Speaking of St Clement’s decision to withdraw their senior side Ladies League secretary Katrina Tannahill said the problem lies with the current Combination rule which allows up to 25 players to be registered for a club.
‘Top teams can sign the better players from other clubs, which means that lower-table clubs have difficulty fielding teams sometimes.
‘And there is also a problem for the teams with the big squads, because they risk their players getting fed up with not playing regularly, and drifting away to another club, or even from the sport.
‘The same thing has happened in the men’s clubs this season too,’ she added.
Combination vice president Mark Le Cornu agreed that the rules need adjusting.
‘The Combination may have to reconsider the number of players a team can have.
At present it’s 25, but if that were to be reduced – although it couldn’t go too low because it only takes a couple of injured players and one or two to be away at uni to leave a team short – it would even things out a bit.’ St Clement Ladies had to pull out after losing some players to university and other regular players signing for different teams, but the club’s girls’ squads are still going strong.
‘St Clement are not intending to let the situation with the senior team be a long-standing one,’ said Tannahill.
‘They are hopeful they’ll be able to field a full team again next season.
‘It’s one of the problems that all clubs experience from time to time, with players leaving the Island, or being injured, or becoming pregnant.’ To attract more women to the sport, Tannahill is organising a couple of festival events, with the first on Saturday 30 September at the Jersey Wanderers ground at St Peter.
It starts at 9.30 am, through to 12.30 pm, and is intended for all secondary school-aged girls who are interested.
