Island Olympians Carl Prean (1988, 1992 & 1996) and Richard Jefferies (2012) helped launch the ‘Play in the Bay’ sports project, funded by a £10,000 Past Futures Grant, part of the Bay Place Plan, alongside Cllr Paul Brading, Sandown Bay head teacher Emma Bowden, Vectis Radio’s Ian Mac & Bay Place Plan’s Laura Cansdale.
Cllr Brading said ‘This project will capture the memories of sports personalities in the Bay, as well as highlight the wealth of sporting provision, and the history of around 20 different sports.’
In addition to Olympians, the Bay has seen an FA Cup Final Referee (Lee Probert), first winner of the USA Golf Open (Horace Rawlins), ITV World of Sport presenter (Dickie Davies), and countless other national and international success stories.
Paul concluded ‘This is a real partnership project, involving a local school, sports groups, local media, and hopefully will inspire greater participation and future proof sports, and their facilities.’
