Jon Beard, the Bermuda NatWest Island Games chairman, believes this month’s event in Jersey will be the “perfect vehicle” for local athletes to showcase their talents.

Beard said the Games, which will feature 24 islands, offers sports a chance to blood their youngsters, as well as be competitive against a similar standard of opposition.

“This is a great competition because it pulls a hundred-plus athletes together to represent Bermuda,” Beard said.

“The sports can use it for different reasons. Some use it as ‘this is the pinnacle, we’re going to be ultracompetitive in this’, and some use it as a breeding ground for their youngsters.

“If you can’t compete at this level, maybe you shouldn’t be going to the next level. I feel that this is a perfect vehicle for us.”

Although Bermuda are not boasting as strong a squad as the group that finished third in the medal count in Bermuda two years ago, the present squad still hopes to finish strongly, especially in basketball, cycling, and gymnastics.

“Of course we’ll be competitive, but we won’t be as competitive as when it was here, and it just depends on who’s available on the day,” Beard said.

Several top athletes are unavailable, including sprinter Tre Houston, the fastest man in Island Games history after setting records of 10.5sec in the 100 and 21.2 in the 200 metres at the National Stadium in 2013.

Houston, 25, is resting an injured achilles tendon ahead of his Pan American Games bid next month, while the swimming team, who accrued a total of 16 medals in 2013, will focus on the Concacaf Junior Championships this month.

“Obviously I would have liked to have seen swimming here, I would have liked to have seen some of the other top sports here, but it’s an expensive venture, and sponsorship is not as easy as it was to come by years ago,” he said.

“I just take my hat off for those athletes who are putting their money into it to make it here.

“For a lot of them, they’re not taking part in the Olympics, but it’s still going to be a good standard.

“That’s really the beauty of these Games. It’s a chance for everybody to be involved, to really feel like part of Bermuda, and to build some Bermuda spirit.”

n The Bermuda Volleyball Association has named their men’s and women’s indoor volleyball teams for the NatWest Island Games in Jersey.

The men’s team includes a number of fresh faces who will be looking to improve upon the bronze medal they won in Bermuda two years ago.

The women’s team will be aiming for a podium finish, having lost the bronze medal match in three of the previous four Island Games competitions.

The Island Games will run from Saturday, June 27 to Friday, July 3.