The inception of the 'Inter-Island' or simply island games at the Isle of Man in the year 1985, is truly regarded as an epoch making event. From the very beginning the intention had been to bring together a number of islands from different parts of the world in a friendly but competitive mood, as part of the Isle of Man's Year of Sport. It has been found that athletes from all over the world do come take part in the island games at the venue. On the very first year it was found that athletes participated even from the distant parts of the world, like Iceland and Scandinavia in the northern hemisphere. While there were several others who came all the way from the British Isles, the Mediterranean, down to St. Helena in the South Atlantic, the total number of island partners becoming seven. Now you may ask what the central idea was! There is no doubt in it that each and every human civilization, not to speak of the countries, has given birth to various sports! In the same manner this new sports competition vowed to open a new floodgate of opportunities for hundreds of young sportsmen and women from the small island communities. What would they do? They would compete and enjoy the fervor of the international contest against other islanders but with similar standards of performance. But are there other benefits from the island games at the respective venues? Indeed there are many, ranging from cultural exchange and social interaction with the visiting teams to the establishment of new lifelong friendships with fellow islanders. Well, there are also other schools of thought that depict in many ways the sporting competition as only one aspect of the success of this event. Truly speaking, opportunities are very necessary and also imperative for the success of an individual. But along with it there is also the need of exchange or share of thoughts and experiences relating to the unique island stories. With this end in view, the central theme or emblem of the international contest from the very inception has been NatWest – bringing islands together! On the very first year the festival was such a great success, that there was a unanimous decision to carry forward the message and to continue it every other year, with Guernsey hosting the Games in 1987. In the following year the international contest took place at many areas, that include Faroe Islands, Aland, Isle of Wight, Gibraltar, Jersey, Gotland in 1999 (the first Games of NatWest offshore's sponsorship), Isle of Man and Guernsey. Once the contest was supposed as ridicule from several quarters, but its increasing popularity can be easily perceived from the number of increasing nations. More and more islands are coming forward to participate in the island games at the respective venues, and in the recent years the number has grown more substantially, with 25 Islands as members of the International Island Games Association.

Even for the preservation of the discipline the International Island Games Association has also been formed. The International Island Games Association or IGA is an organization which is professionally dedicated to the organization and carries forward the message of the Island games to every nook of the civilized world. Under the supervision of this organization the biennial athletic competition between teams from several islands and other small territories do take place. Besides, the IGA liaises with the member island associations and with sponsors of the games. It, in addition, investigates whether islands wanting to join fit the membership criteria. The Games were last held on Shetland in 2005 and the next games will be in Rhodes in 2007 and Aland in 2009. It is heard that the island games have high sporting ideals and encourage in the promotion of friendship between the member Islands. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for which the Island Games have grown in popularity and in stature. The Guernsey Games in 2003 had over 2,000 competitors and with the support of NatWest offshore received extensive media coverage.