In its own right

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

participates in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and in the bi-annual

Island Games The Island Games (currently known as the NatWest International Island Games for sponsorship reasons) are biennial international multi-sports events organised by the International Island Games Association (IIGA). Competitor teams each represent d ...

, which it last hosted in 2015. Jersey is a founder member of the Island Games Association and has participated in every Games since the first in 1985. Jersey first competed in 1958 in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games and has since participated in every staging of what became the Commonwealth Games. Youth sports participation includes the Commonwealth Youth Games and Jeux des Isles. In sporting events in which Jersey does not have international representation, when the British

Home Nations Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

are competing separately, islanders that do have high athletic skill may choose to compete for any of the Home Nations. There are, however, restrictions on subsequent transfers to represent another Home Nation.

Redevelopment of sports facilities

In 2021, the

Government of Jersey , image = , caption=Logos of the Government of Jersey in English and Jèrriais , date = , state = Jersey , address = 19-21 Broad Street, Saint Helier , appointed = Chief Minister, with approva ...

published a report ''Inspiring Active Places Strategy''. The strategy will have a total cost of circa £100 million. The plan proposes the removal of sports facilities from Fort Regent by early 2022, which is "beyond the end of its useful life". The report states it is not the best location for health and fitness facilities for St. Helier residents. By the end of 2021, there will therefore be the need to create temporary or alternative facilities to enable sport relocation from Fort Regent. Les Quennevais in St. Brelade will be redeveloped in two phases. First will be to provision of a new skate park and a four court netball facility as well as a 3G football pitch. The Jersey indoor netball facility is current at Les Ormes, which is being closed and redeveloped by March 2023. The target date for this phase of development is 2024. By 2032, phase 2 will be complete: the existing sports centre buildings will be demolished and replaced with parking after the construction of a new leisure centre, incorporating an eight lane 25 m swimming pool, an eight court sports hall, a permanent recreational gymnastics facility and a large fitness suite. The site will also be the new home of the Jersey Library Les Quennevais Branch. A new facility will be constructed at

Le Rocquier school Le Rocquier School is a secondary school, owned and operated by the States of Jersey, and located in the parish of St Clement in Jersey. History The present school building, which replaced an older building, was opened to students on 29 Februa ...

to replace the existing school facilities. The target date for this is 2024/25. This will also provide a hub for public sports in the east of the island. It includes a large sports hall, a 3G football pitch, a permanent specialist gymnastics facility and a large fitness suite. There is the potential to provide a new swimming pool. Part of the plan includes providing a new Island Stadium by 2025/26. This will be partly privately funded. The stadium will serve the Jersey Bulls football club and the Jersey Reds rugby club. It will have capacity for over 2500, of which 1500 will be covered. The facility will also have a large snooker, billiards and darts facility located on site. Springfield, the current football stadium, will be refurbished to provide better public active facilities and a new town community park, with the single stadium pitch replaced with two smaller 5-a-side pitches by 2026/27. However, in the interim, parts of Springfield will be redeveloped to provide more parking. The plan includes the reprovision of facilities from Fort Regent. By 2030, a new leisure centre will be constructed in the town centre, on the site of the Waterfront centre. The leases on the current Waterfront development terminate in 2027. It will include a large swimming pool, with minimal spectator provision, and of health and fitness space. This will re-accommodate the Aquasplash facility, which will be demolished, and the current fitness facilities at the Fort. Due to the high-density town centre location, there is the opportunity to construct a three-storey residential site above the facility.

Action sports

There is a skate park located on the New North Quay in St Helier. The equipment has been there since around 2008. It was temporarily closed in 2018 over safety concerns. There is also a skate park at St John's Recreation Centre. There is currently a debate over where to construct a new

skate park A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...

on the island. In 2018, the Sports Minister appointed a consultant to find a new site for a modern skate park in St Helier. His preferred location was 'somewhere on the waterfront'. The skate park was allocated funding under the Government Plan. On 26 January 2020, a site at the Les Quennevais sports centre was confirmed as the site for the park, with the aim for the site to be opened by the end of 2020. There was also plans for "additional skate-friendly areas across the island". On 9 June 2020, it was announced the building on the skate park had been delayed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, but that the project would still go ahead. Jersey BMX Olympian Alex Coleborn said in 2021, 'the Island just needs something better ... we haven't had something that good in years'. Some plans for the regeneration of

Fort Regent Fort Regent is a 19th-century fortification and leisure centre on Mont de la Ville (Town Hill), in St. Helier, Jersey. The fort is in close proximity to the fortified South Hill Engineers Barracks at La Collette and overlooks the 16th-century E ...

included facilities for action sports.

Association football

The

Jersey Football Association The Jersey Football Association (JFA) is the body which co-ordinates football in Jersey. The Jersey FA acts as a County football association of The Football Association, although in 2015 it applied to join UEFA as a full member. The Jersey Fo ...

supervises football in Jersey. The

Jersey Football Combination The Jersey Football Combination is the senior football league on the island of Jersey and is run by the Jersey Football Association. Although the league is affiliated with the English FA, it does not form a part of the English football leagu ...

has nine teams in its top division. The Jersey national football team plays in the annual Muratti cup and the bi-annual

competition among others. Jersey Bulls F.C. is the first team from the island to play in the English football league system after they joined the

Combined Counties Football League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

in August 2019.

Graeme Le Saux Graeme Pierre Le Saux ( ; born 17 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit. As a versatile left sided player he played most of his career at left back with two spells at Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Southamp ...

was the first Jersey footballer to play for England.

Athletics

The

Jersey Marathon The Standard Chartered Jersey Marathon is an annual marathon staged in Jersey, Channel Islands, first held in 2006. History The inaugural event on 8 October 2006 was the first marathon staged in Jersey for 20 years. It attracted approximat ...

has been an annual event since 2006. Jersey hosts an annual around-the-island endurance walk, The Itex-Rotary Walk. This walk goes anti-clockwise around the coast of Jersey for 48.1 miles and has for a number of years started and finished at the Harbour Terminal in St Helier. The walk starts at 3 AM and as an example of the difficulty in completing the walk, in 2009 of the 1,308 starters only 779 finished. The Jersey Spartan Athletics Club was founded in 1978. Jersey track athlete Colin Campbell represented Great Britain at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. He also competed in the

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

discipline in the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label= Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

in Innsbruck.

Cricket

Jersey is an associate member of the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are 108 national associations, with 12 Full Members and 96 Associate Members. Founded in 1909 as the ' ...

(ICC). The Jersey cricket team plays in the Inter-insular match among others.

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

has seen massive crowd support for twenty-20 representative matches. The main cricket ground is the

Grainville Cricket Ground Grainville Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Saint Saviour, Jersey. History The first recorded match held on the ground came in 1988 when Jersey played the Hampshire Second XI. Jersey have used the ground since then and it has held a n ...

at Saint Saviour and has hosted international cricket competitions, including hosting Women's One Day Internationals for England Women.

Cycling

Velo Sport Jersey Cycling Club and Caesarean Cycling Club organise cycle sport events. The Jersey Cycling Association Youth Academy promotes youth participation. Equipe Flamme Rouge concentrates on coaching, mentoring and European Sportive events. The Rubis International

Criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

and Road Race Weekend was formed in 2009 by Velo Sport Jersey Cycling Club. Jersey hosted time trials of the Tour de Bretagne in 2007, and a full leg in 2010.

Golf

There are a number of golf courses, including La Moye Golf Club. Two golfers from Jersey have won

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

seven times between them,

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the ...

winning six times and Ted Ray winning once. Harry and Ted also won the U.S. Open one time each and Harry's brother

Tom Vardon Thomas Alfred Vardon (11 October 1874 – 13 October 1938) was a professional golfer from Jersey, Channel Islands, and the brother of golfer Harry Vardon, whom he sometimes played against professionally. From 1892 to 1909 he played in 18 Open Cham ...

had some smaller wins on European Tours.

Tommy Horton Thomas Alfred Horton, (16 June 1941 – 7 December 2017) was an English professional golfer. He finished in the top ten of the Open Championship four times, won a number of important tournaments both before and after the founding of the Europ ...

is a long-term Jersey resident.

Gymnastics

There are four gymnastics clubs in Jersey. Jersey Gymnastics Club, Regent Gymnastics Club, De Monde Gymnastics Academy and Jersey Special Gymnastics Club. Jersey Gymnastics Club is the largest, and has a training facility in St. John. Gymnasts regularly compete in the island Games.

Horse racing

For horse racing, Les Landes Race Course can be found at

Les Landes Les Landes is an area of coastal heathland in the north-west of Jersey. It has been designated as a ''Site of Special Interest'' (SSI) since 1996. The site is the largest of its kind in Jersey at 160 ha. Site of Special Interest Les Landes ...

in St Ouen next to the ruins of Grosnez Castle.

Motorsports

Jersey also has a small selection of motorsports available. The most well-known of these is hill climbs at Bouley Bay, which hosts both national and international hill climbs. There are a few events which take place on the beach at St Ouen. One of these is sand racing and this takes place throughout the year. Finally there is also a go kart track at the Living Legend, which features electric go karts with speeds of up to 35 mph. Karting events on the island are organised by the Jersey Kart & Motor Club, which has been operational on the island since 1960. Several former motor racing drivers live in the island. 1992 Formula 1 world champion Nigel Mansell and ex F1 driver

Derek Warwick Derek Stanley Arthur Warwick (born 27 August 1954) is a British former professional racing driver from England, who lives in Jersey. He raced for many years in Formula One, collecting four podiums but never winning a Grand Prix. He did, however, ...

both live there. Warwick is the owner of Honda garages in Jersey, which are named Derek Warwick Honda. There is also one locally born racing driver: James Walker. Walker took part in British F3 from 2004 to 2006 and raced for

Fortec Motorsport Fortec Motorsport Ltd. is a motor-racing team that races in the GB3 Championship. The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, Gianmaria Bruni, Danny Watts, Jamie Green, ...

in the

Renault World Series The Renault Sport Series (formerly known as World Series by Renault) is a motor racing series. The series latterly consisted of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and used to contain the Renault Sport Trophy and the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. ...

in 2007–2008, He then switched to

P1 Motorsport P1 Motorsport is a British racing team based in Norfolk, England. They currently compete in the World Series by Renault. For 2013 the team was purchased by Strakka Racing owner-driver Nick Leventis and was renamed P1 by Strakka Racing. British ...

for 2009. He has also raced in Superleague Formula and the

Daytona 24 hours The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

Pétanque

There are a number of

pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls ...

pitches around the island, including in central Saint Helier. Petanque is a

boules ''Boules'' () is a collective name for a wide range of games similar to bowls and bocce (In French: jeu or jeux, in Croatian: boćanje and in Italian: gioco or giochi) in which the objective is to throw or roll heavy balls (called in France, ...

sport. The Jersey Petanque Association is the governing body.

Rugby union

There are several rugby union clubs in the island including a rugby academy for under 18s and Les Quennevais Rugby Club. The island's main side,

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds is a rugby club based in Jersey, Channel Islands that currently competes at the RFU Championship, which is the second tier of English professional rugby. Until season 2022/23, the professional arm of Jersey Reds was part of Jers ...

, enjoyed a meteoric rise through the English pyramid beginning in 2005 and culminating in

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to England's second level, the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

, for

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. The team survived relegation scares in both of its first two seasons in the Championship, finishing in the final safe spot of 11th in both seasons.

Shooting

Colin Mallett won Jersey's sole Commonwealth Games gold medal in Auckland in 1990 for men's fullbore rifle.

Table tennis

The Jersey Table Tennis Association (Table Tennis Jersey) is the governing body responsible for table tennis in Jersey. The organisation has been affiliated to the ITTF (

International Table Tennis Federation The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis associations. The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tenni ...

) since 1935 and is also affiliated to the

European Table Tennis Union The European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) is the governing body of the sport of table tennis in Europe, and is the only authority recognised for this purpose by the International Table Tennis Federation. The ETTU deals with all matters relating to t ...

, the Commonwealth Games Association of Jersey, the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation, Island Games Association, Jeux des îles, and the Jersey Sports Council. Table Tennis Jersey has its own purpose built sports hall, the Geoff Reed Table Tennis Centre at FB Fields, which was the venue for table tennis at the

2015 Island Games The XVI Island Games (also known as the ''2015 NatWest Island Games'' for sponsorship reasons) was held in Jersey, Channel Islands, from 27 June to 3 July 2015. This was the second time that the island has hosted the games, the first being in 199 ...

Swimming

Jersey has two public indoor swimming pools; a third is used by schools, clubs and associations. Swimming in the sea, surfing, windsurfing and other marine sports are practised. Jersey Swimming Club have organised an annual swim from

Elizabeth Castle Elizabeth Castle () is a castle and tourist attraction, on a tidal island within the parish of Saint Helier, Jersey. Construction was started in the 16th century when the power of the cannon meant that the existing stronghold at Mont Orgueil wa ...

to Saint Helier Harbour for over 50 years. A round-island swim is a major challenge which a select number of swimmers have achieved. Simon Militis has represented Great Britain at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Triathlon

The Jersey Triathlon Club is amongst the earliest formed in the UK (1985). With sheltered bays, clear blue seas and golden sandy shores, it makes for an idyllic venue for the sport of Triathlon. Members range from novices right up to Commonwealth Games athletes. A full calendar of Triathlon and, in the winter Duathlon, races are organised by the club which is affiliated to British Triathlon. The club has a successful junior section (Aztec Jersey Tristars) which boasts a membership of over 100 athletes aged 6 to 16. In 2015 Jersey was permitted to enter Tristars athletes in British Triathlon's Inter Regional Championships for the first time as a separate 'region' (without being an official region of British Triathlon) as athletes were not eligible for selection by the South Central region which is the region to which Jersey belongs. In 2018 Jersey finished 2nd overall at the Tristars Inter Regional Championships at Mallory Park in Leicester, behind Scotland and above all of the larger English regions. In the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow professional Jersey triathlete Daniel Halksworth made a name for himself by breaking from the chase pack to complete the cycle section in a clear third position behind Olympic medalists Alastair and Jonny Brownlee, going on to finish in 17th position. Thomas Perchard also competed in the event for Jersey finishing in 24th place. Daniel Halksworth is Jersey's most well known triathlete having turned professional after representing Jersey at the 2007 Island Games in Rhodes. The highlights of his professional career include victories at Ironman UK in 2012 and 2013, twice qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships (Kona) and a dominant victory in his home Island Games in 2015. Ollie Turner represented Jersey in Triathlon at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, finishing in 26th position. Ollie is currently included in the professional triathlete roster of Super League Triathlon having qualified for a 'Golden Ticket' at the Super League Triathlon Jersey 2018.

Other sports

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

in Jersey is governed by the Jersey Basketball Association. Its teams have been playing in an annual Inter Insular match against Guernsey Basketball since 1970 where each Island takes turn to host. There are few facilities for

extreme sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...

and youth sports such as skateboarding, BMX, and

inline skating Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a ...

. Coastal cliffs provide opportunities for rock climbing. The Royal Channel Island Yacht Club is based in Jersey. Champion Tenpin Bowler siblings Robbie Rive and Kris Marie Rive were selected to represent Jersey in the 2013 QubicaAMF World Cup in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Jersey has a strong touch (rugby) presence with a mixed open team having representing the island at the world cup, European championships and the home nations. Currently Jersey is 4th in Europe. Every year the island competes in an inter-insular with Guernsey. In 2015 jersey won the entire event including the men's, women's and mixed open games. In 2016 Jersey will host the European championship with and expected 1000 competitors from around Europe.