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Goodbye 2023. Hello 2024.
Excited for what sporting treats lie ahead?
You should be.
It’s an Olympic year after all, and that’s right on our doorstep in Paris this summer.
But many of us have much less lofty ambitions, and smaller pockets when it comes to buying tickets.
So let’s rein things in a little, like Santa pulling Rudolph to a stop at the North Pole, sorry, that’s the last of the Christmas analogies, and scamper through what is happening on our shores, where there is plenty of international action promised, and the opportunities for taking part.
As you contemplate your New Year, New me, I’d recommend having a look at the Guernsey Sports Commission website to get an idea of the vast array of different opportunities on offer from clubs - and remember that we have some of the best walking and sea swimming in the world, so you don’t have to overcomplicate things.
In sport, the story lines are not always about piling wins on wins.
Two intriguing relegation battles will be played out at Footes Lane in the first half of the year and they promise to be compelling.
A young Guernsey FC team is fighting to keep their place in Isthmian South Central, while in rugby Guernsey Raiders aim to climb the league again after a slump towards the end of the first half of the season.
There’s an early opportunity for women to try out rugby when Guernsey Raiders Ladies host an Allianz Inner Warrior Camp on 21 January from 10:00.
One of the earliest chances to see international calibre sporting action will be between the 21 and 27 April when The World Bowls Indoor Championships takes place.
Maybe running could be your thing in 2024?
The Butterfield Half is scheduled for 15 September and you can enter now.
That leaves plenty of time to gradually build towards it, and with the weekly Park Run every Saturday at 09:00 at Pembroke and with a host of other running events on and off road through the year, it’s time to get the calendar out and plot your route to success.
Guernsey’s U19 netballers are in the midst of their first English league campaign, you can catch them up at Beau Sejour.
There are always opportunities to get involved in the sport, with walking netball and now men’s netball adding to the mix.
In motorsport we have lost the Guernsey Rally in 2024 after Environment & Infrastructure pulled the plug, but the National Hill Climb is set to return on 20 July.
Sport is not all about speed and noise, sometimes you need to squeeze your competitive fix in wherever you can get it and that often means a lunch hour.
No problem, why not join the QEii Petanque Club business leagues that run between April and October?
Are we a little bias about this here at Express? Yes, and not just because we got promoted to the dizzy heights of Division 3 in our first season. See you at the Boulodrome!
Which rhymes with The Dome, which is what our basketballers like to call their home at Beau Sejour.
A tenuous link? Sure, but it means I can encourage you to check out how the sport is growing on the back of attracting huge crowds at this year’s Island Games.
Talking of crowds and thinking about the summer, Guernsey Cricket will be hosting what promises to be the sporting highlight of the year.
Nine teams will travel here from all over Europe from 21 to 28 August for the first round of qualifying for the T20 2026 World Cup.
Just one team will progress after the week of action and Guernsey are seeded to make the final.
But T20 is a lottery. It will not be easy. It will be exciting.
Fancy an altogether different challenge?
It’s a Granite Man year, which means on 1 September you could find yourself taking on a 70.3 distance triathlon on these shores, getting the joys of running into and out of Les Vardes quarry in the process.
Maybe get your bike legs by taking part in the Guernsey Velo Club’s Easter Festival? Or its mountain bike series. Or its cyclocross series. Or its criteriums? There’s a lot to try.
This is just a small selection of the sport you can watch or take part in this year.
From archery to zumba, just had to squeeze in a tenuous A to Z, there is something for all.
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