Falkland Islands and New Zealand first to arrive on the Island Teams have started to arrive on the Isle of Man for the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games. The Falkland Islands were the first to arrive, docking at Douglas Harbour on the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company ferry at about 11pm on Friday evening from The Port of Heysham. The five Athletes – Badminton players Sophia Arkhipkina, Laura Minto, Dominic Jaffray, Jordan Phillips and Swimmer Sorrel Pompert-Robertson- and three officials completed a journey of over 8000 miles, having flown from the Falkland Islands to RAF Brize Norton before travelling by road to Heysham. The first of the major countries to arrive was New Zealand who reached the Isle of Man on Sunday evening, completed a journey of over 11,000 miles with a flight from Manchester to the Island. Their party consists of forty-three athletes and officials and they will be competing in athletics, boxing, gymnastics and swimming. The majority of athletes and officials will then leave the Island on Tuesday 13th September. The smallest of the competing nations is the Island of Nieu, in the South Pacific Ocean with a population of just 1,400 while the largest is India that has over 1.2 billion people. In total there will be over 1000 Athletes, from sixty-six nations competing in the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games. They will be supported by 500 Officials from sixty-six nations in the Commonwealth will be competing in the Commonwealth for the duration of the Games. They will be supported by over 1000 local residents who have volunteered to work at the Games, filling roles such as Team Liaison Officers, Technical officials for the sports and many of the Island’s children who will be medal carriers and ball boys and girls at the Rugby Sevens. The majority of the Islands hotel beds are occupied, with over 2000 hotel beds being taken for the duration of the Games by competitors, officials and visitors with further visitors have been accommodated in the homestay programme that has seen the Isle of Man’s residents open their doors to guests. The athletes will be competing in seven sports; Badminton, Boxing, Athletics, Swimming, Cycling, Rugby 7’s and Gymnastics. The Athletics and Rugby both take place in newly upgraded stadiums featuring a newly laid synthetic track and a state of the art Astroturf pitch, while Swimming and Badminton will take place in the Isle of Man’s National Sports Centre. Mens and Ladies Gymnastics will take place in the island’s dedicated Gymnastics Arena’s – The Ellan Vannin Gymnastics Centre for the Mens event and the Manx Gymnastics Centre of Excellence for the Women’s event while the cycling will take place on the roads in and around the Island’s capital Douglas. Tickets for the Opening Ceremony and the sporting events can be purchased from the Welcome Centre, the Villa Marina or from the NSC reception. Tickets for the Opening Ceremony are ?15 and for sporting events range from ?10 to ?6 with concessions in certain sports for disabled and pensioners and juniors. Ends