A sporting chance for all at community fun day

Thousands of people attended the event at Saumarez Park on Saturday afternoon and tried out a variety of sports.

‘It has been fantastic today,’ said Nicky Will from the Guernsey Sports Commission, which organised the event.

‘We have 20 different sports and there have been queues for all of them, it’s been really busy. We have everything from cheerleading to rugby.’

‘We also have disability sports today. Guernsey Dynamics are here doing football and we also have boccia, a Paralympic sport.’

Mrs Will said that the event – which the Sports Commission has been running for a few years now – helped to break down barriers that stop people accessing sport.

‘It is a real chance for the whole community to get involved in local sport,’ she said.

‘It’s a free event so breaks down any barriers.

‘We really hope that this will encourage the kids to sign up to a sport and the Sports Commission can help, should their parents not be able to pay their subs.’

Ashley Gordon was coaching with Guernsey Volleyball Association.

‘It’s been really good, we have had a good turnout and a real mix of people coming and trying volleyball out,’ he said.

‘The weather has held up for us today and we have been really busy.’

The event was sponsored by Utmost.

Skateboarding 'the best sport ever'

SIX-YEAR-OLD Aurora McConnell was trying out skateboarding at the event.

Her mum, Angelique said she had spent most of her time at the event 'dropping in' off the ramps with the help of Guernsey Skateparks' Tim Gaudion.

'I love skateboarding,' said Aurora.

'It's really fun and I find it quite easy.'

She had also played football at the event, but said her favourite was skateboarding.

'It's the best sport ever,' she said.

'I might start doing boxing'

'I MIGHT start doing boxing,' is what Lexie Domaille, 9, said after giving the sport a go at the Utmost Community Sports Fun Day.

She tried a lot of the sports on offer but enjoyed archery, netball and boxing the most – with boxing being her favourite.

'My sister does it but I have never done it until today,' she said.

'I really enjoyed doing the boxing today.'

Lexie already plays a lot of sports but said she had enjoyed finding something new to get involved with at the event.

Youngsters hit the pads

BOXING turned out to be a popular option on Saturday afternoon.

Ameer Saeed, 11, who had only ever done a bit of boxing training at home with his dad, said that he had enjoyed getting involved with all the sports on offer.

'I have played a few of the sports we have done today,' said the 11-year-old.

He said that his favourites were boxing, football and archery – which was a completely new sport to him.

'I liked the archery because it was really fun today,' he said.

Tackling the day

MARK JENNER, 9, said that his favourite sport at the Utmost Community Sports Fun Day was rugby.

'I really liked the rugby today,' he said,

He had practised tackling and throwing the rugby ball into targets.

'I play rugby with the Raiders,' he said,

'I really enjoy it.'

Mark said he had also enjoyed the other sports he had tried at the event.

'I liked Gaelic football, squash and cricket too,' he said.