Latest news with #JerseyNetballAssociation
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
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 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 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 said the government had "accommodated" late requests for change from the association, including moving the show the JNA said the 27 hours a month offered Oakfield was less than a quarter of the time it gets at Les 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.
BBC News
09-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Renewed concerns over Jersey netball facilities
A former England netball player has renewed her concerns over the future of the sport in Jersey due to what she claims is a lack of facilities on the island. Jersey Netball Association (JNA) coach Serena Kersten said the sport was in "serious trouble" due to a drop in available court JNA was offered less than a quarter of its current court time at the island's new Oakfield facilities which is due to open later this year. Constable Andy Jehan, the minister with responsibility for sport, said he wanted to "make sure that we can find a schedule that supports the sport". The island's new Oakfield sports facilities are scheduled to be completed in August and open to the public in October. Concerns have been raised over how time at the facility will be shared between different JNA was offered 27 hours per month compared to the 120 it currently has at Les Ormes. The association's current base is set to turn the netball facilities into padel courts. Ms Kersten, who played for England for 15 years, said the Oakfield site was not designed with netball in mind."For years all I've heard is that Oakfield is the home of netball," she said."It supports some of our programmes but unfortunately because of the offering we are in serious trouble as to the future of netball." 'Seriously worrying' Ms Kersten said the drop in hours and revenue for the sport will mean the JNA will not be able to fund a netball development officer. "We will no longer have anyone who can go into the community and develop netball on the island," she said. She said the future for the sport was "worrying me, it's seriously worrying me". "The time has come for the government to have to truly listen to what people are telling them." Constable Andy Jehan, the minister with responsibility for sport said JNA questioning the suitability of Oakfield was "disappointing"."Jersey netball were involved in the actual design of that facility," he said."We have many netball courts around the island in schools and at sports centres and we want to make sure that we can find a schedule that supports the sport. "What I'm trying to do with the education minister is to identify what capacity we've got and try and utilise that as much as we can."
