Sport in Jersey
Encyclopedia
In its own right Jersey
participates in the Commonwealth Games
and in the bi-annual Island Games
, which it last hosted in 1997 and will next host 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 particpation includes the Commonwealth Youth Games and Jeux des Isles.
In sporting events in which Jersey 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.
supervises football in Jersey. The Jersey Football Combination has nine teams in its top division. The 2006/07 champions were Jersey Scottish where Ross Crick is the top scorer. The Jersey national football team
plays in the annual Muratti
competition among others.
Graeme Le Saux
was the first Jersey footballer to play for England.
has been an annual event since 2006.
Jersey hosts an annual around-the-island endurance walk, The Itex-Rotary Walk. This walk goes anti-clockwise around the coast of Jersey for 48.1 miles and has for a number of years started and finished at the Harbour Terminal in St Helier. The walk starts at 3am and as an example of the difficulty in completing the walk in 2009 of the 1,308 starters only 779 finished.
The Jersey Spartan Athletic Club was founded in 1978.
Jersey track athlete Colin Campbell represented Great Britain at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and 1972 Munich Olympics. He also competed in the bobsleigh
discipline in the 1976 Winter Olympics
in Innsbruck.
(ICC). The Jersey cricket team
plays in the Inter-insular match
among others. Cricket
has seen extreme rapid growth in Jersey and is the most popular sport. It is so popular that there is massive crowd support for every match. The main cricket ground is the Grainville Cricket Ground
at Saint Saviour
and has hosted international cricket competitions, including hosting Women's One Day Internationals for England Women.
The Rubis International Criterium
and Road Race Weekend was formed in 2009 by Velo Sport Jersey Cycling Club. Jersey hosted time trials of the Tour de Bretagne
in 2007, and a full leg in 2010.
.
Two golfers from Jersey have won The Open Championship
seven times between them, Harry Vardon
winning six times and Ted Ray
winning once. Harry and Ted also won the US Open
one time each and Harry's brother Tom Vardon had some smaller wins on European Tours. Tommy Horton
is a long-term Jersey resident.
. Gymnasts regularly compete in the Island Games.
next to the ruins of Grosnez Castle.
, which hosts both national and international hill climbs. There are a few events which take place on the beach at St Ouen. One of these is sand racing and this takes place throughout the year. Finally there is also a go kart track at the Living Legend, which features electric go karts with speeds of up to 35 mph.
Several former motor racing drivers live in the island. 1992 Formula 1 world champion Nigel Mansell
and ex F1 driver Derek Warwick
both live there. Warwick is the owner of Honda garages in Jersey, which are named Derek Warwick Honda.
There is also one locally-born racing driver: James Walker
. Walker took part in British F3 from 2004-2006 and raced for Fortec Motorsport in the Renault World Series in 2007-2008, He then switched to P1 Motorsport
for 2009. He has also raced in Superleague Formula
and the Daytona 24 hours. In May 2010, he tested for the Triple 8 Vauxhall team at Rockingham Motor Speedway
.
pitches around the Island, including in central Saint Helier. The Jersey Petanque Association is the governing body.
.
Jersey has two public indoor swimming pools; a third is used by schools, clubs and associations. Swimming in the sea, surfing, windsurfing and other marine sports are practised. Jersey Swimming Club have organised an annual swim from Elizabeth Castle
to Saint Helier Harbour for over 50 years. A round-Island swim is a major challenge which a select number of swimmers have achieved.
Simon Militis has represented Great Britain at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
There are few facilities for extreme sports and youth sports such as skateboarding
, BMX
, and inline skating
. Coastal cliffs provide opportunities for rock climbing
.
The Royal Channel Island Yacht Club is based in Jersey.
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
participates in the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
and in the bi-annual Island Games
Island Games
The Island Games are an international multi-sports event organized by the International Island Games Association.- History :The Island Games began in 1985 as the Inter-Island Games, as part of the Isle of Man International Year of Sport, and were intended to be a one-off sporting celebration only...
, which it last hosted in 1997 and will next host 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 particpation includes the Commonwealth Youth Games and Jeux des Isles.
Home Nations
Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on the context. Politically, it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom...
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.
Association football
The Jersey Football AssociationJersey Football Association
The Jersey Football Association is the body that co-ordinates and organises the sport of football in Jersey. It is not a member of either UEFA or FIFA, but is a member of the Football Association and has the status of an English county, despite the fact that Jersey is a Crown dependency, separate...
supervises football in Jersey. The Jersey Football Combination has nine teams in its top division. The 2006/07 champions were Jersey Scottish where Ross Crick is the top scorer. The Jersey national football team
Jersey national football team
The Jersey official football team is the official football team for the Bailiwick of Jersey. They are not affiliated with FIFA nor UEFA, and therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Football Championship...
plays in the annual Muratti
Muratti
The Muratti is the only annual men's football competition, inaugurated in 1905, between the Channel Islands of Guernsey, Jersey and Alderney, the prize for winning being a trophy called the Muratti Vase which is only relevant within the Islands. Both Matthew Le Tissier and Graeme Le Saux played in...
competition among others.
Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Pierre Le Saux is a retired English footballer of French ancestry who played for the Premier League clubs Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, and for the England national football team. Primarily a left back, he was sometimes also played in midfield or on the left wing.After...
was the first Jersey footballer to play for England.
Athletics
The Jersey MarathonJersey Marathon
The Standard Chartered Jersey Marathon is an annual marathon staged in Jersey, Channel Islands. The inaugural event on 8 October 2006 was the first marathon staged in Jersey for 20 years....
has been an annual event since 2006.
Jersey hosts an annual around-the-island endurance walk, The Itex-Rotary Walk. This walk goes anti-clockwise around the coast of Jersey for 48.1 miles and has for a number of years started and finished at the Harbour Terminal in St Helier. The walk starts at 3am and as an example of the difficulty in completing the walk in 2009 of the 1,308 starters only 779 finished.
The Jersey Spartan Athletic Club was founded in 1978.
Jersey track athlete Colin Campbell represented Great Britain at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and 1972 Munich Olympics. He also competed in the bobsleigh
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....
discipline in the 1976 Winter Olympics
1976 Winter Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4–15, 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria...
in Innsbruck.
Cricket
Jersey is an affiliate member of the International Cricket CouncilInternational Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council is the international governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989.The...
(ICC). The Jersey cricket team
Jersey cricket team
The Jersey cricket team is the team that represents the Crown dependency of Jersey in international cricket matches. They became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council in 2005, and an associate member in 2007....
plays in the Inter-insular match
Inter-insular match
The Inter-insular match is a cricket match played annually between the representative teams of Channel Islands Jersey and Guernsey. It has been played since 1957 and often attracts crowds above 1,000.-History:...
among others. Cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
has seen extreme rapid growth in Jersey and is the most popular sport. It is so popular that there is massive crowd support for every match. The main cricket ground is the Grainville Cricket Ground
Grainville Cricket Ground
Grainville Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Saint Saviour, Jersey. The first recorded match held on the ground came in 1988 when Jersey played the Hampshire Second XI...
at Saint Saviour
Saint Saviour, Jersey
-Notable sites:*Highlands College*De La Salle College*St. Michael's Preparatory School*Hautlieu School*Grainville Cricket Ground*Grainville School*Jersey Evening Post offices and printing works-External links:**...
and has hosted international cricket competitions, including hosting Women's One Day Internationals for England Women.
Cycling
Velo Sport Jersey Cycling Club and Caesarean Cycling Club organise cycle sport events. The Jersey Cycling Association Youth Academy promotes youth participation.The Rubis International Criterium
Criterium
A criterium, or crit, is a bike race held on a short course , often run on closed-off city center streets....
and Road Race Weekend was formed in 2009 by Velo Sport Jersey Cycling Club. Jersey hosted time trials of the Tour de Bretagne
Tour de Bretagne Cycliste
Tour de Bretagne Cycliste, also known as the Tour de Bretagne trophée des granitiers and formerly known as Ruban Granitier Breton, is an annual early season professional cycling stage race held in late April and early May in Brittany, France. The race often acts as a show case for upcoming riders...
in 2007, and a full leg in 2010.
Golf
There are a number of golf courses, including La Moye Golf ClubLa Moye Golf Club
La Moye Golf Club is a private golf club located in Saint Brélade on the south-west coast of the island of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands....
.
Two golfers from Jersey have won The Open Championship
The Open Championship
The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
seven times between them, Harry Vardon
Harry Vardon
Harry Vardon was a Jersey professional golfer and member of the fabled Great Triumvirate of the sport in his day, along with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. He won The Open Championship a record six times and also won the U.S. Open.-Biography:Vardon was born in Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands...
winning six times and Ted Ray
Ted Ray (golfer)
Edward R. G. "Ted" Ray was a British professional golfer born on the Isle of Jersey. He won two major championships and contended in many others during the early years of the 20th century.-Biography:...
winning once. Harry and Ted also won the US Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
one time each and Harry's brother Tom Vardon had some smaller wins on European Tours. Tommy Horton
Tommy Horton
Thomas Alfred Horton, MBE is an English professional golfer.Horton was born in St Helens, Merseyside. He played on the European Tour for many years with moderate success, winning four titles and finishing fifth on the Order of Merit in 1976 and tenth in both 1974 and 1978. He has been more...
is a long-term Jersey resident.
Gymnastics
There are four gymnastics clubs in Jersey. Jersey Gymnastics Club, Regent Gymnastics Club, De Monde Gymnastics Academy and Jersey Special Gymnastics Club. Jersey Gymnastics Club is the largest, and has a training facility in St. JohnSaint John, Jersey
Saint John is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands.-Geography:Saint John is in the north of Jersey and borders St Mary on its west, Trinity to the east, and St Lawrence and Saint Helier on its south....
. Gymnasts regularly compete in the Island Games.
Horse racing
For horse racing, Les Landes Race Course can be found at Les Landes in St OuenSaint Ouen, Jersey
-Cueillettes:Unlike the other parishes of Jersey, the subdivisions of this parish are not named vingtaines, but cueillettes . Vingteniers are still elected, however, in the cueillettes.*La Petite Cueillette*La Grande Cueillette...
next to the ruins of Grosnez Castle.
Motorsports
Jersey also has a small selection of motorsports available. The most well-known of these is hill climbs at Bouley BayBouley Bay Hill Climb
Bouley Bay is a speed Hill Climb venue in Trinity, Jersey, organised by The Jersey Motor Cycle and Light Car Club. The course on Les Charrières du Boulay was "first used for competition in 1921" and since 1947 has hosted a round of the British Hill Climb Championship...
, which hosts both national and international hill climbs. There are a few events which take place on the beach at St Ouen. One of these is sand racing and this takes place throughout the year. Finally there is also a go kart track at the Living Legend, which features electric go karts with speeds of up to 35 mph.
Several former motor racing drivers live in the island. 1992 Formula 1 world champion Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
and ex F1 driver Derek Warwick
Derek Warwick
Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick is a British former racing driver from England. He raced for many years in Formula One, but never won a Grand Prix. During the early 1980s he was thought more likely to achieve World Championship success than his contemporary Nigel Mansell, but a series of wrong...
both live there. Warwick is the owner of Honda garages in Jersey, which are named Derek Warwick Honda.
There is also one locally-born racing driver: James Walker
James Walker
-Politics:*James Walker , English MP for Exeter*Sir James Walker, 2nd Baronet , British MP for Beverley*Jimmy Walker , born James J...
. Walker took part in British F3 from 2004-2006 and raced for Fortec Motorsport in the Renault World Series in 2007-2008, He then switched to P1 Motorsport
P1 Motorsport
P1 Motorsport is a British racing team based in Norfolk, England. They currently compete in the World Series by Renault.-British Formula Three:...
for 2009. He has also raced in Superleague Formula
Superleague Formula
Superleague Formula is an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It goes by the saying 'The Beautiful Race: Football at 300 km/h'. By 2011 the link with...
and the Daytona 24 hours. In May 2010, he tested for the Triple 8 Vauxhall team at Rockingham Motor Speedway
Rockingham Motor Speedway
Rockingham is the UK's most modern motorsport venue and Europe's fastest racing circuit, hosting corporate driving days, driver training, conferencing & exhibitions, vehicle manufacturing events, track days, testing, driving experiences and motorsport...
.
Pétanque
There are a number of pétanquePétanque
Pétanque is a form of boules where the goal is, while standing inside a starting circle with both feet on the ground, to throw hollow metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet or jack. It is also sometimes called a bouchon or le petit...
pitches around the Island, including in central Saint Helier. The Jersey Petanque Association is the governing body.
Rugby union
There are several rugby union clubs in the island including a rugby academy for under 18s and Les Quennevais Rugby ClubLes Quennevais Rugby Club, Jersey
Les Quennevais R.F.C. is a rugby union club based in Jersey in the Channel Islands.-The club:LQRFC were formed in 1980 from a highly successful team from Les Quennevais school, and has participated in rugby union in Jersey, Guernsey and in the English Hampshire competition and beyond continually...
.
Shooting
Colin Mallett won Jersey's sole Commonwealth Games gold medal in Auckland in 1990 for men's fullbore rifle.Swimming
Elizabeth Castle
Elizabeth Castle is a castle in Saint Helier, Jersey. Construction was started in the 16th century when the power of cannon meant that the existing stronghold at Mont Orgueil was insufficient to defend the Island and the port of St. Helier was vulnerable to attack by ships armed with...
to Saint Helier Harbour for over 50 years. A round-Island swim is a major challenge which a select number of swimmers have achieved.
Simon Militis has represented Great Britain at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
Other sports
Skateboarding
Skateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
, BMX
BMX
Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...
, and inline skating
Inline skating
Inline skating is a recreational sport practiced widely internationally. Inline skates typically have 2 to 5 polyurethane wheels, arranged in a single line. The in-line design allows for greater speed than roller skates and better maneuverability...
. Coastal cliffs provide opportunities for rock climbing
Rock climbing
Rock climbing also lightly called 'The Gravity Game', is a sport in which participants climb up, down or across natural rock formations or artificial rock walls. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a pre-defined route without falling...
.
The Royal Channel Island Yacht Club is based in Jersey.
See also
- Jersey at the Commonwealth GamesJersey at the Commonwealth GamesJersey has competed thirteen times in the Commonwealth Games to date, beginning in 1958.-Medal tally:Jersey was thirtyninth on the all-time medal tally of the Commonwealth Games after the 2006 games in Melbourne, Australia, having won four medals since 1958.-History:Jersey first participated at the...
- Springfield StadiumSpringfield StadiumSpringfield Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in St. Helier, Jersey, set in a public park.Springfield was formerly the headquarters of the Royal Jersey Agricultural and Horticultural Society and was the venue for Jersey cattle shows, as well as social and sporting events, including the Battle of...
- Sport in the United KingdomSport in the United KingdomThe United Kingdom has given birth to a range of major international sports including: Association football, rugby , cricket, golf, tennis, badminton, squash, rounders, hockey, boxing, snooker, billiards and curling...
- Sport in GuernseySport in GuernseyGuernsey participates in its own right in the Commonwealth Games.Guernsey participates in the bi-annual Island Games, which it hosted in 1987 and 2003...
- Sport in Alderney