds, 22 silvers and 17 bronze.

Hopes are high that the Manx contingent can return home with another good medal haul from Guernsey, although the four-year gap between Games means there is an intriguing blend of youth and experience in the team.

The Isle of Man is fielding 189 competitors across 13 of the 14 sports on offer in Guernsey, with Manx bowlers not in action at this year’s event.

The largest number is in the football where 38 men and women will be hoping to continue the recent trend of success, with the men having won gold at the 2017 Games in Gotland.

With football not held in Gibraltar, the men are effectively the holders going into this year’s event, while the women won gold at the unofficial inter-island games event held in Ynys Mon (Anglesey) in 2019.

Athletics makes up the next largest contingent with no fewer than 29 competitors across the various disciplines who will all be hoping to maintain the Isle of Man’s rich history at the Games.

But, as a result of that Covid-enforced four-year gap, no fewer than 20 of those athletes will be making their Island Games debuts in Guernsey and therefore they are not expected to feature as heavily at the top of the athletics medal table.

The team was also dealt a blow earlier this week with the news that the vastly experienced Sarah Webster, who represented the Isle of Man at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, will unfortunately miss out on Guernsey through injury.

The island’s women basketballers will be hoping to go one better than in 2019 when they narrolwy missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in the third-place play-off medal match in Gibraltar. Not since the Games were held on home soil in 2001 have the IoM men’s basketball team clinched a medal - could they end that run in Guernsey?

As always, the Isle of Man will be well represented in the shooting events, with no fewer than 21 competitors flying the Manx flag across the various disciplines who will be aiming to continue the Isle of Man’s impressive history in the sport at the Games.

Likewise, the island’s swimmers have often featured at the sharp end of the medal table in recent editions of the Island Games and this year will hopefully be no different.

Head coach Lee Holland once again leads the team which also features Lauren Dennett (right) who, as the youngest member of Team Isle of Man, will be the island’s water carrier at Saturday’s opening ceremony.

This year marks the third time Guernsey has hosted the Island Games - the first time a nation has done so - and comes exactly 20 years after they hosted the event in 2003 when a fresh-faced Mark Cavendish stole the show with a thrilling victory in the men’s town criterium, infamously sprinting to the line to snatch victory from Jersey’s Sam Firby who was prematurely celebrating what he thought was a win.

This year the Isle of Man is sending a squad of 12 cyclists to the Games, featuring mountain biker Elliot Baxter who has more than 20 Island Games medals to his name, including five golds from the 2003 Guernsey Games.

One of the 12 cyclists is Will Draper who is also set the represent the island in the triathlon events - alongside nine other Isle of Man competitors - which bookend the week in Guernsey, beginning on Sunday with the individal tri and ending next Friday with the relay event which is making its Island Games debut.

A 10-strong team will fly the flag in the badminton events in Guernsey hoping to maintain the Isle of Man’s good run of success in the sport, most notably Kim Clague and Commonwealth Games player Jess Li who have both been in the medals in recent editions.

The nine-strong tennis team features the familiar face of Karen Faragher who, fresh from winning her 23rd Isle of Man tennis title last weekend, will make a remarkable 16th appearance in the Island Games since 1991, including one in the women’s football team.

In the archery and table tennis events, the island will be represented by nine and eight players respectively - one to keep an eye on will be archer Aalin George who is making her first Island Games appearance since winning gold in Jersey in 2015.

Jason Hyett, Ross Arnold, Roo Hyett and Matthew Perry will fly the flag for Team Isle of Man in the sailing events in Guernsey under the watchful eyes of officials Donald Edwards and Simon Pressly.

l The opening ceremony takes place in St Peter Port on Saturday evening before the competitive action springs into life on Sunday when Isle of Man athletes will be in action across no fewer than nine of the 13 sports.

These are: athletics, badminton, basketball, football, sailing, shooting, table tennis, tennis and triathlon.

Archery

Alex Allen-Snell, Danny Cowin, James Hill, Barbara Harris, David Moore, Ethan Moore Rhys Moore, Aalin George, Joy Gough

Manager - Alison Cowin

Assistant manager - Peter Mumford

Athletics

Daniel Clague, Nathan Teece, Meghan Pilley, Ben Sinclair, Lydia Morris, Alexander Bell, Lucy Ormsby, Catherine Perry, Ryan Corrin, Gethin Owen, Samuel Perry, Rachael Franklin, Alan Corlett, Will Draper, Aimee Christian, Macy Hillier, Regan Corrin, James Margrave, Tegan Thompson, Sebastien Sgouraditis, Imogen Cook, Kazu Senior, Anand Patel, Tazmin Fayle, Megan Lockwood, Joe Harris, Samuel Jones, Corrin Leeming, Ollie Lockley, Rebekah Pate.

Badminton

Jess Li, Kim Clague, Mia Kirk, Philippa Li, Leah Brennan, Tobey Cheng, Matt Nicholson, Alex Buck, Neil Harding, Steven Quayle.

Manager/coach - Ben Li

Basketball

Women: Amber Carridge, Rebecca Dunne, Lauren Ellison, Oksana Fedorovych, Fiona Guest, Holly Hennessy, Magdalena Higgins, Gemma Kirkham, Zoe Kirkham, Danielle Murphy.

Men: Peter Boussougou, Viktor Capkapnovski, Tom Dalton-Brown, Jakob Glover, Daniel Harrison, Paul Kilic, Wayne Mears, Michael Pardoe, Benjamin Takken, Ronan Thompson, Ross Wilson, Chris Wolfendale.

Cycling

Will Draper, Michael Faid, Jamie Fletcher, Mark Horsthuis, Niall Quiggin, Elliot Baxter, Owen Collins, Eric Kelly, Alex Rockwell, Ross Thorley, Sascha Horsthuis, Kirree Quayle.

Officials - Gianni Epifani and Rob Sorby.

Football

Women: Stevie Mallon, Lisa Costain, Erin Sells, Kayleigh Greggor, Blae Cain, Chloe Teare, Kayleigh Georgeson, Tia Lisy, Megan Kelly, Ellie Gawne, Holly Sumner, Louise Gibbons, Anna Shaw, Keira Morgan, Becky Corkish, Becci Cole, Holly Stephen, Ruby Palmer.

Women’s manager - Wayne Lisy.

Men: Adam Killey, Glenn Walker, Stewart Smith, Phil Kelly, Cam Avery, Jamie Callister, Chris Cannell, Matt Woods, Morgan Naylor, Robbie Ward, Tiernan Garvey, Ronan McDonnell, Kyle Watson, Brody Patience, Chris Bass Jr, Ryan Gartland, Danny Gerrard, Josh Ridings, Daniel Pickering, Jay Chatwood.

Men’s manager - Blane Slattery.

Golf

Men: Robert Noon, Daryl Callister, Liam Cowin,

James Arneil. Team manager - David Kinrade.

Women: Emma Noon, Linda Simpson, Kayleigh Dawson, Lea Dawson, Shirley Price.

Sailing

Jason Hyett, Ross Arnold, Roo Hyett, Matthew Perry. Officials: Donald Edwards and Simon Pressly

Shooting

Mark Riley, Robert Watterson, Edward Davis, Giulio Fabrizio, Michael Cross, Stan Cross, Alan Kinrade, Nicola Barnett, Jack Kneen

Martin Kneen, William Rand, Rachael Bowen-Matthews, Paul Mihailovits, Joshua Holden, Nathan Holden, Kathryn Holden, Blae Richardson, John Cowley, Ian Hodgson, Wesley Reed, Rachel Glover.

Swimming

Women’s team: Laura Kinley. Kiera Prentice. Blae Richardson Robin Douglas. Libby Curphey. Chloe Batty. Lauren Dennett.

Men’s team: Joel Watterson, Ben Kebbell, Peter Allen, Carrick Thompson, Alex Turnbull, Magnus Kelly, Jack Burgess, Zack Bellhouse.

Head coach - Lee Holland.

Table tennis

Katherine Vinas, Scott Lewis, Duncan Alexander, Kerenza Baker, Sonja Shaw, Glenn Callow, William Dalugdugan, Wilma Dalugdugan.

Team manager/coach - Maggie Mulhern

Tennis

Marc Chinn, Ryan Chinn, Orry Farnworth, Anna Kirk, Sarah Long, Elena Snidal, Sean Drewry, Karen Faragher, Aailish Kelly.

Triathlon

John Barrett, Will Draper, Chris Hewson, Kristan King, Juan Kinley, Corrin Leeming, Matthew Looker, Charlie Swales, Caitlin Gelder, Alison King.Team manager - Juan Kinley.