CLUB NEWS: Girls have fun at Kesgrave

Kesgrave Panthers Cycle Speedway Club’s SPARK League came to a conclusion on Sunday with the all girls team taking the title.

The SPARK League provides additional racing for Kesgrave riders and also introduces newer riders to competitive racing without having to travel to other venues.

Last year, the girls narrowly missed out on top spot but made no mistake this time around wrapping the championship up with one round to spare.

Kesgrave riders are assigned to one of five teams at the beginning of the year with all the girls in the Jaguars team.

Separating riders into five teams, with their particular coloured race shirts, has encouraged a togetherness which has been particularly evident with the girls who love their Jaguar team colours.

Although the majority of Kesgrave riders are youth & juniors, the senior riders at the club do participate in the SPARK League being assigned to one of the five teams, as with all other riders, bringing unity to the whole club.

The riders for each race are determined by ability, thus giving everyone an equal chance of success, irrespective of age.

All riders received a photograph of themselves participating in the 2017 SPARK League, along with other goodies, and the Jaguars also claimed the winner’s trophy.

Rider numbers have gradually increased following the introduction of the SPARK League, with girls in particular doubling in number. Therefore, it will be necessary to increase the number of teams to six next year with the addition of a purple team of Leopards (provisional name and colour).

The initial batch of coloured race jerseys were funded by the local SPARK charity but, with the success of the series and the increase in riders participating, there are no longer sufficient jerseys for all competitors.

Following the success of the league, SPARK have kindly agreed to provide further funds to purchase additional jerseys.

Congratulations to the girls of Kesgrave who won the first round and were never headed thereafter.

Final standings:

R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8
Mar 26 Apr 30 Jun 04 Jul 09 Aug 13 Sep 10 Oct 01 Oct 22 Total
Jaguars (Pink) 5 4 3 4 4 5 5 5 35
Lions (Yellow) 3 5 4 3 2 1 2 4 24
Panthers (Blue) 4 2 5 1 1 2 4 3 22
Tigers (Orange) 2 1 2 5 3 4 3 1 21
Pumas (Black) 1 3 1 2 5 3 1 2 18