AFTER a six-year absence, the Jersey Basketball Association welcomes back Channel Island rivals Guernsey for a renewed inter-insular battle at Fort Regent tomorrow.
Jersey has seen a resurgence in the sport in recent years, with significant growth across all sections of the association. The result is that, for the first time since 2018, the Caesareans are able to field teams to play a full day of competition, with Under 17s, Under 21s, Jersey Ladies and Jersey Men’s, all squaring off against their Sarnian counterparts.
Paul Milbank, JBBA president, said: “It’s hard to believe that the last time Jersey hosted the inter-insular was six years ago.
“Lots has changed since then and Jersey Basketball is in the best health I’ve ever seen.
“Sports associations on both islands have their challenges, including travel reliability and expense as well as access to suitable venues, so we feel it is good for both islands to be able to get together in a competitive way and help to sharpen each other’s games.”
“And, of course, our historic rivalry will ensure it is an exciting day of matches.”
Meanwhile, men’s head coach Stuart Gilmour added: “We know we have a tough challenge ahead of us. Guernsey are a really strong outfit.
“But we are in an excellent place as well. We have a young men’s squad with five débutantes, which is really exciting.
“We’ve been on the wrong end of some tough results over the years, but this fresh squad is confident and ready to set the story straight.”
A similar storyline unfolds when talking about the women’s team’s history.
The Sarnians have dominated for over two decades, including a 97-31 victory on home soil last year, but Gilmour is excited about the new crop of young players coming through.
“In the women’s sector, we have really focused on bringing through the young talent recently,” he continued.
“This will be some of their first tests representing the Island and what a stage to introduce yourself, a home inter-insular. You can’t ask for much more than that.
“We want to set a benchmark of where we are currently, so we can see more clearly where we want to get to and how to go about it.
“The Guernsey women are very strong so it’ll be a really tough contest. But, just as with the men’s match, I believe whatever the result, we can take so many positives away from this weekend with the right level of attitude and output.
“Both the U21 and U17 squads have grown recently with the massive surge of junior interest and participation in the club.
“The JBBA have been brilliant in offering their young players top-level coaches, matches and trips abroad.
“Our junior section is going really strong. We have the U21s and U17s playing this weekend, but we have some fantastic players coming through in the younger groups as well.
“We know, particularly when comparing ourselves against Guernsey, that we might still have some catching up to do.
“But both age groups played well last year and their scorelines were much closer than the senior contests.
“We are rapidly improving as a whole and I’m hopeful our young players can really step up this weekend.”
