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 Fletcher Sports’ Team of the Month for November is Blaze A.  We spoke to Nena Copperwaite, the team’s captain and coach about their successful start to the season.    Blaze A have had another fantastic month, with a huge 83-39 win over Resolution IT Black. We have also posted a 48-28 win over Titans A which was a great performance from the girls, particularly in both our attacking and defending circles where we were up against our fellow Guernsey Panther team mates. On that occasion Hannah Blondel came away with the Player of the Match nomination for her superb efforts in making numerous interceptions at WD.  Both our shooters (Abbie Greening and Jemma Green) have been outstanding this season. The high scores that we have been able to post are a testament to them and the work they have been putting in both on and off court.    This season our aim is to win the league, however this is going to be tough and could potentially come down to the last match of the season as we are up against stiff opposition in the form of Resolution IT Green. The last time we played each other at the start of the season the match ended in a high scoring 62-62 draw. We were due to play them again recently, but due to circumstances out of Resolution’s control, they were without two very key players. Out of respect to Resolution, and because the league is so tight this year, we requested that our match be moved to a date when both sides can field a full squad.  Therefore, we are now due to play them at the end of the season which could end up being the title decider!    Netball is a fantastic sport for people of any age to get involved with and here in Guernsey our Guernsey Netball Association (GNA) has something to cater for everyone, from elite level (Guernsey Panthers), to club level, walking netball, minis netball (starting from reception age), men’s netball, social summer leagues and also Nets (an indoor version played in a court surrounded by spring netting in which you bounce the ball off).    Currently netball has seen a huge boost in participation numbers, following England's gold winning medal performance at this year’s Commonwealth Games. With weekly matches of the Vitality Superleague (the UK’s top netball league) being shown on Sky Sports and a new sponsorship deal between England Netball and Nike, now is an exciting time to get involved with the game. We have seen a big rise in participation on island with numerous girls attending weekly club sessions and trialling out for various Guernsey Panther Squads.    Being part of a team sport like netball is fantastic as not only does it keep you active but for children it teaches them about teamwork, respect and is brilliant for socials skills, often lifelong friendships are formed through playing sport. The GNA currently has two clubs which offer youth netball -  Nerine (reception - seniors) and Investec Wealth Zebras (Year 5 through to seniors).    If anyone would like to get involved in netball then they should visit the GNA website, www.guernseynetball.gg where they can find contact details for all club and island teams.  They can also contact the GNA direct from there if they wish any further information with regards to Walking Netball, Nets or Summer League.

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ORIGINATING in Mexico, padel is the fasted growing new sport in Guernsey. In just a year since new facilities were completed at the Guernsey Tennis Centre at Longcamps, the sport’s popularity as grown rapidly with competitive games played weekly. Fletcher Sports spoke to Mike Watt, director of the Guernsey Tennis Centre Ltd, to find out more. In a nutshell, padel is fast-paced mixture of tennis and squash. Played in pairs in a court with glass walls and points are scored when the ball bounces twice on the opponents’ side of the court. ‘It’s faster game that’s easier to play than tennis and beginners, who find tennis a bit more difficult to learn, find padel is more straightforward and easier to get enjoyment out of at an earlier stage,’ said Mike. ‘A padel court is basically like a smaller version of a tennis court but it’s got glass walls around it and you play with a padel bat which is shorter than a tennis racket and a tennis-type ball but it’s specifically a padel ball. The rules are very similar to tennis in that you play sets and games and points, scored the same way. You play 15—love, deuce, etc.’ The game was born in Mexico in the late 1960s and is the creation of businessman Enrique Corcuera. The story goes that Mr Corcuera wanted to build a tennis court but he didn’t have enough room in his grounds, so he invented padel. It is played widely in Hispanic American countries such as Mexico and Argentina, as well as Spain, where, according to Mike, it’ now more popular than tennis. And, it’s not for the faint-hearted. 'It can be more tiring than tennis, it’s more of a cardio workout. You’re playing pretty much all of the time, and the points are more frenetic,’ said Mike, who confirmed that padel is very much not a poor relation of tennis or looked down upon by hardened tennis players. ‘You think that might be the case but in fact quite a few of the people playing padel are actually very good tennis players and they find padel a really good way of having some fun and a bit of competition as well. A lot of the professional tennis players on the circuit, particularly the older ones that players in the Legends, actually play padel for fun and a workout,’ he said. Completed in October last year, the padel courts at the Guernsey Tennis Centre are in regular use. There’s a business league and a league for more accomplished players. Covers were installed on two of the courts just in time for this autumn. ‘So we’ve now got a game you can play indoors,’ Mike explained. ‘It’s very popular with young children and families. Quite a few families come in now to play. They like the speed of it, where with tennis you’d be playing a set for about an hour, a set in padel would be over in 20 minutes. And when they’ve had a game they want to play again, it’s slightly addictive!’ The Guernsey courts were opened officially by former French professional tennis player Henri Leconte in May this year. In June, they hosted a tournament on the British Padel Tour circuit, which was a huge success. ‘They loved it, they all said this is the best place they’ve been to – the island and the facilities. So we were very happy to hear that,’ said Mike. The good news is that padel courts aren’t exclusively for use by club members, so anyone can give it a try. At just £4 per person for an hour’s booking, it’s worth giving Guernsey’s newest sport a go. Padel rackets and balls are available at Fletcher Sports online and in-store    

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.

Peninsula Panthers U14s netball team are delighted with their new team kit from Fletcher Sports.   Unveiled at a special launch night at The Peninsula Hotel, the Little Big Hotel Group team kit for 2018/19 received a big thumbs up from the girls.   ‘The kit is great, the girls absolutely love it. The material is warm when it’s cold and cool when you're hot. It's breathable and washes well,' said coach, Heidi Rosamund.   'Kit is massively important, the girls need to be confident and comfortable in what they wear. We want them to play professionally so looking the part really helps with the mindset in believing in yourself & having the confidence step out.'    The U14s have a new sponsor on board this season, who was delighted with the end result. Check out the video below Fletcher Sports is delighted to provide some of Guernsey's leading teams with their kit.  If you are interested in how we may be able to help your team please get in touch with us.

As the new season gets closer we caught up with the man who masterminded last years promotion, Jordan Reynolds. Last season was an amazing success, what do you think gave you the edge?  There are many factors that contribute to a successful season, hard work, commitment and even luck. We had a fair amount of all of that, but overall, we were consistently able to adapt our game to find a winning formula in games.  We assume the team had a well-earned rest over the summer? If only! The boys have had 5 weeks off and are were back into pre-season in July.  Pre-season is an important time for the team, a time where we start to make the big gains ready for the 18/19 Nat 2S season.  How do you think the team will respond to last years promotion? The players and coaching staff are excited about the opportunity to compete at such a high level. National 2 will definitely be a higher standard than we have ever played before, but that just means we need to work harder and embrace the challenges ahead.  How are you planning to deal with the travel challenges for next year’s fixtures?  Travel has always been the nature of the beast when playing for Guernsey, if you want to play sport at a high level then crossing the sea comes with it. Fortunately, our players have had some practice over the years, but National 2 will offer up a few different obstacles than before. There is the possibility of having a few stay-over games in places like Bristol, although not ideal there are many worse places I could think of for us to be staying in. Guernsey Raiders kick-start their season on the 1st September against Old Albanians. The first home game of the season is the following week against Worthing. Fletcher Sports is the only place to get official Raiders merchandise.  Available online and in-store. 

After the success of the 17/18 season, Fletcher Sports caught up with 2017 Players player of the year & Supporters player of the year Anthony Armstrong to debrief on last years exploits and look ahead to the new season. If you had to sum up last season in one sentence what would it be?  Beyond anything I could have expected at the start of the season. The Siam Cup was a huge win - how did it feel in the changing room after the game? We were all buzzing. Everyone, whether we’ve lived here all our life or been here for a year, know how much it meant to everyone at the club. This season’s team works so well together, what makes everyone gel? We’re all good mates, it’s a lot easier to turn up and grind out results when you’re doing it with your mates What was your biggest challenge last season? The biggest challenge was probably being at the top end of the table. Everyone you play against is desperate to beat you so we had to make sure we turned up every week. What are you most looking forward to next season and the promotion? All of the challenges of next year; the increased travelling, stronger teams. You always want to test yourself at the highest level possible so really looking forward to giving it a crack. Guernsey Raiders start their new campaign with an away match against Old Albanians on 1st September,  The first home game of the season is a week later on 8th September against Worthing.  Fletcher Sports are delighted to be the exclusive kit partner of The Guernsey Raiders and stock a large selection of official merchandise, available online and in-store.

We have been getting up close and personal with Guernsey sports teams to check out their training and find out just why they are so good. This important, but fun, responsibility has been firmly on the shoulders of team member Kai, however, due to an injury, our very own Reece has taken on the mantle and this month he joined a Guernsey Cricket practice at the KGV.    The team are gearing up for a busy season looking to their matches in Sussex, T20 tournaments and of course the hotly contested inter-insulars. So what better time for Reece to have a go at playing cricket on grass and with a hard ball for the first time?   Check out our video for some amazing bird's eye views, catch ups with the players and T20 Captain and to hear how Reece plays it all pretty cool!   Don't forget you can get all your official, new Guernsey Cricket kit at Fletcher Sports both in-store and online   

Earlier this month we held our exclusive On Running and TRI Fitness night. Watch our video to check out what we all got up to as the lucky runners tested out some great On running shoes and took part in a #runningremixed session. Now that's a view to help you power through!   The evening kicked off from our St Peter Port store where this great group got kitted out with On Running shoes to try out and joined the Fletcher and TRI fitness team. After a brisk jog to Clarence Battery, we were put through our paces by TRI Fitness whilst being rewarded with stunning views and sunshine - it's one way to distract you during the plank anyway!   A cool down jog back to the store helped us all catch our breath and put us in the mood for a reward - pizza of course! It was a great evening and we want to say a big thank you to all those who took part.