‘Fez’ took on the position in January 2012, on top of his five years at U17 and U21 level, and bounced back from an initial inter-insular loss to lead over a decade’s dominance against Jersey.
He had intended to serve another year but has now confirmed his resignation, feeling it is a fitting time to pass on the mantle – having just lost that lengthy ‘inters’ win streak.
‘It probably is the right time, with a home inter-insular and with the Island Games a year away, to give a new coach an opportunity around that,’ he said.
That statement win in the 2013 inter-insular, making – and only narrowly losing – the Founders Cup final on their debut in 2014, and their performances at Jersey 2015 are all among Farish’s highlights of his lengthy coaching career.
He got to share some of this success with players he had coached from junior level.
‘I’m incredibly proud to have gone through the most successful period in Guernsey men’s basketball, in terms of the run we went on in the inter-insular and competing for medals at the Island Games – something we’d never done before,’ he said.
‘I would like to put that down to the personnel. We had a lot of talent during my tenure as coach.’
Loath to take too much individual credit, he has praised the contributions of all-round basketball stalwart Pat Ogier, assistant coach Dave Wilson, and long-term Island captain Aaron Walden.
He feels Walden has truly gone ‘above and beyond’.
‘We would struggle to find that commitment at Island level in any sport.’
But he is now lamenting the fact that he will not be able to coach the bright, emerging talent in the Guernsey men’s team.
‘One of my regrets is that there’s a few in that group I will not get to work with.
‘Dylan Colley and Josh Lawlor came in at my decision and they’re both sons of former Island players.
‘But that’s always going to be the case.’
Currently, a difficult decision concerns the Guernsey squad over whether to enter the Faroe Islands 2027 amid high expenses and their current competitive struggles.
Farish feels it is not his decision to make. ‘That’s not one of the headaches I will miss,’ he said.
One positive trade-off for his resignation is having more time for himself and for his supportive family.
Alongside the hours on court, his commitment to the role involved getting to know all of his players deeply.
That only exacerbated the emotional difficulty of cutting members for the final squads at big events.
‘The big thing I will not miss is making the cut each year.
‘I know how much I have hurt people over the years by being cut. I know what it’s like to be cut myself.
‘Some have really worn that hurt over the years, and I’m very happy someone else will get to do that for me.’
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