In tonight's show, Bartholomew Hall talks all things Medway Park with England Wheelchair Rugby League head coach Tom Coyd, as the venue celebrates it's 50th anniversary.
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00:00 Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:20 up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Bartholomew Hall and here's what to expect on this Monday,
00:26 the 18th December. Derby demolition, Tunbridge tear into North
00:32 Kent rivals Dartford in thrilling National South encounter, half a tonne we look back
00:37 at the 50 years of the iconic Medway Park and action replay with clips and pics of you,
00:44 the KMTV viewers, getting sporty. But first, as always, a round up of the headlines
00:51 and the Invicta Dynamos picked up two wins at the weekend, extending their winning streak
00:55 to four games unbeaten. The Moes ended their year with a 7-0 win at the Oxford City Stars
01:02 on Saturday and followed it up with a 13-1 dominant victory over Milton Keynes Thunder
01:07 on Sunday. It now means the team is up to fourth place in the National Ice Hockey League's
01:11 South Division 1 table, one week after beating league leaders South Slough Jets. Head coach
01:17 Carl Lennon says his team gave good and professional performances.
01:22 Next and it's not Christmas without the darts. The World Darts Championship is well underway
01:26 at the Alexandra Palace and Kent's very own Ross Smith is preparing to step up to the
01:31 famous mark for his first match after ceding an automatic bye into round two. The Dover-born
01:37 former European champion heads into the competition ranked 16th in the world. It means he goes
01:42 directly through to the second round and will face Dutch player Niels Zonneveld after he
01:47 dismissed England's Darren Webster in a tense eight-missed-match darts set. The two will
01:52 face off on Wednesday's midday session.
01:56 Next and Maidstone's top scorer Levi Amanci has left the National South side and will
02:00 now join Bromley for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old hasn't played for Maidstone United
02:05 since being stretched off during the first half of their FA Cup second round win over
02:10 Barrow, which was just two weeks ago. He wasn't expected back until the end of January but
02:15 now won't be returning to the club at all after the side announced his departure earlier
02:20 today. The Stone's chief executive Bill Williams has said the club is "very disappointed" to
02:25 see Levi go.
02:28 And the Kent Tigers basketball club have announced a relaunch. It comes after the club announced
02:32 it would be stopping operations earlier this year after becoming Division 1 and Division
02:37 2 champions in the Medway Basketball Association's senior men's league. The Dartford-based club
02:42 will host weekly sessions at Lee Academy for children as young as three years old, with
02:47 the programme extending to senior men's and women's teams too. General manager Sten Mayunga
02:52 says the goal is to cultivate an elite basketball academy for young talent across the town.
02:58 Now time to take a look back at the round-up of the football results from over the weekend.
03:02 We start with an exciting North Kent derby, where the Tunbridge Angels hosted Dartford
03:06 at Longmead. Here's James Hill.
03:10 For this week's football round-up, we start in the Vanarama National League South for
03:14 a highly contested North Kent derby between Tunbridge Angels and their close neighbours
03:19 Dartford. The Angels started the game strong, firing a shot at the post in the 16th minute,
03:25 but a well-deserved first goal for the Angels arrived in the 22nd. The ball came in from
03:30 a corner where Greenwich was able to turn and punt the ball into the back of the net
03:34 from the near post. The next goal came just two minutes later, a well-worked counter-attack
03:39 saw the ball into the feet of Tunbridge's centre-back guard as he managed to slide the
03:43 ball into the back of the net. The Angels then bagged a third in the 33rd minute. Some
03:48 patient build-up play saw midfielder Sabre add his name to the score sheet as he cut
03:52 the ball into the goal from a low cross.
03:55 Just before half-time, Angels manager Jay Saunders was forced to make a substitution
03:59 following a clash of heads. Jamie Fielding went up for a contested header and took a
04:03 suspected elbow to the face which saw him get quickly subbed off for Tom Parkinson.
04:08 The second half saw a change in pace, but with 30 minutes left, the Angels were still
04:13 hunting for their fourth. After switching the ball to Tunbridge's Hines made a marauding
04:17 dribble through the Dartford midfield. Hines then laid the ball off to Wagstaff. Wagstaff
04:22 toyed with his defender, twisting his way into the corner before blasting in a high
04:27 cross where a towering Greenwich jumped up for a well-placed header, placing the ball
04:32 into the right-hand side for a brace against his former team.
04:39 After five minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle went. Final score, 4-0 to home-side
04:44 Tunbridge Angels.
04:45 Elsewhere in the National League South, fourth place, Maidstone were thrashed 5-1 by a dominant
04:51 Worthing. The win for the Angels puts Tunbridge in ninth while Dartford drop to 13th and Maidstone
04:57 are still in fourth.
04:59 In the Ismian League, Chatham keep their promotion charge on track with a 2-0 win over Hornchurch
05:05 at home. They now stay second in the table, just five points behind league leaders Hornchurch,
05:10 who have three games in hand.
05:13 In the National, Ebb Fleet were able to take a point away from their fixture with Barnett.
05:17 The 1-1 draw keeps Ebb Fleet in 21st position.
05:21 And as for League 2, Gilliams suffered a 2-0 loss at home against Bradford City, conceding
05:26 in each half. The Gills currently sit in 10th with 31 points.
05:31 Gilliam manager Stephen Clements had this to say.
05:34 "Their goals are definitely avoidable. We can't do that, we can't give teams head starts.
05:41 It's always going to be difficult. No matter what level you play at, if you go a goal behind,
05:46 in professional football it's tough to come back. The stats tell you at every level when
05:50 you go a goal behind. More often than not, you don't get the result you want.
05:55 Now, I can take getting beat, I can accept getting beat, but I don't want to get beat
06:00 by goals like that."
06:01 I'm James Sall and that's all for this week's Football Roundup.
06:05 Now it's time to remind you that you can keep up to date with all our sports stories,
06:13 interviews and features by heading to our website kmtv.co.uk and clicking on the brand
06:18 new sports tabs there.
06:19 You can watch some of our interviews like this one about Jim Garrett, the 78-year-old
06:24 badminton player from Faversham who is still out winning medals. Take a look.
06:29 Retired teacher Jim Garrett from Ashford has been playing badminton since the age of 19.
06:34 Almost six decades later at 78 and he's just returned to the county after having won two
06:40 gold medals at the World Senior Championships in South Korea.
06:44 Originally from Manchester, Jim moved to Kent in the 50s where joining the Kent squad skyrocketed
06:50 his love for the sport.
06:52 Now part of the England senior team, Jim tells me that age isn't a barrier and his record
06:57 proves it, winning gold in both the men's doubles and mixed doubles, plus taking a silver
07:02 medal in the over 75 singles.
07:05 I think most people are genuinely pleased and surprised when you say your age and sometimes
07:13 bothered surprised. But when you look around the playing side of it, it's been joyous really.
07:22 I think my only regret is the fact that I'm running out of age groups because the next
07:29 tournaments I'm going to be right outside those and who knows I probably won't get picked
07:35 anymore. I think people sometimes say you're too old for that and really it's just an age.
07:42 If you feel you can do it, just do it. That's the message to everyone isn't it really, just
07:47 keep going as long as you can and you'll be fine.
07:51 Jim plays at Faversham Badminton Club which has been running for more than 100 years here
07:55 in the county and it's now run from the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School. Welcoming back their
08:00 gold medalist, the club served up the perfect treat for a champion.
08:04 It's an amazing achievement for Jim and obviously for the club as well, really proud of what
08:11 he's achieved. To be world champion once is amazing but to win two golds and a silver
08:16 is brilliant. I mean I played with Jim for many years at the club, in games etc. So the
08:21 whole club was really pleased for Jim and what he's achieved. I think he's over 75 and
08:29 he moves quicker than most of the people here, quicker than I can move.
08:33 And of course I couldn't come along without getting a bit of a demo from the man himself.
08:37 As soon as one of these courts are free, Jim and I are going to partner up and he's going
08:40 to show me the ropes. Wish me luck.
08:44 With some fierce competition, Jim and I battled on and came away victorious. I'd love to take
08:49 the credit but I must say Jim did all the hard work.
08:52 So from Manchester and Kent to taking on the world in South Korea. Shuttlecock and racket
08:58 in hand, it's clear the Jim Garrett story is not just a rally of wins but a smash hit.
09:04 Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Faversham.
09:09 Now moving on and if you weren't already in the Christmas mood by now, well this one will
09:13 certainly put you in it. Hundreds of BMX cyclists from the South East, London and Kent, took
09:19 to the streets of London on Saturday, all dressed head to toe in Santa outfits to spread
09:24 some festive cheer and raise money for a children's charity.
09:28 And one of those who took part is our very own Abbey Hook who joins me in the studio
09:33 now. Abbey, I have to ask, what has possibly driven you to this decision?
09:38 Well this is something I do every year with my family. Me and my dad started going, my
09:43 step mum, my brother and we took my boyfriend this weekend as well for his first time doing
09:47 it. He decided to dress up as a candy cane, hundreds of Santas and he was the only candy
09:51 cane there. I went as a reindeer, my dad went as what he called a modern day Santa. I don't
09:56 know what he was thinking there. But we've got these BMXs that are sort of styled off
10:02 an old bike and there's only a hundred of them actually made. You can see me there,
10:06 that's down the mall at Buckingham Palace. It's incredible to see that and the people
10:10 that stop on the side of the road. And of course it's all for children's charity as
10:15 well. It's ECHO, it's Evelina Children's Heart Organisation. It's been going for
10:20 about eight years, it was the ninth one, eight times before the ninth one at the weekend
10:24 and it's all because of the organiser's son. He actually sadly had a near fatal heart
10:29 attack when he was young so it sort of spurred this to raise money for the children. We cycle
10:33 up to the hospital, we all gather on the street, you can see there, there's the candy cane.
10:39 We all gather on the street and we actually sing Christmas songs to the children. They
10:42 come to the window with their family and we also stop in the middle of this square here
10:46 and we watch people do some stunts. That bit I did participate in, just nobody got a footage
10:53 of me. I did like a triple backflip. Yeah, yeah, yeah, just nobody managed to capture
10:57 it. It was such a great moment. But in all seriousness it's raised £135,000 for ECHO
11:02 now and it's an incredible thing to be part of in the sort of festive spirit as well.
11:07 As you go along you bring sort of a bucket for change and pots for charity and you ask
11:12 people as you go up and down Oxford Street. It's an absolutely incredible thing to be
11:17 part of and of course sporty as well. I was absolutely huffing and puffing. It does take
11:24 it out of you but it's incredible. Well dress as a reindeer as well. I mean, reindeer this
11:27 year, have you got plans for what you might dress up as next year if you're going to go
11:30 again? I'm not going to ruin it here. I'm going to go bigger and better next year. And
11:34 you can join us again and tell us all about it. Yeah, maybe I'll do a live half an hour
11:37 in Victor Sport from there. There? We wouldn't say no would we? We'll make it happen. Fantastic
11:41 stuff. Thank you very much for sharing with us and some good pictures on there as well.
11:45 Thank you very much. Now we've reached half time which means it's time for a break but
11:49 coming up we'll be looking at the history, the 50 year history of Medway Park. See you
11:53 in a few moments. Bye bye.
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15:10 Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport live on KMTV. Now this past week has seen the
15:16 50th anniversary of Medway Park or as it was once known or still is to many Black Lion
15:21 Leisure Centre. From hosting international competitions to being the home of England
15:25 Wheelchair Rugby League. The centre has played a major part in the Gillingham community since
15:30 it first opened. And in just a moment we'll be hearing from Tom Coyd, head coach of the
15:34 England Wheelchair Rugby League team about what Medway Park means to him. But first let's
15:39 take a look back at the long history of Medway Park.
15:41 Whether you call it the Black Lion or Medway Park, this leisure centre turns 50 today.
15:47 In its half a century of history there have been bomb scares, royal visits and missing
15:51 Olympic torches. But throughout that time it's played a major part in the community.
15:55 And some say it's the biggest centre in Kent.
15:58 People come here to meet friends, they come here to have fun or they come here to work
16:04 out and spend some time on their own. And we've had over the last three years we've
16:09 had the International Dance Championships which is incredible. The whole place for a
16:15 week is turned into a dance competition and there's people, we have, the organisers say
16:21 there was 10,000 competitors from all over the world and there's sequins and glitter
16:26 everywhere.
16:29 But in recent years it's been home to a Covid testing centre and of course the local and
16:33 general election counts. Here's the moment the now leader of Medway Council found out
16:38 his party won the vote. He's been reflecting on the past 50 years.
16:44 It was opened by Sir Roger Bannister and I know that there's going to be a disco themed,
16:48 of course it was back in the 1970s, so a disco themed workout. I won't be taking part personally
16:54 but I know colleagues and residents will be so get your leggings on and get down for the
16:58 50th anniversary of Medway Park.
17:01 Medway Park has certainly had its fair share of history welcoming well known sporting stars
17:05 alongside locals achieving their sporting goals. Daniel Ananu for KMTV.
17:11 Well I'm joined now by Tom Coyd, MBE, Head Coach of the England Wheelchair Rugby League
17:16 team. Thank you very much for joining us and welcome to the show. Now the last time we
17:22 spoke it was just after you was awarded your MBE and you mentioned Medway Park and kind
17:28 of growing up in the area and what it's meant to you. Can you just remind us how kind of
17:32 instrumental Medway Park and Gillingham as a whole has been to not only your career but
17:37 your dad's as well?
17:39 It's been fundamental genuinely. Obviously being born in Gillingham and spending my whole
17:43 life in Medway practically, it has a massive influence on how you are. I spent four years
17:51 directly working for Medway Council before things really started kicking off with the
17:57 England Wheelchair Rugby League and that had a massive impact on the way that I coach because
18:02 I was a sports development officer but also just like me as a person because when you're
18:08 in a public facing role I think that you learn to care a lot about people from all walks
18:13 of life. So that experience had a massive influence over my development and I was lucky
18:20 enough to be invited to the Time to Shine Awards last week which is a Medway Council
18:26 Awards ceremony to celebrate children who are in care and leave in care and the achievements
18:32 that they've made and me and my brother Joe went there as special guests to talk to them
18:36 about our journey as people of Medway. So yeah that was a nice full circle moment really
18:42 and like I said the four years that I was working in and around Medway Council I was
18:47 based at Medway Park and working with the people on the sports team there and working
18:52 closely with a lot of the council members so I just had the best time and I would be
18:58 a totally different individual if I hadn't had that experience at Medway Park.
19:02 And when you go to Medway Park now you can see these signs, we've got a picture of one
19:05 here 'Home to England Wheelchair Rugby League' we don't see that often in Kent, we have the
19:11 home of England sport, how does it feel to have that so close to your home and to play
19:17 such a role in it as head coach?
19:18 Well it's definitely convenient to say that for sure but the thing about Medway Park is
19:26 it's obviously a great facility, it was almost purpose built for Wheelchair Rugby League
19:30 because it's got a few things, I'm going to sound like a sports nerd here, but high ceilings
19:35 and a good clean surface and they were kind enough to collaborate with us and put down
19:39 specific lines so we could have a perfectly marked pitch for Wheelchair Rugby League which
19:44 trust me you don't get at sports halls up and down the country at the moment, it's just
19:48 badminton lines and basketball for the most part.
19:51 But like I say they were great collaborators with us and over the years, over the last
19:57 probably 12 years since we've had a training engagement there, whether it's with the local
20:03 club Medway Dragons or what developed after that was with England Wheelchair Rugby League
20:07 was what was more than the quality of the facilities was the people there and the staff
20:13 always did an amazing job at looking after us.
20:16 Paul Johnson's been the manager at Medway Park for as long as I can remember and he
20:21 was hugely passionate about not just disabled sport but the way that we worked, the way
20:28 that we fed into the community and we've had I'm going to say close to a thousand different
20:36 people from Medway come and go through the England Wheelchair team and Medway Dragons
20:40 so I'd like to think that we've been a big part of the community just like Medway Park
20:44 have.
20:45 Yeah, I mean when we think about our leisure centres we talk about them quite often on
20:49 the channel and the kind of politics that comes into it but I think it always comes
20:52 back to just how important they are to different communities and you mentioned there growing
20:56 up in Gillingham, I think everybody remembers when it was Black Lion and now obviously Medway
21:00 Park and it kind of is the central point for sport in the area.
21:05 Yeah I think anyone who's grown up or spent any time in Medway knows what Medway Park
21:10 is, some people probably still know it as the Black Lion but yeah like the whole time
21:16 I was growing up I had my swimming lessons there, we had our wheelchair rugby sessions
21:20 there, I'm now coaching a national team there so yeah I mean if Medway Park wasn't there
21:26 I don't know what position my life would be in but I think it's fantastic to see that
21:33 it's celebrating its 50th year and here's to 50 more because like I say the people that
21:38 they employ there really buy into the spirit of it and I think it is probably a cornerstone
21:44 of the community, you know the athletics club that are based out of there, it's host to
21:49 a whole raft of like diverse sports, I mean wheelchair rugby league included but I know
21:55 that they had a real good base of handball there at one point, blind football and para
22:02 football so yeah we're champions of inclusivity and so are the guys at Medway Park, that's
22:08 why there's such good synergy there.
22:09 Couldn't have said it better myself, I mean you mentioned obviously being head coach there
22:14 of the England wheelchair rugby league squad, it's been quite a successful year hasn't it,
22:20 I mean obviously winning the World Cup, it was bound about sort of this time last year,
22:24 winning some awards yourself, following on from that and the NBE which we've spoken about
22:29 before on the channel, how do you reflect on your 2023, obviously the sport itself is
22:33 also growing.
22:35 Yeah we've got to have 41 teams playing in the league next season which is just over
22:41 double that we had the year before the World Cup so yeah you can see the explosion that
22:47 that World Cup springboard has had but yeah for myself it's quite difficult to reflect
22:52 because it's just not something that I'm very good at, I think coaches normally are quite
23:00 like focused on other people, you know you always want to help other people around you
23:04 grow, that's kind of the whole point of coaching so yeah spending too long thinking about myself
23:10 is not something I'm comfortable with but I think it's important to do because otherwise
23:14 these great moments pass you by and then you probably regret not enjoying them as much
23:18 so yeah in three weeks time I'll be going to formally collect my NBE medal and that
23:27 will almost like draw to a close this 12 month post World Cup celebration really because
23:33 like you say it's been just over a year since the World Cup final now and since then we've
23:38 been on BBC Sports Personality, we've been hosted at Hampton Court Palace by Her Royal
23:43 Highness the Princess of Wales, I was nominated and won Best Coaching Moment of the Year ahead
23:51 of some ridiculous coaches like Serena Vigeman and Brendan McCullum so yeah that was a beautiful
23:58 moment a couple of weeks ago, I took my mum up to the ceremony in Leeds and like all my
24:05 family but my mum in particular has had a massive impact on how I've developed as a
24:10 human so yeah I've been trying to not make it all about me but you can see how important
24:19 it is and how much it means to the people around you when you have success because they
24:23 know that they've had an influence over that so that's where I've tried to enjoy myself
24:27 really is keeping my important people involved with it.
24:31 Absolutely well congratulations on a brilliant 12 months and hopefully here's to many more
24:36 memories to be made in 2024 and beyond. Thank you very much for joining us Tom.
24:39 Thank you.
24:40 Tom Coyd talking with me earlier today. Now we've reached full time on today's episode
24:45 but there's just a few moments of extra time to take a look at this week's Action Replay.
24:50 It's the segment where we take a look at the clips and pictures that you, the KMTV audience
24:54 have sent in of you taking part in sport. Let's take a look at what we've got in store
24:59 on this week's Action Replay.
25:01 First up staying at the University of Kent we have this clip from the Golf Society attempting
25:06 the Happy Gilmore Challenge, recreating Adam Sandler's famous and hilarious swing from
25:11 the film. The technique is not necessarily going to win you the Ryder Cup but it's certainly
25:16 a fun one to try for movie fans and of course we love the enthusiasm.
25:21 Moving on we have action man Benjamin Sinclair fundraising for his friend Zach who suffers
25:25 from severe epilepsy. He's been raising money for specialist support dogs to help with seizures.
25:31 Benjamin has undertaken gruelling challenges from running the length of London's Victoria
25:36 Line to lifting a million kilograms throughout November and even a boxing match as part of
25:42 Zach's £20,000 effort to help support dogs expand their seizure alert training programme.
25:48 He's added £5,000 to Zach's appeal which currently stands at £13,000.
25:55 And finally in Tunbridge a paddle boarding group went on the River Medway dressed up
25:59 as Santas as you can see here. The group Stand Up Paddle Boarding with Anna meets regularly
26:04 for beginners and experienced paddle boarders and make quite the sight along some of Kent's
26:09 most renowned rivers.
26:11 This time dotting the waterway with red costumes the group made sure to bring up the festive
26:16 mood for everyone walking by.
26:18 Well that's it for this week's action replay. Don't forget it could be you in next week's
26:22 edition. Just send in your pictures and videos on social media or to sport@kmtv.co.uk
26:31 And just as Sophia said there make sure you're sending in your clips and pics of you getting
26:35 active and you'll be in next week's action replay. Well that is full time on today's
26:39 episode of Invicta Sport. If you want more from KMTV just head to kmtv.co.uk and you
26:45 can watch all our special programmes. But for me for now, goodbye.
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