On tonight's show, Bartholomew Hall is joined by Jenni and Lisa from the Medway Roller Dance Club and we talk all things darts with Andy from the East Kent Darts Academy.
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00:00Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:20up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Bartholomew Hall, here's what to expect on this Monday
00:25the 16th of December. Angel Delight, Tunbridge fight off doubts as Jay Saunders' side return
00:32to winning ways. Medway Awards a blast, dozens of prizes handed out as we speak with one
00:38of Medway's unsung heroes. And darts fever returns, think you've got what it takes to
00:44be the next Luke Littler? Well we've got tips from one of Kent's top coaches. First a round
00:51up of the headlines, and Maidstone powerboat racer Ben Jelf has had a season finale to
00:55forget in the F1 H2O World Championship. After qualifying fifth on the grid, Jelf was promoted
01:01to fourth thanks to penalties given to other racers. However, after climbing to fourth
01:05for the Grand Prix, a collision with a buoy meant only completing 15 laps. The 24-year-old
01:12had competed at six venues in what was his second full season, travelling across Indonesia,
01:17Vietnam, Italy and China. He finishes ninth on the standings for this year and says he's
01:22now turning his focus to the 2025 season. He did come out unharmed though, I can tell
01:26you that. In rugby, Canterbury secured a slender but equally as impressive 35-34 win over Dorking
01:33this weekend in the National League Two East. A 90th minute try for the hosts gave Craig
01:37Holland the chance to save their unbeaten home run with a conversion that would have
01:41stolen the game, but the kick fell short. Canterbury celebrated and justice was just
01:46about done elsewhere in the League Two East table. The leaders, Tunbridge Juddians, beat
01:50Oxford Harlequins 54-36, while Sevenoaks were on top against Guernsey 26-16.
01:59The Table Tennis Club and Sittingbourne are looking for a new home after their council-owned
02:03sports centre is believed to be going on the market. The Newhouse Sports and Youth Centre
02:07had been home to the Newhouse Table Tennis Club for many, many years, but last week was
02:11the last time they were able to use it. Described as a monumental loss to Sittingbourne, the
02:16members are determined to keep the club alive and have been organising events to gather
02:20support from the community. Kent County Council has been asked for comment.
02:25And a daredevil grandmother from Herne Bay who has terminal cancer has been pursuing
02:29her lifelong dreams of skydiving and swimming with dolphins. After doctors gave Tanya Huxett
02:34the devastating news that she had between six and nine months left to live, the 53-year-old
02:39set out on the mission to make the most of the time she had left and to leave her family
02:43with the most memories she can. Whilst ticking off items on her bucket list, Tanya has been
02:48travelling to Benidorm, Lanzarote and the Dominican Republic. Her family are now raising
02:52money for her to finish the last item on the list, which is to travel to Jamaica for a
02:56reggae concert.
02:58Now let's take a look back at this week's football results, as Mark Bonners-Jillingham
03:01took to MK Dons to capitalise off a return to winning ways the previous week. Sandwich
03:06Angels were hoping to bounce back after a midweek meltdown at home, and with a Kent
03:10derby in the Izmir Premier providing a pantomime of goals, there's lots to look back on from
03:14this weekend.
03:17We start today in the National South, where Tunbridge were looking to bounce back from
03:20their first home defeat of the season just a few days ago. The first half saw a tight
03:24contest with few clear chances early on. There was no real excitement until the 19th minute,
03:29with a move starting from Tunbridge goalkeeper Matt Rowley. Liam Vincent's cross into the
03:33box caused trouble, forcing Averley captain Jason Ring to turn the ball into his own net.
03:44But Averley responded almost immediately, just two minutes later. A challenge in the
03:48midfield saw the ball loop forward and former Angel Ibi Akambi capitalised, slotting it
03:53past the Tunbridge defence to equalise.
03:59In the second half, the Angels began to edge possession and create more pressure. The decisive
04:05moment came in the 76th minute when Sean Shields delivered a corner and Ethan Sutcliffe rose
04:09highest to power a header straight into the net.
04:17With a one goal cushion, Tunbridge managed the final minutes well, retaining possession
04:21and seeing the game out. It leaves them 11th in the table now and five points from the
04:26play-off spaces. Meanwhile, Georgia Lakobi's made stone a ninth in the National South
04:30after their 2-0 win away to Turo.
04:34In League Two, Gillingham travelled to MK Dons where they put an end to their hosts'
04:37winning streak. Robbie McKenzie struck the winning goal to leave Gillingham two wins
04:41from two.
04:42Yeah, I hope they get the credit they deserve today because they've had some pelters thrown
04:46at them recently but the last two games have been brilliant in terms of the commitment
04:51to the game, the effort in the game. It's a massive win that. Away wins are hard to
04:55come by, clean sheets are hard to come by. We're doing very well in that regard clean
04:59sheet-wise.
04:59They now sit ninth in the League Two standings.
05:03In the National League, it was another defeat for bottom-sitters Ebbs Fleet as new manager
05:06Josh Wright took control of the fleet for the first time. 4-1 was the score as they
05:10travelled away to Barnet.
05:12And in the Izmir Premier this weekend, Kent Derby definitely delivered as Chatham Town
05:16hosted Folkestone in Victor. Freddie Sears scored twice, including a stunning opener
05:21as the town ran out as 4-1 winners.
05:24Dartford shared the spoils from a four-goal home game against Dulwich Hamlet. League leaders
05:28Dover's 11-match unbeaten run came to an end at home to Cray Wanderers and the results
05:33leave Folkestone 10th, Dartford 5th, Chatham 4th and Dover still firmly at the top.
05:52And if the Gilles isn't your cup of tea, there's plenty more email alerts to choose from, including
06:01all the latest non-league football news too.
06:07Next this evening, the 2024 Medway Sport Awards have finally come and gone, with sporting
06:12names of all levels from across the towns being celebrated for one night only in Rochester.
06:17With 11 awards, ranging from best primary school to best official, and each category
06:22having a bronze, silver and gold medal given out, there were many stories to be celebrated
06:27and I'm pleased to say joining me in the studio now is one of those winners, Jennifer Barker
06:33and alongside her daughter Lisa Howard, both from the Medway Roller Dance Club.
06:36Thank you very much for being here.
06:38Jennifer, you won the award of course for unsung hero. First of all, what was your reaction
06:43to that?
06:43Well, I was quite surprised because I think there were nine people nominated. So no, I
06:50didn't expect to win it. But I'm pleased to accept it on behalf of all the people that
06:55work at Medway Roller Dance because everybody does a lot towards the club voluntarily. So
07:01it's not just me.
07:02And the club has been around a long time as well.
07:05In 1949 it was formed, so we were 75 years old today, this year, our anniversary, which
07:15we celebrated. We had a party.
07:18That's fantastic. And Lisa, I should have said as well, you're our mother and daughter
07:22as well.
07:23Yes, and Lisa's club secretary.
07:24Oh, fantastic.
07:25And also a coach.
07:26Yes, so it is a bit of a family thing then. It must run through. Tell me, how did you
07:29both get involved in it?
07:31Well, I started skating at Rochester Casino in early 1950, so only a few months after
07:37the club had been formed. And I've always skated all my life. And my son Jonathan and
07:46my daughter Lisa also followed on with skating. Lisa was an international skater. She was
07:53with her partner, became third in Europe at the European Championships.
07:58I mean, it's fantastic. And now you both are obviously giving back to... I mean, I know
08:02that you welcome people of all ages, but there's lots of youngsters that come through your
08:05club as well. Lisa, tell me what it's like for you at the club. Give me a bit of a background
08:09to what it's like week in, week out.
08:11Busy. We've got a lot of competitors and they all enjoy doing club level competitions through
08:19to international competitions. So at the moment, it's quite busy getting prepared for the season
08:242025.
08:25And what does that look like? What does the season look like? I think people maybe haven't
08:29heard of Roller Dance. What is it? I mean, is there competition? Is it... I mean...
08:32Yes, there are national competitions organised by GBSA and club competitions, open club competitions,
08:43national competitions. What we really need in this area is a larger floor because four
08:50courts, which is most standard sports hall size, is really not big enough for the international
08:56skaters. They need eight courts or more, really. And we haven't got, unfortunately, any sports
09:05halls of that size in Medway that we can use. I mean, Medway Park is quite a large hall,
09:11but we can't use it apparently. We're not allowed. So we haven't had a reason why, but
09:17it would be nice to be able to skate at Medway Park. Yeah, definitely. Because it's got all
09:21the seating, we could have international competitions there. Yeah, well, we were looking at some
09:25of the pictures there, obviously. I've been to a few international competitions of other
09:29sport at Medway Park. So maybe Roller Dance needs a bit more of a focus. It'd be nice
09:34to have a reason why we can't use it. Yeah, definitely. Well, we can have a look into
09:37that, of course, and then maybe reach out to Medway Council, see what they have to say.
09:41We haven't spoken to them this time, though. So tell me, I mean, there'll be lots of maybe
09:45parents looking at this, seeing some of the young youngsters in that video, seeing how
09:49much fun they're having. What's the maybe advice to them about thinking about getting
09:53started? Because I think some of the worries is sometimes the equipment costs a lot to
09:57maybe pick them up and the dangers as well if you fall over. They can come along to club
10:02session. We've got dance skates that they can hire for two pounds a session. And as
10:10they progress, obviously, they will want to have their own skates. But you can buy
10:15secondhand skates at a reasonable price. I mean, the kids grow out of them and they pass
10:21them on. So it can be fairly reasonable. But obviously, skates can cost up five, six hundred
10:28pounds, perhaps even more now, wouldn't they? But you find that across all sports, don't
10:32you? Yes, exactly. Down to the equipment. But they can hire dance skates from us when
10:37they first come. Correct me if I'm wrong, with roller dance, it's not choreographed,
10:44is that right? Or do you have some sort of choreographed, some sort of freestyle? I would
10:48have always thought that for maybe some youngsters who haven't tried that out before, apart from
10:51actually learning to skate, there must be a bit of a mental barrier to just allow yourself
10:55to go free. They get taught compulsory, the compulsory dances. They get taught elements
11:03which they put in their free programs. And of course, all the programs for the open competitions
11:10are choreographed by the coaches. And just quickly, back to the awards, of course. We'll
11:16remind yourself just one more time of being a winner. It must have been nice to be surrounded
11:20by the sort of community, lots of like-minded people like yourselves who are running sports
11:25sessions for youngsters and people of all ages. Yeah, it's great, Medway Sports Awards.
11:30It really is good and it was a lovely evening and we were very pleased to accept the award.
11:34And of course, for your mum as well, tell me why you think she deserved this award.
11:38Well, it was a perfect year because she's had a big birthday this year as well. Fantastic.
11:46And the club was 75 and she's also been recognised in the role of honour at the GBSA as well
11:51this year. It's been a good year all round. Thank you both very much for joining me. Really
11:55good to have you on. Thanks for the pleasure. We'll have more after the break. Thank you.
15:00Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport live on KMTV. Now, plans to relocate Tunbridge
15:15Wells Rugby Club to make way for a 355 home development have been met with a huge pushback
15:22from the sporting community. As part of the scheme, the club would move to a new site
15:26a kilometre away and have its current pitch on the Kent-Sussex border turned into an estate
15:31of 166 homes. Our local democracy reporter Gabriel Morris has been to meet the club to
15:37find out more.
15:56Apologies there. A few sound issues. Let's remind you now that you can keep up to date
16:07with all the latest sports news, interviews and features from here on Invicta Sport by
16:11heading over to our website, kmtv.co.uk and click on the sports tab. When you get there,
16:16you'll see videos like this one about a handball club from Medway that's looking to grow the
16:20sport's popularity. During the 2021 and 2022 Handball Champions League, over 1 billion
16:27people tuned in to watch. Considering this, there is not much of a scene in the UK. However,
16:34local team the Medway Falcons hopes to change this. The Medway Falcons have been growing
16:38since 2013 with a women's team and men's team taking part in the league. Now, on top
16:44of these teams, they brought handball to many local schools to train up a future generation
16:49of handball players. This includes 14-year-old Nelly who recently got accepted to the GB
16:56handball squad. I started playing when I was four and I only started playing because my
17:02sisters and my mother would play. I would love to become a professional and since I've
17:07already been playing it for eight years, I don't think it will be hard for me. And since
17:12I already have a lot of ideas of the sport, I just find it easy. I'm looking forward to
17:19playing in the GB team because we could play a lot internationally and leading from there,
17:26I can go and represent my home country. Despite the growing popularity of the sport, the UK
17:32still faces some issues. The team's coach, Ivona, shed some light on why this may be.
17:38Personally, in my opinion, there is not a lot of money being put towards handball. If
17:44we could get more money, more advertisement of the handball, I'm sure there would be
17:51more people coming to handball. And many of the girls are not choosing to stop now.
17:56I would love to play handball for my life. Because I really do enjoy it and there's a lot
18:04of success, I think I will continue in the future. I'd like to go further in handball,
18:09maybe in the GB. After feeling inspired hearing the girls, I decided to put my
18:15skills to the test and have a go at shooting a penalty. Ettale Reynolds for KMTV.
18:30We try and get that report from Gabriel, we'll carry on moving through the show.
18:34Next night, the festive season is here. And well, it wouldn't be Christmas with it without
18:38darts on the telly. So with the World Championships kicking off at Alexandra Palace,
18:42and a certain Luke Littler boosting the sport's popularity tenfold over the past 12 months,
18:47I've been speaking with the East Kent Darts Academy about how to get your youngsters
18:52interested in the sport. But of course, I started by asking the founder of the academy,
18:56Andy Davis, his prediction about this year's tournament.
19:00To be honest, I think all the top 16 could easily take the title.
19:05And I think personally, Gary Anderson is going to take it this year.
19:09Yeah, of course. And of course, we've got a few homegrown heroes in the draw as well.
19:13Former world champion Rob Cross from Pembury and Ross Smith, of course, both to look out for
19:18this year's championships. And now, Kent and the southeast area have produced a fair few
19:23successful darts players, right? I mean, obviously yourself being in the business
19:26of training some youngsters, I think you would agree.
19:28Oh, certainly. I mean, you've still got Josh Payne in the mix, still coming out of Kent,
19:36he's still coming back again. In the past, you've had also Andy Fordham, obviously,
19:42in the Dartford area. But now Ross has been making it even bigger now. He's getting better
19:50and better. And obviously, former European champion, you can't sniff at Ross saying that
19:57he isn't going to do it because he might well do. You never know.
20:00No, absolutely. I love that about the darts is that it can get so close when you're getting,
20:04especially towards the end of the competition. And obviously, we can't bring up darts at all
20:08without talking about Luke Littler. His underdog performance last year was such a huge moment for
20:13the sport, sort of bringing it into this new era where we've seen so many youngsters
20:16wanting to get involved now. And of course, yourselves at the East Kent Darts Academy
20:20have a few youngsters who are sort of high flying at the moment. We'll just mention a
20:24couple of them. Obviously, Drake Porter made it to the JDC World Semi-Finals and Jack Johnson is
20:30in the JDC Super 16 Final as well. So I suppose the question is, could you guys be harbouring
20:35the next Luke Littler? Oh, I hope so. I really do. And
20:42the two guys you mentioned, Drake and Jack, they've got it. They've definitely got it.
20:47And they're only 12. They've got a few years on Luke Litt yet. So
20:54another five, six years, let's see what they're doing then.
20:57That's right. One's to look out for for the future. Just like any other sport, lots of discipline,
21:01lots of repetition to get good at it. I suppose, what's your advice then to parents or even
21:06youngsters who might be watching this and they're feeling inspired after this year's
21:09championships and want to take up darts? Have a go, by all means. Parents, if you can,
21:18get a cheap dart board or a new dart board. Get them a set of darts. Let them have a go.
21:25And if they're finding it quite good, then you can always bring it to one of the academies.
21:31It's locally, i.e. East Kent in Canterbury. You've got JDC academies all over the country.
21:38So yeah, I mean, if there is anyone that's looking to have a start, by all means, give it a go.
21:43And if it's not for you, then it's not for you. But you might be surprised.
21:49Good advice. Thank you very much, Andy, for joining us today.
21:52Thank you very much.
21:54Well, let's take you back to that story now from our local democracy reporter, Gabriel Morris,
21:58who's been speaking with the Tunbridge Wells Rugby Club about them having to relocate.
22:03Tunbridge Wells is a local rugby club, but there are plans for it to move down the road to a new
22:08facility, with hundreds of homes being built on this ground. The club says with 1,000 members,
22:14they've outgrown their current facilities.
22:17So how much room we have to play sport, how much diversity that ground offers us.
22:23Our facilities here need to be investigated to make sure we are accessible for all aspects of
22:28society, and importantly for our neighbours as well, to reduce some of the burden of parking
22:33on the local community.
22:34Proposals would see more than 350 homes. Neighbours in the area are concerned by this,
22:40saying it's just the beginning. So far, there have been more than 100 objections.
22:45You put a whole bunch of huge trucks, building trucks, to
22:48move the rugby club and to build 450 houses, it's going to destroy the roads.
22:52And then you put in new cars, and then they're going to increase the volume of the traffic on
22:56the roads. And essentially what you're going to have is a lot more people getting hurt,
22:59you're going to have a lot more accidents.
23:01This is an area that has immense biodiversity,
23:04and it's been protected for thousands of years. Once it's gone, it's gone.
23:10And for long-term residents, they say there's been unsustainable population growth.
23:15Largely by professional people moving from London with their families down here. It has already been
23:24putting progressive annual increases on the demands for schools, for doctors, for dentists,
23:32for eating out, for playing out, the whole thing.
23:36Developers told us they're working hard to address concerns from neighbours.
23:40Their intention is to bring forward a scheme that is designed sensitively within its setting,
23:45and delivers on the much-needed local housing need for both private and affordable.
23:51What makes these proposals for homes a little bit more interesting is the fact that
23:55three quarters of the homes will sit in East Sussex. It'll be up to Wylden District Council
24:01to make their decision on those. However, if I just walk over here, I'll cross into Tunbridge Wells.
24:08This is the edge of the town, and the borough of Rorries,
24:12the plans could put an infrastructure burden on to the authority.
24:17It's GPs, it's water. That area of town had problems with the water network a couple of years
24:22ago. It was off for six days over Christmas, so what do these extra 350 houses mean for the water
24:27network, and so on and so forth. There's lots of infrastructure concerns that the community,
24:32and that the borough council, and that I have, and that we're trying to work to resolve with Wylden.
24:38For now, no decision has been made. Formal planning applications will need to be submitted
24:45separately to the two different districts. It's thought that'll happen early next year.
24:50Gabriel Morris in Tunbridge Wells.
24:55Now, as it's our final episode of the year, we thought we'd bring a twist to our favourite
24:58segment, Action Replay. Here's the best bits from all the clips and pics you've sent in from
25:03over the year. This week's Action Replay starts with a big congratulations to Gravesend Star
25:08Kickboxing in the WKO English Championships, where they won a whopping 23 medals, including 12
25:16golds, nine silvers, and two bronze. This year's event took place in Barnsley, meaning even after
25:23facing the four-hour drive up from their gym in Sean, they managed to pull off quite the success.
25:28Don't they look happy?
25:29Maidstone United footballer Georgia Culpitt, who managed to make headlines this week after
25:34she scored this cracking goal just hours after completing a gruelling half marathon.
25:40Taking part in the Royal Parks Race at London's Hyde Park, Culpitt finished in a brilliant two
25:45hours and one minute before hopping on a train to the Gallagher Stadium, where she helped Maidstone
25:50win 5-1 in their local derby against Tunbridge Angels. The winger said she had every intention
25:55of making it to the game and even had no trouble convincing the gaffer her legs were strong enough
26:00to play. Well, that deserves a very well done from us here at KMTV.
26:04Up next, 12-year-old Elijah Hazlewood is rapidly catching up to his dream of making it into Formula
26:10One, as he scores the Club 100 Rookie of the Year and Junior Driver of the Year titles in
26:16the Buckmoor Park Professional, beating his more experienced competition.
26:21Finally, these mucky pups have been taken to the water at Blue Water, where Hang Loose has
26:25recently opened dog swimming slots after being asked by a visitor if they could bring their
26:29four-legged friend along. The site already runs cold water and wild swimming sessions all year
26:33round for adults, but now specific slots have been made available for canines too.
26:37Don't they just look like they're having fun?
26:39Well, that's it for this week's Action Replay. Don't forget,
26:42it could be you in next week's edition. Just send in your pictures and videos.
26:59you