At eighty years old, Gordon Burgis is a man who defies easy categorisation.
He’s a man who occupies a rarefied space in Jersey’s sporting history. His achievements cross disciplines and generations, from pioneering surfing championships in the 1960s to becoming a cornerstone of squash and racketball on the island.
But Gordon isn’t the kind of man who thrives on past glories. Instead, he uses them as fuel to light new fires – coaching, mentoring, and championing the sports that have shaped his life.
Mention Burgis in Jersey, and you’ll hear a cascade of accolades.
To surfers, he’s Britain’s first surfing champion and the man who helped put Jersey on the international map. To sailors, he’s the record-breaking Hobie Cat racer whose feats across Europe set benchmarks for the sport.
And to the squash and racketball communities, he’s the heart and soul of a movement, a man who turned a casual love for the game into a lifelong commitment.
Yet, beneath the titles and accolades lies something deeper: a restless spirit driven by the need to share, to teach, to build. To speak with Burgis is to understand that for him, the act of competition is never the endpoint. It’s simply a prelude – to mentoring, to nurturing a community and to keeping the flame alive for others.
Burgis’s introduction to squash, the sport that would eventually define the second half of his sporting career, was as unexpected as it was fortuitous.
“I travelled to Australia in 1964 to represent Great Britain at the World Championship of surfing,” he recalls.
“After the championships, I stayed on for about 17 months with a few mates. When the surf was blown out, we’d look for other activities. We’d wander into Manly, where we were staying, and we started playing squash. It was just a casual thing – something to do when the waves weren’t cooperating.”
The irony of a British surfing pioneer discovering squash, not on a windswept Jersey beach but in a humid Australian squash court, isn’t lost on him.
“Surfing in those days wasn’t just a sport; it was a movement,” Gordon explains.
And in the Australia of the 1960s, it was a burgeoning cultural phenomenon, glamorous, chaotic, and somehow transformative.
That same decade, Burgis made history at home, winning two British surfing titles and two European Championships. The latter, in 1969, came in unforgettable circumstances.
“Miss World presented the trophies,” Gordon recalls with a smile. “She was Penny Plummer, an Australian. We had about 15,000 people show up – not for the surfing, mind you, but for Miss World!”
The spectacle of the event, complete with its Gold Leaf cigarette sponsorship, feels almost comically out of step with today’s sports landscape. But for Jersey and its rising profile in European surfing, it was a milestone.
When Gordon returned to Jersey later in 1969, he found squash booming. The sport’s golden age had begun, with stars like Jonah Barrington, Geoff Hunt, and Cam Nancarrow elevating its global profile.
Jersey wasn’t immune to the wave of excitement. The island hosted professional tournaments, and for Gordon, then in his 30s, squash was irresistible.
“I joined the Jersey Squash Club, all of 45 years ago,” he says. “But I still remember watching Jonah warm up for 45 minutes before a match. I thought, ‘This guy’s got to be made of granite.’
What started as a hobby turned into a passion and Gordon soon found himself representing Jersey at the Inter-Insula level, competing in veterans’ tournaments, and claiming titles in multiple age categories.
“The Jersey club was – and still is – a vibrant community,” he explains. “We had tournaments, visiting professionals, and top-tier coaching.
“One of my first lessons was with Abbas Kaoud, who taught me how to hold the racquet properly. I’d been holding it like a hammer for years, and within half an hour, he’d fixed my grip. It was a revelation.”
For Gordon, squash was more than just a sport – it was a year-round activity that offered something unique.
“With surfing and sailing, the conditions and the weather play a huge role,” he says. “But the squash court was always there, whatever the weather. The physical and mental challenges of squash even crossed back over to improve my performance in other sports.”
As Gordon aged, his squash game faced an inevitable challenge. Arthritis, a long-standing consequence of his footballing days, began to limit his movement.
“I’ve had severe arthritis in my right knee for years,” he says. “Squash became harder to play – it’s such a physically demanding sport.”
Enter Nick Taylor, a World Squash Masters Champion who was working as a coach in Jersey. Taylor suggested racketball, a sport with a larger ball, a forgiving racquet and reduced physical demands.
Gordon was skeptical but willing.
“I thought my days on the court were over,” he says. “Nick suggested I try racketball. My wife got involved, so I gave it a go. Within one session, I was hooked.”
Gordon didn’t stop at playing. He spotted an opportunity to grow the sport on the island and took it.
In 2010, he launched the Racketball Ouest League at Les Quennevais Sports Centre with just 15 players. Today, the league has nearly 70 members, with plans to grow to 100 by 2025.
“Racketball is the unsexy little brother of squash,” he jokes. “But it has this amazing ability to bring people back to the court. Parents introduce their kids to it, former squash players rediscover their love for the game – it’s a bridge for everyone.”
For all his achievements, what truly sets Gordon apart is his philosophy. A lifelong proponent of the “Inner Game,” a sports psychology approach, he believes that mental focus is as important as physical skill.
“It’s about quieting the part of your brain that doubts and overthinks,” he explains. “It’s about trusting your instincts and letting yourself flow.”
Gordon first encountered the concept while skiing in Austria, where he worked as an instructor. “You’d get skiers standing at the top of a slope, frozen with fear. The trick was to distract them. I’d say, ‘Imagine you’re a tiger bounding down the slope.’ Suddenly, they’d start moving.”
He has applied the same approach to squash and racketball coaching.
“In racket sports, it’s about feeling the ball on the strings, not thinking about how you’re hitting it. It’s a small shift, but it changes everything.”
Despite his illustrious career, Gordon shows no signs of slowing down. His passion for sport remains undiminished, whether he’s organising racketball leagues, coaching junior players, or mentoring the next generation.
“I’ve been very privileged,” he says. “But I believe you get out what you put in. For me, it’s about seeing people enjoy themselves, improve, and find their own passion for the game.”
With plans to expand racketball further and even add new courts through private funding, Gordon’s legacy in Jersey squash and racketball continues to grow.
For those attending the Jersey Squash or Racketball festivals in 2025, keep an eye out for Gordon Burgis.
He’ll be there, courtside, organising matches and chatting with players young and old.
And if you’re lucky, he might even tell you the story of Miss World and 15,000 cheering spectators
