School vision deserves its sporting life

Scaling down the £60m. project costs by cutting back on some parts of the vision – such as the size of the sports hall, which currently features up to 500 spectator seats – may appease Treasury and Resources, but at what price for the future?

Already, Guernsey's Sports Commission is urging deputies not to head down the route of previous school rebuilds, which saw some schemes downsized to a stage where they became too small to be classed a significant player in the island's sports offering.

While the current proposals could see Guernsey move into a different league, in terms of hosting national games and fixtures for sports such as basketball, netball and volleyball, any watered-down compromise is likely to devalue the facility before the build has even begun.

Some will point to the Baubigny Schools project as a missed opportunity for sports planning. At one stage there were moves to reduce its pool to four lanes, despite a six-lane facility being needed to ensure it rated as competition standard.

This was heeded but a decision to reduce the scale of its outdoor all-weather facilities, leaving the pitch unsuited to hosting some high-level football matches, still mystifies some.

While challenging spending must always be the right and proper starting point, some key island sports leaders are already warning that cutbacks could leave only glorified training facilities.

Instead, we should be listening to the experts on this, all of whom believe they have made realistic facility requests.

On a sporting island such as Guernsey, with the potential to increase sports tourism, enhance our achievements, and – equally importantly – improve islanders' health and wellbeing, sport deserves equal consideration and joined-up thinking.

It is right that in any future-proof vision, facilities such as these – of Island Games standard – are included. Having the right infrastructure in place is key if we are to give our community and its future a fair sporting chance.