News / Faye & Joan chosen to lead Team Shetland in ceremony
TABLE tennis player Joan Smith and athlete Faye Cox will be Shetland’s flag bearer and water carrier, respectively, for the Island Games next month.
Team Shetland confirmed the details on Monday ahead of the opening ceremony on Saturday 24 June for this year’s games, being held in the Swedish island of Gotland.
It will be Joan’s eighth games, having first taken part in Gibraltar in 1995, and she has represented Shetland in three sports – badminton, squash and table tennis.
At the squash competition in Bermuda in 2013, she won a silver medal in the singles event, and a bronze medal in the pairs with playing partner Kenny Pottinger.
Joan is well known in Shetland sport, particularly in the South Mainland where she works as a PE teacher, and has represented Scotland in both squash and table tennis.
Unst-based Faye will be the water carrier at the opening ceremony in Visby, where a representative of each team pours water from their island into a fountain that runs throughout the games week.
This year will be the fifth time she has represented Shetland, having first competed in 2005 when she won two silver medals in the 100m and 200m events on the Clickimin track.
At the last games in Jersey in 2015, Faye won gold as part of the 4x100m relay team alongside Tamar Moncrieff, Sophie Moar and Kristi Grant, and two bronze medals in the 100m and 200m sprints.
In April 2016 she gave birth to a daughter before returning to training shortly afterwards to prepare for the track competition at this year’s games.
Shetland Island Games Association chairwoman Karen Woods said: “We’re delighted that Joan and Faye have accepted the honour of being our flag bearer and water carrier for the opening ceremony.
“They’ve both worked hard to achieve success in their chosen sports and are fantastic ambassadors for Shetland sport.”
At this year’s games, Team Shetland will comprise 129 competitors and officials taking part in 11 sports – archery, athletics, badminton, cycling, football, golf, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, table tennis and triathlon.
The team is sponsored by Shetland-based marine engineering and fabrication specialist Malakoff Ltd for the third consecutive games.
Around 3,000 participants from 24 competing islands are expected to take part in this year’s games during a week-long programme of 14 sports. You can find more information on the games website.
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