Friendship trumps island rivalry

Thursday 13 July 2023

Foregoing the usual rivalry that exists between their home islands, Guernsey's Gary Dodd coached Jersey's Luc Miller to an Island Games bronze before explaining how a close friendship was borne out of table tennis.

Dodd was already well known on the Channel Island circuit when Miller started playing at just eight years old.

Now both men live in Sheffield and are close friends, playing their sport and meeting socially while in the UK and now at the Guernsey 2023 International Island Games.

"I think I've never put too much stock in the inter-island rivalry," said Miller. "The way I always see it is that we're far too small to be competing against each other. Of course, competition is good, but outside of competition, I always think the whole ethic of the Games is to build inter-island communication, positivity and a friendly Island Games is obviously the the big moral to the whole story."

Pictured: Gary Dodd coaching Luc Miller during Miller's semi final in the men's singles knockout.

Miller was disappointed with his bronze singles medal, but pleased to have secured the team gold for Jersey earlier in the week. Both he and Dodd are competing in the doubles today and tomorrow meaning they may face each other on the court.

"I've known Gary since I started playing. I started playing when I was eight years old, and at the time Gary was the top player in the Channel Islands and there's definitely still an argument for it, but since then, obviously, I've bridged the gap a little bit.

"We really started to become closer when I found out that he lived in Sheffield, and I just moved to Sheffield to go to university. He dropped me a message congratulating me about an event that I'd been at and asked me what I was doing. We ended up meeting up for a couple of training sessions and stuff. At the time, Gary wasn't playing as much, so I feel like I at least helped to sort of get him back into it a little bit."

Dodd was seen coaching Miller from the side during his semi-final having earlier been knocked out of the singles himself.

He said it was a no-brainer as he didn't see it as a Guernsey/Jersey issue - just two sportsmen competing to the best of their ability.

"Jordan (Wykes of Jersey) was on the other table so the coach was coaching Jordan and then I offered to help help Luc. I just tried to give him a few pointers to what I thought he could win and try to pick out some strengths and weaknesses of his opponent.

"Unfortunately, he came up against Max (Hedbom of Gotland), who's probably actually one of the best players I've seen at an Island games. He's a cut above everyone else and deserved to win."

Pictured: Gary Dodd in action at the NatWest International Island Games, Guernsey 2023 (DAVID FERGUSON)

Hedbom went on to defeat Wykes in the final, but Dodd was there cheering his Jersey friend on during that match too - something he acknowledges may not have always been the case with Guernsey/Jersey rivalries. 

"Myself, Luc and Jordan play quite a bit in the UK on the men's circuit, so we see each other more than the other guys do. I live next to Lucy, but myself, Jordan and Luc see each other probably three or four times a year. So, it's a bit more of a friendly atmosphere than what it probably was like maybe 10, 15 years ago."

Both Dodd and Miller are competing in the men's and mixed doubles over the final two days of competition at the 2023 NatWest International Island Games.

Dodd is hoping to win back some of the titles he's won at previous Games having lost out to stronger opponents during the singles competitions.

"Jordan's had a good run there, lost out in the final, and Luc picked up a bronze, so congratulations to him. I came up against Jordan, just lost narrowly for two, so it wasn't my year. But, you know, I'll probably come back in a few years and see how I can get on and maybe try and try and get another medal.

"We've got men's doubles (Thursday) so we'll see how that goes".

Pictured: Earlier this week, Guernsey's Alice Edwards played Jersey's Hannah Silcock. (DAVID FERGUSON)

The friends are all hungry for medals though with Miller hoping to regain the title he holds in the men's doubles from 2019.

"Myself and Jordan won the gold medal four years ago so we're looking to try and defend that and then we've got the mixed doubles.

"I feel like we've got a good chance in both of those in both of those competitions. But the team event for me was the main one. The whole team gets their medal. Everyone feels like they've contributed which everybody did, and anything else is a bonus. Obviously, I'm very happy with my bronze, which is a nice bonus, not the colour that I wanted, but I did everything I could. And as Gary mentioned, Max is a fantastic player."