Jersey netballers plea for new home in Royal Square protest
Jersey netballers have braved the rain to push the island's government to find the sport a permanent home.The Jersey Netball Association (JNA) said the sport was "in crisis" after losing its current base at Les Ormes, which is being turned into padel courts, and were instead offered 27 hours per month at the £8.4m new sports hall at Oakfield in St Helier.President Julie Andrews, who was at a protest in Royal Square, said it was time to "make a noise" because the decline of netball was "crucial and it's so imminent".Constable Andy Jehan, the minister with responsibility for sport, said: "We need to sit down around a table and find a solution."
Jehan said he welcomed seeing people who were passionate about sports at the demonstration.He said the government had "accommodated" late requests for change from the association, including moving the show court.However, the JNA said the 27 hours a month offered Oakfield was less than a quarter of the time it gets at Les Ormes.Other sports have also raised concerns over how the new Oakfield facility would be shared.
Mrs Andrews said the decision was "devastating", adding: "We're a female sport, the second highest sport in the island, and we don't have a home."[We need] somewhere that we can call our own, we can run our own programmes, we can generate our own income."Mrs Andrews said the association had been going for 80 years and had seen many participate in its programmes."That's all going to be crushed," she said."We know the impact that we have on all these youngsters."
Samantha Salzone, JNA netball development officer, the size of the turnout showed "how big netball is on the island"."The girls here that have come along today are the ones that are going to get impacted, it's the school age girls that are going to lose their pathways," she said."This is a sporting crisis across the island - over the last few years you've seen a reduction of facilities," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Steve Smith left gagging after spotting his finger hanging off before running into pavilion in Australia vs South Africa
STEVE SMITH was left gagging as his finger appeared to be hanging after dropping a catch against South Africa. The Aussie batter fumbled a chance to take the wicket of Temba Bavuma on the third day of the ICC World Test Championship Final. 3 3 Smith, 36, was presented with the chance when he was standing in the slips after the batter edged off from Mitchell Starc. However, he misjudged the flight of the ball and put down the chance. Immediately afterwards, it was realised that Smith had done more damage to himself than the dropped catch. The Aussie could be seen showing his injured finger to the dressing room as he dragged himself off the turf. As he looked at the crooked digit, he could be seen gagging in his reaction. Smith then took off his helmet and was taken to the pavilion for medical checks. It has been confirmed that the injury was a compound dislocation on his little right finger. A statement read: "Smith is currently being assessed in the dressing room. Likely to go for scans." JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS Fans spotted the nasty injury as they reacted on social media. One posted: "Get well soon." Fan demands England captain buy him a new pint after Harry Brook's crunching boundary knocks drink out of his hands A second wrote: "If the catch was taken, the result was different." A third commented: "Dear Smith gett well soon." A fourth said: "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." Another added: "Well caught Smudger." The injury could rule Smith out for up to 12 weeks, which would rule him out for much of the summer. England Test captain Ben Stokes will be keeping an eye out on his recovery ahead of the Ashes down under this winter.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Simone Biles apologizes to Riley Gaines over trans athlete row amid right-wing backlash
Simone Biles has apologized for making personal remarks about Riley Gaines in a heated online exchange over transgender athlete participation in sports, even as conservative media figures continued to attack the gymnast. The most decorated gymnast in history, Biles had called Gaines 'truly sick' and a 'sore loser' in a viral social media post after Gaines misgendered a Minnesota high school softball player who is transgender. Biles later said her frustration was directed at the system that puts athletes in difficult positions and that singling out an underage player crossed a line. 'It didn't help for me to get personal with Riley,' Biles wrote in a follow-up post. 'These are sensitive, complicated issues that I truly don't have the answers or solutions to, but I believe it starts with empathy and respect.' The apology came days after Gaines, a former collegiate swimmer turned anti-trans activist, lashed out at Biles for her comments. The two clashed after Gaines mocked a Minnesota state high school softball championship's post by pointing out a transgender girl on the winning team, referring to the player as 'a boy' and claiming the title was 'hijacked'. Biles, who has often advocated for mental health awareness and athlete welfare, responded sharply: 'You're truly sick. All of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser.' She followed with additional posts criticizing Gaines for 'bullying' and suggested that sports organizations create a transgender division as an inclusive alternative. Gaines, who tied for fifth place with trans swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championships and has since become a prominent figure in right-wing media, quickly pushed back. 'Men don't belong in women's sports and I say that with my full chest,' she wrote, reposting fan responses and accusing Biles of undermining women's spaces. While Biles has since walked back the personal tone of her remarks, she stood by the broader point. 'I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition,' she posted. 'We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful.' Yet the apology did little to defuse the backlash from the American right. Fox News' website has published no fewer than 17 stories about the dispute since it began on Saturday. On the highly rated Fox panel show The Five on Wednesday, co-host Jesse Watters called Biles 'mentally weak' and mocked her decision to apologize. 'We have to make sure she medals [at LA 2028], OK? So I'm gonna lay off her,' Watters said sarcastically before likening it to Elon Musk's walking back of his feud with Donald Trump. 'But I will say this, she pulled an Elon. 'Oh, I'm sorry for some of the things I said.' Come on.' The segment included further ridicule of Biles's mental health advocacy, with Watters alluding to her high-profile withdrawal from events at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. 'This shows the power of Fox,' he said. 'This woman, Riley Gaines, did the full Kilmeade: six shows in 48 hours and just put so much pressure on Simone.' The right-leaning sports outlet Outkick, where Gaines is a contributor, also published multiple stories criticizing Biles for 'bullying' and accused her of contradicting herself on inclusion and fairness. Despite the pile-on, many of Biles's supporters praised her for defending a transgender minor against public attacks. A coach from the Minnesota team told local media after the championship game, 'She's a great kid and a great teammate. Her teammates love having her out there.' Biles, for her part, appears ready to move on. 'We're all passionate about sport and the direction it's going,' she wrote. 'But we need to be able to talk about it in ways that don't tear each other down.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Fourth-tier Swedish club force global change in offside law after finding genius 'loophole' in rules
The international offside law has been updated after a fourth-tier Swedish club exposed a 'loophole' in the regulations - but the flaw in the rules still exists. Torns IF, a club from the small settlement of Stangby, caught the attention of world football in the summer of 2023 when they released a video revealing the problem. The traditional rules dictated that offsides would be judged based off when the passer first made contact with the ball in their final touch. In the vast majority of scenarios, this is no issue at all because when a player typically kicks a football, the 'first contact' is also their 'last contact'. But Torns demonstated that if a player could scoop up the ball and balance it on their foot, a team-mate could theoretically run well beyond the defence and not count as offside even if they released a pass multiple seconds later in the same 'touch'. It is hard to ever envision that scenario happening in a game due to the pressure players are under, but Torns wrote to IFAB, football's lawmakers, over the issue. Now, almost two years down the line, IFAB have replied to thank the club and reveal that they have updated the rules of the game. Torns IF, from a place with an approximated population of around 2,000 people, have technically helped change the rules of the beautiful game for us all. But not so fast. The problem has not really been solved. IFAB's updated rules read: 'The first point of contact of the 'play' or 'touch' of the ball should still be used; however, when the ball is thrown by the goalkeeper, the last point of contact should be used.' IFAB have only updated the law applying to goalkeepers but theoretically, Torns' 'scoop pass' way of circumventing the law still stands. The club wrote on X: 'We did it. Torns IF changed the rules of football. After the introduction of the Torn pass and lengthy e-mail correspondence with IFAB, the offside law has been amended. We are immensely proud of our contribution to the beautiful game.' But they added in a separate post: 'IFAB's distinction between passes is hard to understand. The clarification of the offside law only applies to keeper throws and not to related passes, e.g. scoop and swivel passes. But, it's a win for us. We changed the rules, and some types of the Torn Pass can still be used.' Writing in 2023, Torns IF proudly revealed their cunning trick: 'Torns IF have developed an ingenious method to create one-on-ones with the goalkeeper. 'It's based on a rule found on page 93 in the Laws of the Game stating that the first point of contact of the 'play' or 'touch' of the ball' should be used when judging offside. Groundbreaking. 'This is amusing and interesting. In terms of the "spirit" of the Law, this is obviously offside and, in terms of the Law itself, the "balancing" of the ball on the foot is a different "play" from the movement which gives the ball momentum to move. 'We will review if the wording of Law 11 needs changing in light of this "theoretical" situation.'
