WITH so many sporting opportunities in the Island, it can be difficult for some sports to attract young talent.
That has certainly been the case in the past for basketball but Heather Watters believes there is reason to be optimistic for the future of the sport – particularly the women’s game.
Jersey’s men’s team will not be travelling to Guernsey this year having withdrawn citing the cost of travel and accommodation.
But the women will take to the court and have been handed a tough group featuring defending champions Menorca as well as the Cayman Islands.
Watters, who is also women’s development officer for the Jersey Basketball Association, admits that Guernsey 2023 will be a learning experience for a squad featuring six Island Games débutantes but that the experience will stand the sport in good stead as it continues to grow in Jersey.
‘We are excited for the Games,’ she said.
‘It is difficult to know how we will react as a team to competition because we have not had much game time but it will be a fantastic experience.
‘The difficulty we encounter is that there is not yet a high level of women’s basketball in the Island that we can prepare against.’
Watters added that they have been training against the men’s team as well as a youth select side in a bid to get ready for the Games.
The standard of women’s basketball is improving though. In 2021, Watters set up a women’s basketball league which has gone from strength to strength and has seen the talent pool increase.
‘Hopefully, by the time the next Island Games rolls around we will have a lot more competition for places,’ Watters said. ‘We are already seeing participation increase and this is the first Island Games I can think of that there has had to be selection for the basketball squad. Out of the team of 12, half of them will be taking part in their first Island Games.’
One of those progressing through the ranks is Vanessa Szajkowska – who at just 13 years of age is the youngest Team Jersey athlete.
Watters said: ‘We are very excited to have her with us. She came through the women’s league and it is great to have that youth on the team to give them the outlook of what they could be aiming for.
‘Our long-term goal is to progress the game and fully establish the women’s league and, excitingly, we have got government funding for next season. If we can embed the women’s league in the basketball schedule and use that as a vehicle to build the talent and bring the quality up then that would be fantastic.
‘It is a very exciting time for women’s basketball.’
