Category: Sport

Happy New Year from all of us at Fleckney & Kibworth Running Club. It was a busy end to 2023 for team F&K with various races, and festive runs to report.

The membership now stands at 48, making us one of the largest clubs in the county. One third of our members being juniors.

We recently ran a Christmas hat/jumper/outfit competition for the children who attend the weekly coaching sessions.

As if by magic Christmas is upon us once more. This year seems to have whizzed by at break-neck speed, mainly because there have been a few changes down at the club… a belated welcome to Food and Beverage Manager, Lucy and Chef, Neil. They have now settled into their new positions and have been busy creating new menus to suit any occasion. Sunday lunches are now being served on selected dates which are proving to be very popular and there are plans afoot for various social events for 2024.

On a Monday night, whilst football players are in the cold and rain under floodlights in the dark, I am glad to repair to the Sports Hall at Fleckney Sports Centre, Leicester Road, LE8 8BG. Table Tennis is the ideal low-cost winter sport for beginners and improvers. All are welcome to a free taster of table tennis on our club night on Mondays. General play is from 7.45pm – 9.45pm and coaching from 6.45pm – 8.15pm. Coaches, Andy and Miriam, are ready to help you develop your skills. Three of our members play in Leicester’s Junior League and two of our juniors play with our 21 adults in the adult League. Players range in age from eight to 74; so don’t be shy, give it a go. What’s the worst that could happen?

The running club have embraced the colder and wetter weather with enthusiasm, taking on many challenges and muddy runs.

Our English Men’s Champion Club Winners 2023 travelled over to Troia Golf Club in Portugal at the end of October to compete for the European Men’s Club Trophy.

We recently held our annual Presentation Evening at the Crown Inn, Tur Langton where we enjoyed a delicious carvery and dessert. Cups and trophies were awarded to our many talented indoor and outdoor bowlers. These included Malcolm Moss (pictured) who was our Men’s Champion and ‘Champion of Champions’.

KGC players, Ollie Lewis, Richard Wale and Jamie Watson shot a combined +10 over the Ealing GC course at the two-day event to edge Castle Royle and take the title of Men’s UK Club Champions.
Lewis’ 69 and Wale’s 67 helped give them a one-shot lead at the end of day one, with both eagling the 7th thanks to 200yard shots onto the green and holing putts. Wale’s front-nine 30 aided his round which included six birdies to add to the eagle, while Lew-is enjoyed four to add to his eagle.

Our annual Greenkeepers' Shield competition took place on 16 September. David Stevens, Neal Baxter and Chris Arrowsmith were the winning team and are shown in the photo receiving their trophy from John Ruddock (President).

We did it! The first team became the first Leicestershire and Rutland League side to win the league three seasons on the bounce, which is an historic achievement. This also coincided with our most successful women's campaign as our women's team went unbeaten in their league campaign. 

Kibworth Coyotes are Market Harborough Rounders League Division 2 Champions 2023!

We are told the future of cricket is city franchises. Like Brigadoon, the fabled Scottish village that appears every hundred years, they emerge each season pulsating with artificial colours, canned music and manufactured fun. Then, having achieved maximum monetisation in minimal time at major venues, they revert to the form they take for the other eleven months of the year – a WhatsApp group. At the other end of the permanence scale is Kibworth CC, who played host to the first county game in its 110-year history on Tuesday. This district of Harborough in Leicestershire comprises Kibworth Beauchamp (population 5,433) and Kibworth Harcourt (population 990). It is a place so typical of rural England that in 2010 a BBC history documentary told the story of our entire nation using the narrative arc of Kibworth’s development. In recent years, its growth has been a double-edged sword. As Kibworth’s Wikipedia page stated, ‘new housing continues to be built, causing periodic controversy.’ But it remains a village in feel and outlook if not population.

As hopefully you have already read, hosting Leicestershire v Essex has been the focus of the committee at KCC and we again thank all volunteers who supported the day from people involved at the club for 50 years, through to those volunteering for the first time. We would also like to thank the wider community and hope there wasn’t too much disruption other than the hundreds of people at the bus stop!

Run Talk Run Kibworth will meet on Monday 25 September at 6:30 pm. Meet near entrance of The Old Grammar School, School Lane, Kibworth Beauchamp, LE8 0JE.