Sport is part of the cultural heritage of the Isle of Wight…Whether it is by following the rise of international stars who started their careers on the Island or through grassroots leagues and competitions that involve thousands of people every weekend, sport is at the very heart of Isle of Wight life.
But in recent years, numbers participating have declined across a number of key sports and the very fabric of this strand of our heritage is at some risk.
One factor aiding this has been a decline in sports facilities. Go anywhere on the mainland and you see top-notch football, cricket, rugby and athletics facilities but on the Island that is not always the case.
A team of people trying to reverse this trend have now come together. The IW Sports Development Group was formed in 2024 by then IW High Sheriff Graham Biss and meet regularly to try and put the Island on a par with mainland areas.
Graham said:
“Sport is an important part of Island life, and the members of Sports Development Group have come together to support further investment in the sector.
“By working together with a shared purpose, we believe we can make a real difference. Old and young deserve to have the opportunity to play whatever sport they enjoy to the level they choose.”
“The aim of the group, which, going forward, will be known as Sporting Island, is to proactively support future investment in sport and sporting facilities on the Island.
Article continues below this advertisement “We have some great clubs, groups and individual sports people on the Island but sometimes we don’t always appreciate the true value sport plays in our community. We would like to support everyone to enjoy sport and to fulfil their potential.”
Graham has involved a number of people from the IW Council, public health, Island sport governing bodies, other Island sporting organisations and others he felt would add to the expertise needed.
Apart from Graham, members of the group are Alex Barton (IOW Cricket Board), Sacha Nicholas (Hampshire FA), Chad Oatley (Sport England), Kevin Winchcombe, (Island Games Association). Claire Beasley and Alan Marriott (IW Sports Foundation), Alec Broome, Lee Matthews and Alex Minns (IW Council), Maddie Bune (Public Health), Julian Wadsworth (Community Action IOW), Nathan Persaud (Sported) and Gil Robertson.
These people were chosen for their experience of sport and other spheres of life on the Island and Graham said everyone chosen had plenty to bring to the table.
They are currently concentrating on six Island sports: football, cricket, rugby, tennis, basketball and netball. This decision was taken to concentrate minds and not spread the group’s focus too thinly.
“We don’t want to cut across what the Sports Foundation, IW Council sports unit, Island Games Association and others are doing so our remit is very much about developing sport on the IW…exactly what it says on the group’s tin.”
The monthly meetings of Sporting Island have regular guests, including IW Council leader Cllr Phil Jordan, council planners to discuss the possibility of accessing Section 106 money for sport, Newport FC to talk about the challenges of making their new ground project work, and people with an interest in developing sports pitches here.
Graham said:
“Up to now we have been really focused on gathering information about the state of play with Island sport but now we need to begin really making a difference.”
Sadly we are living in different times.
Nowdays people’s idea of playing sports etc is on
phones and tablets.
Physical sports are a time of the past, more needs to
be done in schools to encourage more physical activity.
Surprised that they haven’t yet developed a wearable lanyard to tell everybody who they and how wonderful this new “task Force” is.
Most of them are already involved with other “do good” organisations – viz Isle of Wight Community Action, Sported (whatever that is), the Sports Foundation and Sport England.
Some people just can’t have enough lanyards!
Mainly it’s the public sector numpties who
wear lanyards.
Maybe they forget their names, great way of remembering.
Lol
The facilities are needed. But also need to be subsidised in a way that the IW Council is unable to meet.
It is also disappointing that the working group is missing the elephant in the room.
WHERE ARE WIGHTLINK, RED FUNNEL and HOVERTRAVEL?
It costs a fortune to regularly transport our young islanders on and off the island for sport. Is it no surprise that we have never had an Island born footballer in the full England Mens or Womens squads – FFS Guernsey and Jersey have achieved both, and are smaller and much more remote.
The biggest issue however is the Isle of Wight economy. Youngsters have to choose between sport and work. Sport happens at weekends, training happens in the evenings mid-week. But the only work available to a 16-18 year old is evenings and weekends. So they prioritise work over sport, and miss out on an important transition from youth to adult sport. I can see this with Cricket and have noticed it with football increasingly. And this is a bigger systemic issue that no-one on the island can stop. Added to that – The seasons overlap. The Cricket and Football Seasons overlap by too much. Whilst a Hampshire/Wessex/National level we cannot control this, on the Island at least there needs to be a clear demarcation between the Rugby & Football season and the Cricket season – it’s too much playing multiple sports in April/May and especially August (when the youngsters work)
“FFS Guernsey and Jersey have achieved both, and are smaller and much more remote.”, but they are quite wealthy tax havens.
The island was proudly labelled by the late Councillor Harry Rees as ” the poorest place in Western Europe”.
If you read the articles on here and elsewhere, do-gooders are always begging for money for something or other.
Unfortunately the “island economy” is based on food banking!