Track runner Tony Bean would have loved to have represented his country at the Small Island Games and, moreover, would have been prepared to pay for the privilege.

However, the likelihood is he will not get the opportunity as Bermuda Track and Field Association have said they will not be sending a squad to the event in Guernsey in June.

BTFA president Judith Simmons told The Royal Gazette on Wednesday that, along with concerns over funding and commitments to IAAF-sanctioned meets, she felt standards at the Island Games, which are for Island nations with a population of 125,000 or less, were not sufficiently high enough for Bermuda's athletes.

"Some of the records that have been set since 1989 or 1993 are not even comparable for our senior athletes who are trying to get to Worlds or Commonwealth Games or even CAC Seniors," Simmons said.

"The records (in the 100 metres) are like 10.70 seconds for the men.

". . . nothing that they would get from the Island Games - other than competing against other people - would help prepare them for meets that would put them up where they need to be."

Chairman of Bermuda's Island Games Association, Jon Beard, begged to differ, saying he felt the Games were an ideal source of international exposure for local athletes and revealed that several had contacted him expressing their desire to go.

One of those who wanted to turn out was 29-year-old Bean, a 400 metre runner and assistant coach at the Mid Island Striders track club.

"I first heard about it last year," he said. "I didn't do anything but earlier this year I was going to approach some people about the meet but then I found that track and field was not going to be represented."

Bean said he did not agree with the stance taken by Simmons.

"They should at least have approached the athletes or the clubs," he said. "So the people can decide if they want to go or not.

"The price they told me was $1,800 per person. I don't mind paying, I would have at least liked to have had that option. That is the one thing that a lot of people are upset about - we were not given the option of saying 'no, we don't want to go' or 'yes we will go and we will pay for it'.

"If the BTFA are saying it's a money thing and we are taking that away from them, what does it matter?"

Bean said he felt that the Island Games would provide invaluable experience not only for the likes of himself, but also for Bermuda's up and coming athletes.

"It is a Small Island Games for one thing and a lot of people think that Bermuda can compete very well," he said. "We go to CARIFTA and other events like that and we do OK. I also think it's a good introductory meet for our youth. The standards are maybe a little below our adult runners but the age ranges from 15 and up."

Bean said he was not going to give up, despite the BTFA's reticence and had taken the matter up with the event's organisers.

"I have spoken to a representative from the Small Island Games committee and they said all we had to do was get a list of people who would like to go and confirm it by April 1," he said. "I had been planning to write up a letter to give to the BTFA later this week (in the hope of getting sanctioning) but now I have seen this story in the paper so I am going to find out what is going on."