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With success at every level, St Martin's AC have been a force to reckon with this season. We spoke to club president Neil Hunter about the secret of their success. St Martin’s has had a successful season at all levels this year - could you give us some highlights? We have won almost everything there is to win this season, across all ages. Our first team won the league and are in the finals of both the FA Cup and the Stranger Cup this week; our Railway side won their Division 3 title too. Across our youth teams, we have won U18, U16, U15 and U13 leagues, as well as the U18, U15, U13 x 2, U12 cups, plus the Corbet Cup Shield. We also won the Normandie Cup Final (U16) on Friday night and had inter-island success in the U16 Upton and the Eric Amy cup, which was a U16 Jersey competition. So, we have done quite well! Fletcher Sports knows that a lot of work goes on behind the scenes at a successful football club and we wanted to recognise this by making those people our team of the month for April. How important is it to have a hardworking team of volunteers? This club isn’t necessarily driven by success; what we aim for every year is sustained improvement, but even more so, a sustained increase in enjoyment every season. We want everyone associated with our club to be proud to be a part of what we do, winning or losing. This is why our volunteers across the club are so vitally important. We have individuals who maintain our grounds, who run our bar and canteen on match days, as well as some extremely loyal supporters of the club, and that is before we begin to thank the coaches for the role they play. What makes St Martin’s special/ different? We strive to keep a strong bond across all aspects of our club, because togetherness, respect, care and kindness are extremely highly regarded values which have made this club so successful, not just this year but since our inception. How can people get involved playing/ helping out at St Martin’s? If people want to be a part of our club, they can reach us on Facebook @StMartinsACgsy and on Twitter @StMartinsAC. Picture caption: St Martin's AC club president Neil Hunter with this season's trophies (photo courtesy of Max Hunter).

Fletcher Sports sales assistant and goalkeeper, Jason Martin, looks ahead to this weekend's Muratti Vase.

The Fletcher Sports Team of the Month for March is a group of youngsters who have played out of their skins this season. The U14 Peninsula Panthers were the first Guernsey junior side to qualify in Guernsey’s netballing history for the UK South Region U14 league, travelling to play two games a weekend once a month from September to February. ‘They have improved hugely throughout the season in finishing the league the most successful Guernsey U14 team for many years. A technically brilliant team with strength, resilience and speed,’ said coach Heidi Rosamund. ‘They came up against some very strong and very tall players, which meant they needed to be technically better and change their game to suit their opponents each game. They learnt over the season and the improvement was seen each game they played. People have even said they now play beyond their years.’ In January this year the girls won a Sports Commission award for Outstanding Team Performance of an All-Guernsey U18 Side, the first Guernsey netball team to win such a high accolade in sport in many years. On Mother’s Day, the girls did themselves proud at Inter Insulars, beating Jersey in front of a home crowd by 14 goals the biggest win of the weekend across the Guernsey sides. ‘They were fantastic, everything they were taught was in their game which was a huge accomplishment for such a young team,’ said Heidi. ‘The girls have played local league netball together as a squad since they were 10 and 11 years old. This season the team were also undefeated champions in the Little Big Hotel Division 2 winter league and were crowned overall Channel Island champions last month winning the Uptons, this time in Jersey. ‘They’re a fantastic team who are best mates on and off court, they have grown together from little people into champions; myself my fellow team of coaches and team manager really couldn’t be prouder of them. The maturity they show on court I firmly believe is down to the journey they have been on since a young age which is key to building a squad to the standard they are. ‘As young players they aren’t mature enough to process instruction and immediately implement them on court so playing week in week out was key to their development and now we see them not even needing to check where each other are on court, they just know. That being said they have all worked very hard and have been 100% dedicated to their team and the sport.’ The netball scene in Guernsey is thriving, with more juniors taking up the sport locally than ever before. Heidi believes that this is due, in part, to the success of the England national side. ‘The Roses winning Commonwealth gold last year has certainly helped. Compared to when I was young, the sport is now televised, sponsored and players are even paid, finally players are recognised as athletes,’ she said. ‘Netball is a team sport; it provides inclusion and teaches some very valuable life skills. When you’re on court there is nothing else on your mind giving you a break from everyday life stresses and concerns.’ This year, the Guernsey Netball Association has introduced walking netball for the more mature lady or players using the game for rehabilitation purposes.  Anyone interested in taking up club netball or even walking netball can go to www.guernseynetball.gg  

Respondents to our first Fletcher Sports customer survey have given staff a resounding vote of confidence. A huge 92.8% of customers who took part in our survey said that shop assistants at Fletcher Sports were either ‘helpful’ or ‘very helpful’. More than 230 people responded to the survey, which was available online and in the shop in February and earlier this month. 63.4% of all respondents gave our staff the highest praise available to them within the survey, with a further 29.4% saying that they are helpful. ‘We pride ourselves at Fletcher Sports on having knowledgeable staff who can guide customers towards the right sports equipment or school uniform. We are delighted with the results of the survey,’ said owner, Terry Ferbrache. ‘We gave customers the chance to add their comments and we had some very useful feedback in terms of what we’re doing right and what could be improved. Space was one thing that came up a few times, as well as the idea of a loyalty card and the relocation of the changing rooms. We will take all these comments on board, although unfortunately we’re unable to make the shop any bigger!’ Another positive was the overwhelming support for shopping local – 68.5% of people who filled out the survey said that Town was their first port of call for sportswear and schoolwear. Just 9.4% said they would turn to the internet first. ‘To have more than two thirds of people say that they would try Town first before going online is fantastic. High street retailers really suffer because of online competition, so it’s a huge achievement to have so many people in Guernsey say that they would come to the shops in Town first before hitting the internet,’ added Mr Ferbrache. One surprise was the result on parking and access – there was an equal split between good and average (42% for each, with 8% saying it was excellent). Respondents to the survey had the chance of winning a £100 voucher for Fletcher Sports for filling out the survey. Winner, Jill Gill (pictured with owner Terry Ferbrache) was thrilled when she heard she was the lucky one.

Amalgamated Boxing Club boxer Billy Le Poullain has had a great start to 2019. Guernsey’s Commonwealth Games representative is so far unbeaten and hopes his winning streak will continue. The talented welterweight is an instinctive fighter with a great tactical mind, reflexes and athleticism. Fletcher Sports spoke to Billy about the sport after choosing the club as Team of the Month for February. How is your season going so far and what are your expectations for the remainder of the season? As a club I hope to see the constant progression from everyone up there, there is a great atmosphere in the club and we are going from strength to strength. My season is going well, with three fights unbeaten so far. My next fight is in a couple of weeks with a busy schedule following. I hope the hard work I’ve been putting in pays off and I continue this winning streak. We had a fantastic show at Beau Sejour last month – our February Fury was a superb night with lots of great boxing watched by a crowd of around 500. What’s the attraction of boxing? In my biased opinion, boxing is the best form of exercise. You can give your all in training and feel on top of the world afterwards. It’s a great way to release stress and get fit! I personally just enjoy the competition and love the training, it’s something I’ve done for nearly 14 years and I couldn’t imagine life without it. But boxing is about more than just fighting. We teach discipline, respect and hard work. Over the years the club has helped to keep a large number of youngsters off the streets. How can people get involved in boxing? They can follow our Facebook page, and come along to training. Sessions are Monday, Wednesday and Friday for over 15s and seniors, and for under 15s it’s a Tuesday evening. We are currently trying to raise funds for our proposed ‘big build’ which is a club renovation to try help us entice more of the young coming through the doors. We need to raise about half a million pounds to refurbish the club, which is obviously a huge task. But with the right facilities the possibilities are endless, and we could do so much more. We really want premises that are fit for purpose and allow more seating for family and friends to be able to watch events. To donate, go to:  www.giving.gg/donate/charity/290/Amalgamated-Boxing-Club 

For your chance to win a £100 voucher for Fletcher Sports, fill out our customer feedback survey. A winner will be chosen at random and notified by email.         Loading...

With only two losses so far this season, Whistlers B are storming it on the local table tennis scene. Captained by Lawrence Stacey, Whistlers B is the Fletcher Sports team of the month for January. We spoke to him about his love of the game.

Fletcher’s Team of the Month for December is Le Mont Saint Used basketball team   We spoke to the team’s founder, Jeff Stuart, about their successful first half of the season so far.   We are continuing the unbeaten run that carried us through the whole of last season (we haven’t lost since March 2017!) We’ve only had one change to the squad this year and whilst we don’t get a full turn out for every game we have managed to scrape enough of the guys together to make sure we compete hard each game. It’s tough when the average age of the team is 43 and we’re playing against 18yr old athletes!   We’re confident about the rest of the season and focused on remaining unbeaten for the second season in a row. The Cup competition starts in April and we are confident in doing the double and securing the cup and league titles for 2018/19. The only other silverware up for grabs would be individual honours, and after the MVP for Division 2 being a player from our team for the last four seasons, we are hopeful of keeping that title in the family also.   The basketball scene on island is very much a family. A great social set up and well run by the GBA. The development work that goes on is one of the strengths and the Future Stars program for years 2 to 11 is excellent – with players that have come through the programme now in Island representative squads. This season has seen the development of Under-13 league teams which begin their games in the league this week.    Basketball is a great sport to play. It rewards hard work and that can be from a physical and also cognitive standpoint. As it is a team game it develops great communication, support for teammates, strategic understanding and promotes positive health and wellbeing. High octane, fast-paced, athletic and competitive – all the things that challenge us in our growing years as an over 40s team!   The Future Stars program is a great starting point for school-age kids (futurestarsbasketball@hotmail.co.uk or via facebook), or if you are older and looking to get involved in a new (or re-live an old) challenge then contact guernseybasketball.co.uk. But if you are a lot older, contact me and get involved in the over 40s!

At Fletcher Sports we have worked hard to create a bespoke range of teamwear that is high quality yet affordable. We sat down with designers to create a new sizing chart and make sure items are suited to the sports they will be used for.