More than 100 athletes will be heading to the Scottish Isles next years with genuine hopes of a massive medal haul at the Island Games.

And this week, the chairman of Bermuda?s Island Games committee Jon Beard flew to Shetland for the competition?s AGM and to check out the venues for next year?s event.

Bermuda entered the event for the first time last year, coming home with a total of 37 medals ? 15 gold, 14 silver and eight bronze ?securing fourth spot in the medal table with the Isle of Man in third, Jersey in second spot and hosts Guernsey topping the table with 127 medals.

But Beard expects a bigger team and a bigger haul for next year?s event.

?These Games are a wonderful opportunity for Bermuda to compete on a level playing field,? said Beard.

?And they also give the Island?s athletes a yardstick of where they are internationally. These Games proved an excellent arena for development purposes and to provide a consistent standard of opposition for our athletes.?

In last year?s event, Bermudians competed in archery, badminton, triathlon, swimming, gymnastics, table tennis, cycling, volleyball and basketball while next year squash, tennis, track and field and soccer could be added to the list.

?We are hoping to expand the team next year and it would be good to see track and field athletes taking part as well as tennis players,? continued Beard.

?It is up to the individual governing bodies if they want to send their athletes, but these are some of the sports we are hoping to include.

?We will almost definitely be sending a women?s soccer team ? I think they could be competitive ? and we are also looking at sending some form of men?s team, maybe an under-23 side or some other kind of development squad.

?The Faroe Islands started off in this event in football and now regularly compete in European Championship and World Cup qualifiers. It is an excellent forum to develop in international competition.?

As well as seasoned international competitors, the Bermuda team consisted of a number of new faces to overseas competition, a policy which is set to be continued again next year.

Due to the lack of facilities in the Shetlands, tennis and basketball will be hosted in Gibraltar.

Nearly 3,000 athletes will take part in the event from 24 islands including Rhodes, Cayman, Saaremaa, Norwegian island Hitra and Faroe.

?This is the only chance we will have to look at the facilities before the athletes arrive next year,? added Beard.

?We will be looking at the different venues and the accommodation and the facilities in general to try and get some idea of what we can expect when we get there.?

Beard also added that, subject to approval from Government and various sporting organisations, Bermuda may consider putting in a bid to host the Games in 2011.