Luke Jarmyn
Freelance
Luke’s entered the Sports Journalist category with articles published in the Jersey Evening Post – a daily local newspaper on the Channel Islands – where he’s the outlet’s designate chief rugby correspondent. The work Luke’s chosen to submit are just a brief glimpse of the in depth coverage he’s produced when covering Jersey’s sports scene, in particular the Jersey Reds rugby union team. These show his nous in unearthing hard-hitting sports stories, his flair for creative writing, and an ability to develop fruitful relationships with key contacts.
It’s been a tumultuous year for the sports scene across Jersey in general, and for the Jersey Reds in particular, as the Reds achieved heights never scaled by a Channel Islands side before, but then were dramatically undone by going into administration and effectively disappearing overnight. Utilising his decade of experience, skills and contacts, as well as being the JEPs chief rugby correspondent for several years, Luke told the story of the Reds’ rise and fall within English rugby with real insight and engagement through the key players, in a way no one else could gain access to. The first of Luke’s pieces of work submitted are his features for the JEP’s Jersey Reds’ supplement after Reds won the RFU Championship – Rugby Union’s professional second tier league – in May. He wrote an outstanding in-depth interview piece with Reds’ director of rugby Harvey Biljon, discussing how he’d been a key architect for the success while also providing some carefully crafted insight into Harvey ‘the man behind the coach’. Alongside this Luke produced an insightful feature on the players, particularly highlighting the personal trials and tribulations of three of the Reds’ stars.
Second are Luke’s articles as the news of Jersey Reds’ going into administration broke in late September. Luke was one of the first journalists to uncover the story. He got a tip-off from a contact, and utilised his connections to get real insight, and quickly create an accurate picture into what was going on behind closed doors. These articles show the turmoil faced by the players and staff affected by Jersey Reds’ going into administration, and the human side of a sporting tragedy as they were left jobless, unpaid, potentially facing eviction from their homes on the island, and an instantly uncertain future.
Luke’s third article is an in-depth feature interview with the head of the Rugby Players Association, one of the main organisations within English rugby that helps players. The article discusses what support they’d provided, the problems leading to Reds’ liquidation, the situation those affected are in, some of the challenges including Jersey’s unique legal system, as well as looking more widely at the gravitas of the problems which have led to four professional teams – including Reds – go bust in under a year.