The second Island Invitational Netball Games will begin with a seeding tournament where each of the six sides will play one another in a series of short-sharp matches, consisting of 12min. halves, at Jersey’s Oakfield Sports Centre. This precedes the group stages and play-offs over the weekend.
And so Guernsey will gain first-hand experience against all the other competing sides, which include Island Games regulars Jersey, Ynys Mon, Orkney and Shetland – together with France.
Firstly, head coach Naomi Szmierek expects the girls to benefit from playing different opponents.
‘I’m looking forward to seeing the girls go out against completely new-look opposition,’ she said.
‘The teams the girls are playing in the regional league, they’re familiar from last season.’
The French national team will present an entirely different test for the Sarnians.
Netball France’s performance programme has been run by England star Geva Mentor – part of their 2018 Commonwealths gold-medal squad – since 2024 and Szmierek expects them to head out seeking world ranking points.
‘It’s a new-look programme,’ Szmierek said.
‘I don’t know if the team will be very French or a lot of ex-pats, but it’s a very interesting set-up. They’re very good at basketball, so they will have a lot of transferable skills. We expect all of them to be strong.’
As for the hosts, they will not be using the full force of Jersey Jets’ Premier League Two outfit, instead drawing from their second-string Regional Three side.
But Jets’ Premiership side will be taking over the stage at Oakfield to host Blackpool on Saturday afternoon.
‘It’s nice to get a run-out against a slightly different-look Jersey team,’ Szmierek said.
‘We’ll get a look at the Jets. We will get to see them and it’ll be good to see what we’re up against.’
Guernsey were well-beaten by Orkney in the inaugural edition three years ago, but Ynys Mon and especially Shetland proved tighter opposition.
The Sarnians only lost 49-44 to the latter after winning the final quarter.
‘I would love to get some wins. Teams like Shetland, we’ve got them in our sights.’
After the seeding tournament, the competition will split into two groups, before the final positions are decided by play-offs between equivalently-placed teams.
Szmierek said the girls were ‘flying’ with excitement at their last training session before heading out.
‘Everyone is really excited. The squad is in a good place and it’s nice for us to get a run-out.’
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