You'll never walk alone

Saturday 13 October 2018

Walking it in will be the tactic one local team of old hands are hoping to use for football success this afternoon.

Jersey's local squad of walking footballers are set to hit Springfield to take on the Whitecliff Corinthians, who have travelled from the UK specially for the tournament.

Seeing the increasing popularity of the slow-paced version of the game, a Jersey squad was set up two years ago by Jersey Sport in a bid to help older islanders maintain an active lifestyle despite their age, as well as getting former players who had to stop due to injuries or other reasons back into football.

Gary Buesnel, one of the local players, got involved from the very first session at Fort Regent. "I was not getting enough exercise, that was the rationale behind it," he said. "Of course, something one does not think of in the first place is the people you meet and the friends you make as a result. There is a fitness and a social side to the activity."

There are now 20 players who turn up regularly to the training sessions, twice a week at Springfield. Mr Buesnel explained: "We play between five and seven on each side. It is mainly people over 55 but there are some exceptions. We have some younger members with some kind of physical impairment. It assists them in building up their strength."

Pictured: Today's tournament will take place at Springfield Ball Court.

The rules are simple in Walking Football and the main one is in the name: anyone that sprints, runs or jogs while the ball is in play will generally be penalised with a free-kick awarded to the other team. "The ball mustn't go over head height. There is no physical contact. You can block the ball or do low tackles but that's pretty much it. It's very much low impact," Mr Buesnel explained.

He added that the Jersey team will mix everyone's abilities. "We will have two or three sides. We will have a mix of the best and less abled players. It's all about being inclusive, taking part and having some fun."

The tournament is scheduled for between 12:00 and 16:00 today at the Springfield Ball Court. Jersey's team will be facing the UK's Whitecliff Corinthians. A team from Guernsey was also meant to travel to Jersey to take part but had to pull out after their boat was cancelled due to bad weather.