2023 Island Games: Guernsey clubs say event has seen more islanders take up sport
- Published
New basketball teams have joined Guernsey's league off the back of their women's bronze medal
Sports clubs in Guernsey say they have been over-subscribed with new members six months on from the Island Games.
Guernsey hosted the 19th edition of the bi-annual sporting event last summer with more than 2,000 people competing from 23 islands in 14 sports.
The six-day event saw the hosts win 145 medals to top the table.
Several sports have told the BBC that they have since been inundated with people looking to take up Island Games sports that they watched.
Guernsey's women's basketball team won a bronze medal play-off in front of a packed-out crowd at Beau Sejour on the final day of competition.
The buzz around the team and the event has led to new teams being formed to enter the island's top leagues.
"The response for what we've had, the legacy part for Guernsey Basketball, has been remarkable," said Adam Farish, head coach of the Guernsey's men's team.
"That began back in the summer when we were getting over-subscribed for the Future Stars programme, which is our minis stuff that we do on a Saturday which goes right through to 16 from aged six.
"We had to close down because people were asking to get in but we didn't have the capacity. That's never happened before," he told BBC Radio Guernsey.
Guernsey won 10 medals in pistol shooting, including six golds
Archery took place at Port Soif across five of the six days, with Jersey winning 11 medals and Guernsey taking eight.
Bowmen of Guernsey - who help organise the sport in the island - says it has seen an influx of subscribers to their courses.
"We've just finished a beginners course. It was well over-subscribed, so we've got to do another one later this year," said Bowmen of Guernsey president Steve Yates.
"From that, we've had 14 people join. Hopefully, they'll stick around and maybe not the next Games but the one after that they should be good."
Pistol Shooting was responsible for 20% of Guernsey's shooting medals at the Games.
While the Guernsey Pistol Club have limitations to their travel due to pistols being banned in the UK without a licence, they say they have seen interest in the sport grow.
"We've got a little bit of a waiting list at the moment because we have to do an induction course with each person that comes through," says Tara Leighton-Dyson, who won five gold medals last summer.
"But we're trying to drive forward competitions in our club a bit more now with the Island Games as a focus, showing what you can do."
People lined the streets for the opening ceremony of the 2023 Island Games in Guernsey
It was the third time Guernsey had hosted the Island Games.
The island first held the event in 1987 before once again staging it in 2003 and becoming the first island to have it for a third time last summer.
"It [the legacy] was more about what we could leave in terms of the sports and how we could develop interest in all of those," Amanda Hibbs, the Communications and Events lead at the 2023 Island Games, said.
"When you go round and talk to the sports, the support and interest they got from the local community was just fantastic and it's lovely to see that some people have taken up new sports off the back of the Games."