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Fletcher Sports is incredibly proud of Guernsey's local sporting scene and believe it deserves as much exposure as it can get. Each month we will be crowning our local Team of the Month as a way of celebrating achievements of all kinds. This month we have chosen the Source touch rugby team, which recently took part in the Dragoni Touch Tournament in Milan, finishing an impressive 2nd.  We caught up with team captain Harry Burns to find out a little bit more... What previous experience have you had as a team before this tournament? Source has been running a team in the Guernsey Touch League for a while now, so some of us have played together for years, winning the league on multiple occasions in mixed, men’s and women’s. Even though lots of players who joined us on this trip haven’t played in a Source shirt for long, we adapted and played extremely well together. Admittedly we also did some additional training before the tournament, to get used to each other’s play styles and see how we could all merge together to become more effective. What were your thoughts on the tournament and how the Source team played? Well before the tournament admittedly I was nervous, as it was the first time Source had competed internationally and I had the responsibility of being captain. But as the tournament started we set a high example and played exceptionally in the group stages, including a 10-0 victory. This set us to be the second highest scoring team of the day, allowing us to skip the quarterfinals and go straight through to the semi-finals. In this game we fought hard to come away with a 5-2 win, setting us off to the finals versus the Milan home team who finished above us on scores in the group rounds. Unfortunately, we lost out in the final 6-3 to a strong team with some Italian internationals. But overall, I can look back at the tournament with pride as the team played incredibly and hoping to see Source enter more international tournaments in the future. As a captain, how did you try and keep the team morale going? In all honesty, it wasn’t hard, as all the team seemed to enjoy the games and enjoy winning obviously. Also, the team was built with highly-motivated sports individuals anyway, including individuals from the Guernsey Rugby Ladies’ team. But for me, one of the key ways of keeping a constant message is having pre-match warm-ups together as a team, as well as having a post-match team overview so we can all discuss what we thought of the game and how we can improve. I also try to encourage all team members to not be afraid to come and talk to me, if they want to talk to me about something they want to change. Why is touch such a good sport and why should people get involved? Touch is one of the fastest growing sports in Guernsey, with multiple opportunities for both genders. In 2018, Guernsey sent two teams to the European Touch Championships. Both the women’s and men’s played very well, including the men finishing Guernsey’s best rank of 6th in Europe. One of the key attractions is that it doesn’t have the physicality that rugby union does but relies more so on the aerobic ability of the players. With more than 375 members, the social side of touch is also a huge benefit, with the likes of end of season parties and trips away together, like Milan. You can easily get involved, just contact Guernsey touch at the guernseytouch.org.gg website. If you think your local team deserves our Team Of The Month award get in touch with us and let us know.

At Fletcher Sports we support all things active on Guernsey and are very proud of the sports teams on our island who are always punching above their weight. One of these great teams is the Guernsey cricket team which in recent years has started to broaden its horizons and play in bigger international leagues. We caught up with Ashley Wright, Head of Cricket. Ashley started playing the sport when he was just 13 and his love of the game has never left him. He has worked as a coach for many years, including with Surrey CCC, Sussex CCC and is about to embark on his third year with Guernsey. Last year Guernsey suffered a narrow defeat to Jersey, the question on everybody’s lips is can we beat them this year? Last season’s defeat to Jersey was bittersweet for me. I thought that we played some excellent cricket in parts and it showed the progression that we have made as a batting unit. Unfortunately, a better team beat us on the day. However, our team continues to progress and although we are the underdogs, I truly believe that we can beat Jersey if we play to our potential. How does it feel to be playing on a much bigger and more international stage? It’s always great to see how passionate the players are when representing their island. I am especially impressed with how dedicated they are and how much time and effort they put in to make Guernsey proud.   We have heard that training can be quite intense for the team - from practice, fitness and diet as well - can you tell us a bit more? Coming from a professional background, the training side has been one of the hardest things to get right. Getting the balance between professional and amateur is particularly tricky.  When the lads train, they train like professionals but the biggest difference in the amount of contact time. Our players all have jobs and families to juggle alongside the need to work hard to improve. Sometimes we get the balance wrong but it’s very important that when we train, we train properly and hard. What do you think the biggest challenge will be for the team in the upcoming season? As individuals, we have a goal for constant improvement and as a team, we have three performance goals. This season the goal is to gain promotion in the T20 European WCQ and win the inter-insular. We also want to get back into WCL 5 in 2 years time. Do you think we have enough young players waiting in the wings to keep up the team’s momentum? We are lucky that a majority of our squad is young enough to play for the next ten years. This will give time for the next batch of cricketers in our new system to come through. The hard thing with Guernsey with such tight immigration laws is that we don’t get many cricketers coming to the island unlike other associate nations. I think for such a small island with a small number of cricketers to choose from, we massively overachieve. This doesn’t mean that we don’t want to keep progressing but the challenges are getting harder each year. What do you think is the best way for kids to start playing cricket and how should Guernsey be encouraging this? For me, fun is the most important factor when starting to play any sport. It is also important to keep challenging the players so that they improve and continue to enjoy the sport. We have started a new future stars program for the 5-12 year olds. The aim is to get everyone involved by letting all the kids have a go at batting, bowling and just trying things out for themselves. We want the kids to have a go at everything and enjoy themselves. It’s an 8-week course and all the players get their own bat and ball to get them started. Good luck lads! We can’t wait to see you all play this year, we are sure the new season will give us some great memories.  If you fancy lining up at the crease this summer, why not head down to Fletcher Sports or shop online for bags, bats, balls, gloves, pads, shoes - whatever you need, we can help!