Community Sports - A Personal Perspective

The Guernsey Sports Commission published its ambitious 5-Year Action Plan earlier this year and is making progress on all 8 workstreams.

Our Action plan supports the aims and objectives of the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture's Active 8 Plan for Sport which is due for debate in August.

Funding unlocked through the approval of the CfESC Active-8 Plan for Sport will enable to us to achieve our vision that “everyone in Guernsey should have the opportunity and support to participate and compete, and fulfil their potential no matter what their background, age, or level of ability in a safe and supportive environment.”

We can only do this by working in partnership with the States of Guernsey, our member sports and the wider community.

In advance of the States Debate, we asked some islanders involved in sport for their personal perspective on elements of the Guernsey Sports Commission's Action Plan and why the work we do is important to them:

Community Sports - Kieran Mayley, former Street Sports participant and assistant

Former Street Sports Assistant, Kieran Mayley, was one of the first participants to benefit from the programme when it was first delivered in 2010 at Les Genats Estate.

Following a period of work experience at the Guernsey Sports Commission he then joined the staff team having worked with young people at St Martins while studying sport at the Guernsey College of Further Education.

Thanks to his experiences working for Street Sports, Kieran has now moved on to support other young people attending youth organisations.

‘Attending the Street Sports sessions played a key part in my decision to pursue sport and the staff I met have been a positive influence on me and acted as role models.

‘Talking to the staff at the sessions inspired me to get a job within the Street Sports programme.

‘I could see how they felt and how they enjoyed it, they were always offering tips and help on how to get involved which was always helpful. They also used personal experiences such as their time at college to inform me and introduce me more to the world of sport and the possibility of having a career within it.’
 
The work experience placement Kieran undertook opened his eyes to what the GSC does beyond the Street Sports programme. ‘I saw just how much the GSC does and how much they help out around the island in so many different areas. This made me want to get involved with it as much as possible.’
 
‘Because the GSC works with such a wide variety of people you never get the same reactions and this made me aspire to be involved because you will always be doing something different every session due to the participants.’
 
Kieran also recognised how the GSC strives to create opportunities for many individuals who would normally not have easy access to sport and physical activities. Kieran describes a personal example of this when he was given the opportunity to go coasteering.

‘If it wasn’t for the Street Sports programme, I may never have been able to do this. This made me feel that I want to be part of this and give the same opportunities to people that I had.’

Street Sports is an important part of the GSCs Community Sports offering which is dependant on securing further ongoing funding.