Rob shares this latest news from Island Speedway. Ed
Although the speedway racing ‘Wightlink’ Warriors season has been extended to the end of the month to accommodate re-arranged away fixtures, the club’s end of season party celebration took place in the Premier Lounge at the Andrew Younie stadium on Saturday night as riders, sponsors, management and supporters all came together to review 2017 and look forward with positivity to 2018.
Hoping to avoid the wooden spoon
With the Warriors still in danger of being the recipients of the unwanted wooden spoon, club captain took to the microphone to deliver a ‘from the heart’ rallying call to his fellow riders as they seek vital league points from the final two meetings at Stoke next Saturday and Mildenhall on 29th October.
Whilst it was acknowledged that things had not gone to Warriors way on-track, activities off-track had registered success after success.
Innovative and progressive
Widely acclaimed within the sport as one of the most innovative and progressive clubs around, the management will have been delighted that the hours given over to promoting the Warrior Way, its values and community involvement has been reflected in improved attendances and a balance sheet that does just that i.e. balance.
One of the highlights of the year has been the tremendous success of the speedway training school ‘My First Skid’ attracting riders from both mainland and Island to ‘live the dream’ and receive expert tutorage in a safe and welcoming environment. The school is set to run regularly throughout the winter as the Warriors seek to unearth new talent for the future.
Teams and supporters thanked
Before presentation of the awards co-promoters Barry Bishop and Martin Widman took a few moments to publicly thank all those involved in making it a great time to be associated with the Warriors, whilst also taking the opportunity to encourage potential sponsors or volunteers to get in touch should they wish to help in any way.
The awards
So on a night of great fun and friendship, the major awards were presented as follows:
Supporter’s rider of the year – Connor Coles (pictured)
Rider’s rider of the year – James Cockle
Bonus point king – Adam Portwood
Best turned out rider – Chris Widman
Upside down rider – Jamie Sealey
Sid Sheldrick Awards for My First Skid:
Student of the year – Blaze Wirtzfeld
Under 16 student of the year – Chad Wirtzfeld
Over 16 student of the year – Morgan Williams
My First Skid Awards Awards in association with Covec (Materials For Life):
Piwi of the year – Jack Scully-Sayer
Special award for achievement – Peter Everett
All round award – Kye Elliott and Connor Sangster
Image: © Ian Groves
