SPORTS in the island support the calls to move Guernsey onto Central European Time. Deputy Peter Roffey will propose the switch in the States and local sport associations are hoping that it goes through.
Primarily it would give an extra hour of sunlight in the evenings during the summer months.
The sport that would possibly benefit the most is cricket.
The Barclays Evening League has six divisions that almost every weekday evening during the summer has games starting at 6pm on pitches across the island.
‘I’m a big fan of it and I can see it being a huge benefit to all sports,’ said the Guernsey Cricket Board chairman, David Piesing.
‘We could play full 20-over matches in May and August and possibly longer games in June and July. It gives us an awful lot of flexibility.
‘It’s hard to see any negatives from a sport point of view.’
However, the one slight disadvantage that Piesing notes is some financial staff having to work to 6pm to keep in touch with the UK as Guernsey would then be an hour ahead.
‘You could see more people working till 6 and having to cover for London,’ said Piesing.
‘That could be an issue for some people.’
Another highly popular sport that is behind the idea is golf.
‘It would be beneficial,’ said president of the Guernsey Golf Union Alan Mahy.
‘We’d be able to play a lot more in the evenings.’
Mahy noted that at the height of summer, the latest golfers can tee off for a competitive round is 6.15pm.
A round usually takes between three-and-a-quarter and three-and-a-half hours.
The big 72-hole competition, for the Credit Suisse and UV trophies, takes place around the end of June and the longest days of the year so that it can be fitted in.
With Guernsey on CET, Mahy pointed out there would be more competitions and greater opportunities for people to practise.
But on the other hand, taking the ‘hour away from the mornings’ would limit the opportunities for golfers to play before work.
According to Mahy, it has been known for the green keepers at the L’Ancresse course to find golfers in the car park at 4.30am with their car lights on waiting for the sun to come up.
‘If we had light to 10.30 at night, more people would play,’ said Mahy.
‘But obviously it would exclude people wanting to play before work.’
The Guernsey Football Association fixtures secretary Garry Cortez is also a fan of the proposal.
The season traditionally starts in the second week of August.
From then to midway through September, matches are able to take place in the evenings with 6 o’clock kick-offs at grounds with no floodlights - Port Soif, St Andrew’s and St Peter’s.
If CET was brought in, those grounds could be utilised longer into the season.
Cortez estimates that 30 to 40 football matches across the leagues could be fitted in earlier in the season, which would help ease fixture congestion later in the year.
‘It would be very, very beneficial,’ he said.
‘That extra hour a night would give us another month of football.
‘When I was a grower there was talk about it in the early 90s and I was for it then.’
Article posted on 17th January, 2008 - 12.00am
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