A TEAM of bowlers will be travelling to Shetland to compete in the NatWest Island Games next year – which means that all the usual sports for which Jersey submits teams will be represented except football.

Derek Ferguson, president of the Jersey Bowling Association, said: ‘We sent forms out to our members asking if they were interested in competing in Shetland, and already four bowlers have said that they are definitely interested in going.’It looks like we will have a bowling team of some sort, if not a full one which would be seven men and seven women.

We need a minimum of four men and four women to cover all events which are singles, pairs and fours, but we don’t have to compete in all events.’It is still early days so we don’t know yet how many players will be interested, the cut-off date for the bowlers is in March.

We’ll have a better idea of numbers then.’The invitation to the outdoor bowlers was extended by the Island Games Association of Jersey after the indoor bowlers said they would not be putting a team forward – all the greens in Shetland are indoors.Derek Bernard, the chairman of the IGAJ said: ‘I am delighted that, having asked their members, the outdoor bowlers have been able to come back with such a positive response, and that we will have bowlers representing their Island in the Island Games once again.’