AS sports fans eager to attend the London Olympic Games attempt to secure tickets, Jersey is turning its eyes towards another international sporting event which might be relatively small scale but is nevertheless of great significance.

That event, of course, is the Island Games, which this year are being held in the Isle of Wight.

The Olympics will be a showcase for sport at the very highest level, but even if the performances recorded at the Island Games will be more modest, there are good reasons to believe that the competition now unfolding will uphold the Corinthian values of sportsmanship and fair play more completely than next year’s global event.

The Island Games, which draw together people from a very diverse variety of island communities, are accurately called the Friendly Games. Understandably, winning is important to those who take part, but medals and records are of secondary importance. The underlying principles have far more to do with enjoyment of the occasion and amicable rivalry.

It is true that Jersey has an excellent record of medal-table-topping performances and that insular pride will mean that everyone in this year’s team will want to give of their best and to earn a podium place. However, our competitors of all ages will be delighted simply to be representing the Island at the highest level that many of them will ever aspire to.

Some will be newcomers to the games and will be thrilled by an exciting new experience. Others are veterans of earlier inter-island contests and will be meeting old rivals, who are also old friends, from island communities located in places as far afield as the Baltic and the Mediterranean.

When the idea of the Island Games was first mooted, sceptics no doubt scoffed at the notion that they would not only last but also prosper and grow. In the event, they are one of the major success stories of international amateur competition in the Northern Hemisphere.

Meanwhile, it goes without saying that the Jersey Evening Post wishes our Island team every success in the Isle of Wight. We can count on an impressive medal haul, already under way, and on personal performances pushed to the limit by new levels of competition. Above all, we can count on these games, like their forerunners, bringing out the best from our amateur sportsmen and sportswomen, not to mention their coaches, officials and supporters.