Guernsey participates in the bi-annual Island Games, which it hosted in 1987 and 2003. In sporting events in which Guernsey does not have international representation, when the British Home Nations are competing separately, islanders that do have high athletic skill may choose to compete for any of the Home Nations – there are, however, restrictions on subsequent transfers to represent another Home Nation. The football player Matt Le Tissier for example, tried out for the Scotland national football team but ended up playing for England.
Major individual sports include athletics, shooting, swimming, football and fencing. Guernsey's home football team, Guernsey F.C. competes in the Isthmian League Division One South and Guernsey has received a number of Commonwealth games medals for shooting. Fencing is a sport that is rapidly increasing in popularity with GB fencers such as Fraser Ward originating from the island.
Sport in Guernsey is governed by the Guernsey Sports Commission with another association, Sport Guernsey developing elite athletes.
The island's sporting county is Hampshire.
The island's traditional colour (e.g. for sporting events) is green.
Aikido
The Japanese martial art showing 'the way of spiritual harmony'
The Guernsey Football Association runs Guernsey football. The top tier of Guernsey football is the FNB Priaulx League where there are 9 teams (Belgrave Wanderers, Northerners, Sylvans, St Martin's, Rovers, Guernsey Rangers, Vale Recreation, Mazur and Alderney). The current champions are Rovers. The second tier is the Jackson League which is a mixture of top league players, lower players and youth players. The third tier is the Railway League.
The Corbet Football Field donated by Jurat Wilfred Corbet OBE in 1932 has fostered the sport greatly over the years. Although more recently the island has upgraded to a larger, better quality stadium, called Footes Lane.[4]
Guernsey footballers warm up before the 2012 Muratti final
The annual Muratti match between the Channel Islands gives an airing to the traditional rivalry between Guernsey and Jersey, Alderney also play either Guernsey or Jersey in the semi-final in Alderney.
With four ringable towers in Guernsey the Islanders form part of the Channel Islands district of Winchester and Portsmouth Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers.
With divisions, knock-out competitions, an annual open international chess festival and with teams representing the Island at International competitions and the Chess Olympiad, you could say chess is a popular sport in the island.
From 2016, Guernsey is playing limited matches in Division 2 of the Sussex Cricket League after Sussex clubs voted unanimously to allow the island to join the competition.[13]
According to the ICC, "Guernsey is believed to have the highest cricket participation rate per capita with around 3,000 (circa 5%) of the island's entire population playing the game either as adults in league cricket or as youngsters in the school system".[14]
For more relaxed cycling, there are regular charity cycling events, such as "Rock To Rocque", and the States of Guernsey promote cycle routes through the country parishes.
Dance
Many types of dance are undertaken, including:
Argentine Tango
Ballet
Ballroom
Burlesque
Charleston
Guernsey traditional
Irish
Latin American
Modern
Morris
Pole
Salsa
Scottish
Street
Tap
Zumba
With dance festivals and competitions organised by dance schools.
Guernsey Sports Association for the Disabled offer general sports aimed at people with a variety of abilities across different ages with an annual participation in a UK Disability Games competition.
Guernsey is renowned for its strong fencing ability. The island competes at a number of levels, competing in national competitions all the way up to the Commonwealths. Guernsey has won two medals at Commonwealth Junior level. GB Fencers such as Fraser Ward are from Guernsey.
The Guernsey Gaels was founded in 1996 and competes in the European Gaelic football leagues. The island hosts its own tournament each year, with teams from all over Europe visiting the island.
Guernsey became European Gaelic Football Champions in 2011.
There are two 18-hole courses and one 9-hole course in the island, with a nine-hole course in Alderney.
Juniors are encouraged with competitions and cups to play for.
Islanders and clubs compete in inter Island competitions in both Jersey and Alderney, in the Island Games and in Hampshire and other English competitions.
The racecourse on L'Ancresse Common was re-established in 2004, and races are held on most Bank Holidays, with competitors from Guernsey as well as Jersey, France and the UK participating.
Guernsey also enjoys various motor sports covering production cars, sports cars, racing cars, motor cycles, motorcycles with sidecars, quad bikes, karts and historic cars and bikes
Off Road
Motor Cycle Trials
Sprints
Hill climbs
In season, regular races take place on the sands on Vazon beach on the west coast including the British Sand Ace Championship
Le Val des Terres, a steeply winding road rising south from St Peter Port to Fort George, is often the focus of both local and international hill-climb races.
Zef Eisenberg set the ACU British Land Speed Record in 2012 and with the Mad Max racing team set the World Turbine Bike Record with a speed of 233.7mph in 2015.[20]
The 2005, 2006, and 2007 World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx is a Guernseyman, whilst his son Seb currently competes in Formula 4.
Since 1894 Men's and Women's teams have been competing in local open sea races, with singles, pairs and fours.
Inter Island races, including the popular Sark to Jersey race and international coastal races and regattas.
In 1997 Jon Van Katwyk and Geoff Gavey completed the inaugural Atlantic Rowing Race.
In 2005-6 Lois Rawlins-Duquemin, Sarah Day, Kathy Tracey and Paula Van Katwyk was the first all female crew to row an ocean, crossing the atlantic in 67-7-20[22]
In 2008, Sam De Kooker and Simon Johns established a Guinness World Record for rowing non-stop on an indoor rowing machine in support of Multiple Sclerosis. They achieved a distance of over 300,000 metres.
In 2009 Margi Jorgensen won a silver medal in the ladies single in the World Coastal Rowing Championships.[23]
In 2013 James Plumley was part of the "Islanders" rowing team who broke the world record for rowing 2,000 miles around the British coast in a time of 26-9-9-58.[24]
Guernsey RFC 2nd XV and the only one other senior team in Guernsey, St. Jacques RUFC, which was founded in 1978, compete in the Jersey League.
Guernsey competes for the Siam Cup annually against Jersey. The trophy awarded its winner is the second oldest rugby honour contested in the world after the Calcutta Cup.
Guernsey Ladies Rugby have competed in the English non-contact leagues since the 2014–15 season.
Marathons have been run in the island for over 100 years,[25] there is an annual marathon together with a number of half marathons and shorter runs organised annually. There is an annual ultramarathon which follows the coast of the island for 36 miles. The Easter running festival is also popular with its cross-country course.
Athletes also compete within and for Hampshire County. Charity running events are well represented.
Hash House Harriers, Hash House Harriets, and Guernsey Full Moon HHH events add to the fun of the sport. A weekly 5km Parkrun event takes place on Saturday mornings at Pembroke Bay.
Mike Meinke completed the 156 mile Marathon des Sables across the Sahara in 2013,[26] starting a trend with three local runners completing the course in the 2014 race and three more in the 2015 race. A Guernsey woman, Ali Moullin competing in 2017.
Water based sports, both sea and pool based are popular, with many Islanders competing in the annual Charity Swimarathon and competitively in the Island Games and Commonwealth Games
As Guernsey has the second oldest tennis club in the world, at Kings, with courts built in 1875, you would be quite correct in saying that Tennis is a sport Guernsey loves.
With six indoor and outdoor facilities at a number of locations, clubs are associated to the Lawn Tennis Association
Guernsey players compete in the Island Games and Commonwealth Games as well as playing Inter Island games against Jersey and competing in Channel Island Teams in Aegon County Cup summer and winter events.
With leagues for men and women, organised by the Guernsey Tenpin Bowling Association
Guernsey has competed tenpin bowling at the Island Games
Touch Football (Rugby league)
Men's Women's and Mixed teams competing in leagues, an annual Inter Island competition, and the Island competes in Touch Europe and the Touch Football World Cup
In 2011 Guernsey won the World Cup Mixed Open Bowl Trophy having beaten the US in the final.
Sarnia Walking Club hold events throughout the year for men and women covering many different distances.
The annual church-to-church competition, where competitors have to touch each parish church in a 19.4 mile race is a special Guernsey event attracting world class competitors.[37] This race has been walked for well over 70 years, although if you believe the Guppy 'Stone de Croze'[38] cartoons, its more like 7,000 years.
Sport in New Zealand largely reflects the nation's colonial heritage, with some of the most popular sports being rugby union, rugby league, cricket, association football, basketball, horse racing and netball, which are primarily played in Commonwealth countries. New Zealand is a small nation but has enjoyed success in many sports, notably rugby union, rugby league, cricket, America's Cup sailing, world championship and Olympics events, and motorsport.
The Island Games are biannual international multi-sports events organised by the International Island Games Association (IIGA). Competitor teams each represent different island communities which are IIGA members. Currently all competitor teams represent non-sovereign territories of European nations—some within European waters and some further overseas.
The Jersey official football team represents the British Crown Dependency of Jersey in non-FIFA international matches.
The Guernsey official football team is the official football team representing the island of Guernsey in non-FIFA international football matches. It is not affiliated with FIFA or UEFA, and therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Football Championship.
In its own right Jersey participates in the Commonwealth Games and in the bi-annual Island Games, which it last hosted in 2015. Jersey is a founder member of the Island Games Association and has participated in every Games since the first in 1985. Jersey first competed in 1958 in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and has since participated in every staging of what became the Commonwealth Games. Youth sports participation includes the Commonwealth Youth Games and Jeux des Isles.
The athletics competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held in New Delhi, India between 6 and 14 October. The track and field events took place between 6–12 October at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium while the marathon contests were held on a street course running through the city on 14 October.
Lee Merrien is a British middle distance and long-distance runner. He has been named to the British team for the 2012 Summer Olympics following a Facebook campaign after he was initially not selected to the team. He has won multiple events at the Island Games for his home of Guernsey.
Ellen Marie Falkner is an English international lawn and indoor bowler from Cambridge, England. Falkner was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to lawn bowls.
These are the premier International Bowls Events between national bowls organisations affiliated to World Bowls, the PBA, World Bowls Tour and the IIBC.
Paul James Foster is a multiple world bowls champion who lives in Troon, Scotland. He plays at Troon Portland (Outdoor) & Ambassador Prestwick (Indoor) bowling clubs.
Alex "Tattie" Marshall, MBE is record breaking Scottish bowls player.
Alison Jayne Merrien MBE is an indoor bowls player from Saint Peter Port, Guernsey.
Stewart Anderson is a Scottish international bowls player and a world champion indoors.
Jamie Chestney is an English male international lawn and indoor bowler.
Katherine Rednall is an English lawn and indoor bowler from Stowmarket.
The European Bowls Championship formerly the European Bowls Team Championships is a biennial continental lawn bowls tournament for European nations. From its inauguration in 1997 until September 2021, the tournament was organised by the European Bowls Union (EBU). Three events were held; Men's Pairs, Ladies Pairs and Mixed Fours, in which gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded. The overall champions are determined based on a points system.
Cameron Christopher David Chalmers is a Guernsey born British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. The Guernsey record-holder for the 400 metres, he currently competes for both Guernsey and Great Britain.
Sandra Bailie is a Northern Irish international lawn and indoor bowler.
Lucy Kate Beere is a Guernsey international lawn and indoor bowler.
The 2022 Women's T20I Inter-Insular Series, consisting of two Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) matches, took place in St Saviour, Jersey in June 2022. The series was originally scheduled to consist of three WT20I matches, but the third match was later changed to an unofficial contest. The venue for the matches was the Grainville Cricket Ground. The women's inter-insular competition was last contested in 2019, when Guernsey won a single WT20I match. The series followed the 2022 Men's T20I Inter-Insular Series which took place in Guernsey in May 2022. Jersey Women won all three matches in the series.
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