In the UK two weeks ago, I had the choice of going to the opera to see Romeo and Juliet or watching Jersey Rugby Club beat Dorking at the Big Field in Surrey.

I plumped for rugby; after which I was gently chastised by Martin Hebden, chairman of Jersey’s Commonwealth Games Committee, who assured me that there was as much athleticism and physical energy expended by ballet dancers as there was by any sportsman or woman . . . and I’m sure he’s right.

So, feeling a little guilty that I had plumped for the bump and grind of rugby compared to the more refined arts of Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Opera House, I asked myself afterwards: ‘when, if ever, do the boundaries between art and sport cross over and blur into one?’

For cross over they most certainly do. Certainly the dedication, training and physical fitness you need for ballet, be you male or female, is akin to the same kind of dedication you need to become a great athlete, footballer, gymnast or boxer.

And, to take the argument still further, you could say that some boxers are as light on their feet as any would-be Rudolph Nureyev; while gymnasts like Nadia Comaneci surely turned their sport into an art form by the grace, beauty and dexterity they have shown through their sport, most notably on the floor (although Comaneci, who had a perfect score of ten on the uneven bars in Montreal in 1976 only won bronze on the floor, unlike 17-year-old Olga Corbett who, four years before had turned in a breath-taking performance to win gold).

In Montreal 14-year-old Comaneci won three gold medals; a feat which will never be repeated in future Olympic Games because the age limit now, unlike then, is 16.
So in which other sports and art forms do the two genres come together?

Perhaps in dance, which the powers-that-be have considered including as an Olympic sport. Also, perhaps, in dancing on ice – and like many other Islanders I have vivid memories of Torville and Dean becoming the highest scoring Olympic figure skaters of all time as they received 12 perfect sixes and six 5.9s for their interpretation of Ravel’s Bolero at the 1984 Winter Olympics.

So there is a cross-over, and although cynics may play down the notion that football, when played at its cleanest, most skilful level, is ‘the beautiful game’, surely there is nothing wrong in suggesting that the two words ‘beauty’ and ‘game’ (as in football game’), can sit happily together, with echoes of the conclusion poet John Keats came to in Endymion in the early part of the 19th century, that: ‘a thing of beauty is a joy forever’ . . .

Anyway, it was a treat to spend a weekend away with Martin, his wife, and 11 other members of the Jersey Arts Centre, although when Martin and I got into any kind of meaningful conversation we invariably ended up talking sport.

Like myself, Martin has high hopes for the team we will be sending to this year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Thankfully, in the 21st century, Jersey will be sending an appropriate number of sportsmen and women from an appropriate number of sports – a party of up to 60, to include officials, trainers, medical staff and chaperones could be flying there – and Martin agreed with me that this year, unlike other Games in the past, Islanders could well win medals.

Having both agreed that this is a distinct possibility, there was a slight difference of opinion in what became a fairly animated discussion about who might do well in what, for while I believe our best chances lie in individual events, Martin has an idea that one or two of the teams we are sending over could do exceptionally well.

Finally, with regard to the Commonwealth Games – congratulations to compound archer Lucy O’Sullivan for winning gold in New Delhi eight days ago. Although it was an invitation event, she was competing against many of the Commonwealth’s best archers, including those from the home country where the sport is followed by tens of millions of viewers on national TV. Archery isn’t the nation’s favourite sport; but it isn’t far off from being so.

However well she does between 3 and 14 October (less than 200 days away) I will be following her progress with huge interest – and I hope between now and then that all of the facilities the authorities have promised will be ready (including the toilets, which so far, aren’t!) are in place and working.

The headline on the back page of last Thursday’s JEP was ‘Jersey and Guernsey FAs are poles apart’ – which they are.

Briefly, the Guernsey FA have put their weight behind entering a Guernsey FC team into a UK League at level five next year.

The Jersey FA, however, have maintained that they aren’t interested in backing a ‘Team Jersey’ in any UK club league. Instead they will focus on international competitions, their Island football team competing against smaller nations.

Only with time will we see which Island has made the right choice, although if I was a serious footballer, living in any of the islands, I think I’d prefer to live in Guernsey right now.

For there seems to be a genuine unity between clubs and Island who believe that if they are to improve their game they must look further afield than Jersey, Gibraltar and Malta, or by relying too much on inter-club football.

Indeed, such is their intent that they are looking to set up a board of representatives from each of their eight top flight clubs to oversee Team Guernsey FC – presumably on the basis that they would then be able to sort out fixtures in such a way that club fixtures and island fixtures would never clash.

GFA chairman Mark Le Tissier said: ‘It will test our best players, coaches and administrators in terms of levels of technical ability, fitness, commitment and organizational skills. This is an opportunity that can’t be missed if football is to be the sport of choice for the most talented young sportsmen in Guernsey,’ a view echoed by current Guernsey manager, Tony Vance, who is keen to be involved. He said: ‘It gives youngsters something to aspire to; it’s going to give them the best chances of being spotted because they are going to be getting better exposure.’

With the full weight of all of the clubs, players and GFA behind them, plus an as yet unnamed sponsor, Guernsey football is heading towards club football and a UK league.

Meanwhile Jersey have chosen another path; although Charlie Browne, a JFA vide-president and president of St Paul’s, in reflective mood, is quoted as saying: ‘If it happened here, clubs would be looked upon as junior clubs with a view to supporting the Island team. Personally, I don’t think it is a bad thing because it would expose our players to a higher standard on a regular basis.’

After showing such enthusiasm for Guernsey’s ambition he adds: ‘(however) my preference is the international route and matches against places like Gibraltar and Madeira.’

So which of the two routes would be most beneficial to a Jersey footballer or, indeed, to an Island supporter?

Rugby, netball, bowls, badminton, squash, pool, volleyball, cricket, waterpolo – these, and other sports too numerous to mention, have chosen the UK league and national route.

They have done so knowing that the better they do against UK (or in the case of bowls and cricket, world) opposition, the more they improve and the more that the youngsters in the sport want to emulate their success and commit themselves to becoming as good if not better, than mainland opposition.

Volleyball is a case in point. Last year I was privileged enough to watch the Island side get through to the semi-finals of the England National Shield when they beat Stowmarket 3-2 at Hautes Vallée School.

Apart from the Island Games, I’ve never so many supporters cheering them on. There was no animosity between club and country and the amount of publicity generated, that weekend, must surely have pleased volleyball’s sponsors to bits.
Good publicity; a decent number of spectators; opposition which tests you to the nth of your ability. . . what more could any competing athlete want?
I would imagine that the same could be true of any footballer selected next season in ‘Team Guernsey’.

And the point is this; that every footballer worth his salt wants to win something meaningful; a cup winner’s medal, perhaps, or a league title.

And while this is not a comment piece designed to detract from the JFA’s well-intentioned ambitions, surely an impartial observer would question the validity of a competition which brings together players chosen simply because they happen to live on an island, compared to a proven league system, of games played week in and week out leading, at the end of the season, to a trophy players and spectators can both delight in winning.