In this episode, Bartholomew is joined by the organiser of the Million Miles campaign, and later on we find out whether chess should be considered as a sport.
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00:00 Hello and welcome along to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to wrapping
00:19 up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Bartholomew Hall and here's what to expect on this Monday,
00:24 the 4th of September.
00:26 A whole fleet of goals. Denis Kutry's side show that they're here to stay in the National
00:32 League.
00:34 Should chess be classed as a sport? These players certainly think so. We visit the Medway
00:38 Chess Club as they campaign for more people to take it up locally. And we'll have an update
00:43 on the novice cyclist from Sevenoaks who's been pedalling all around the 92 Football
00:47 League stadiums as he almost reaches the end of the road.
00:51 But first, as always, let's give you a round-up of this weekend's headlines.
00:55 Leeds and Broomfield Cricket Club faced heartbreak at Lord's on Sunday, missing out on becoming
00:59 the first Kent side to win the National Village Cup since 1999. The pressure of the chase
01:04 proved too much as they lost early wickets against a spin-heavy Milford Hall. Clary McGague
01:10 and Leeds skipper Ed Scrivens took three wickets each, but the Kent side fell short, scoring
01:15 129 when Philip Seamans was caught on the boundary, leaving them ten runs shy of the
01:21 win.
01:22 Sticking with cricket, Kent club captain Sam Billings and Ashes superstar Zach Crawley
01:27 have both secured spots in the upcoming Australian T20 Big Bash League. Billings will be playing
01:33 for the Brisbane Heat during the British winter, following his successful captaincy with the
01:38 Oval Invincibles in the 100, despite a challenging summer with the county side. Whilst the former
01:44 Tunbridge schoolboy Crawley has signed up with the Perth Scorchers. The BBL begins on
01:49 December 7th, allowing both to aid Kent's Division 1 county championship survival bid
01:53 in the meantime.
01:55 Next in this week, the European Paratable Championships will offer a golden ticket to
02:00 Paris 2024, and two Kent players are in the running.
02:05 Champion Will Bailey from Tunbridge Wells will be taking part in singles, doubles and
02:09 mixed doubles, whilst Minster's Ross Wilson will be going for gold in the men's singles
02:14 and doubles competitions. This week's championships in Sheffield will see British Paratable tennis
02:19 players playing in front of a home crowd for the second time since London 2012. Singles
02:24 winners will secure an automatic spot on Team GB for next year.
02:28 And Gillingham has added non-league title winner Nathan Harvey to their goalkeeping
02:32 roster. Harvey, who trained with the Gilles in the summer, was on loan from Charlton last
02:36 season at Chatham Town, helping them become Itzmeyan South East champions, even scoring
02:42 a winning goal with a long-range kick against Burgess Hill. The 21-year-old will join the
02:47 Gilles B team squad whilst continuing to play on loan with Lewis FC. With Jake Turner and
02:52 Glenn Morris competing for the number one spot, Gillingham now boasts several goalkeeping
02:56 options.
02:57 Next, Epsfleet United made headlines at the weekend after their impressive National League
03:01 performance against York City. So, without further ado, here's how Kent's biggest clubs
03:06 got on at the weekend.
03:08 This week's action kicks off at Stonebridge Road Stadium, where Epsfleet United cruise
03:12 to victory following an impressive performance against York City. The fleet were on the front
03:17 foot from the first whistle and looked to take the lead early on. They eventually opened
03:21 the scoring in the 19th minute after Omari Stirling's pass from the edge of the box
03:25 found its way into the back of the net after some poor defending by York. York, however,
03:30 responded brilliantly as they were back on level terms just nine minutes later.
03:35 Depo Akinyemi did well to hold off defender Luke O'Neill before setting up Xander Siseba
03:40 who curled it past Mark Cousins in goal.
03:47 But United struck back just before half-time through Franklin Domi who surged forward with
03:52 the ball before pulling off a brilliant dummy to get past his man and slot it into the far
03:57 corner.
04:02 Domi almost scored his second minutes later but found his shot expertly saved by Ryan
04:07 Whitley to send the fleet into the half only a goal ahead. But they got off to a blistering
04:12 start in the second half after Stirling turned provider as he set up Craig Tanner whose shot
04:17 found its way to the back of the net to score the fleet's third just 50 seconds into the
04:21 half. York almost struck back through Kai Kennedy after his header bounced off the crossbar.
04:27 But it was a rare moment of panic for the fleet who went on to add a fourth through
04:31 talismanic striker Dominic Pollian who scored his seventh goal in six games to wrap up a
04:36 perfect day for Eppsfleet. Manager Dennis Kutriup was full of praise for his side's
04:40 performance.
04:41 "I can't ask for anything more. Obviously we would have liked to have a clean sheet
04:46 but they have good players in their squad so we need to suffer in times. But at the
04:53 end of the day as I said 4-1 is a brilliant result."
04:57 The victory was the fleet's third home win in a row and brings them up to fifth place
05:01 in the National League just three points off the fourth spot. Meanwhile in League Two and
05:06 Jillingham suffered a shock loss against 15th place Grimsby Town. The loss was the Gilles'
05:11 second consecutive defeat in the league after winning their first four opening games. Despite
05:16 the defeat the Gilles still remain third on the table but will look to get back to winning
05:20 ways as soon as possible.
05:22 Now moving on to the National League South where Tunbridge Angels ended their two game
05:26 losing streak after putting five past Slough Town. Angels boss Jay Saunders said his team's
05:32 performance was a perfect response to the criticism that they've been facing.
05:36 "We took a lot of criticism this week I think everyone knows and as a management team, as
05:41 a side, everything we took a lot of criticism and it's not nice. Sometimes you deserve that
05:46 and the players knew they let sand slip but to get the response we did I'm really pleased
05:53 with."
05:54 And while there were no Isthmian League Premier Games this weekend, Kent's clubs were in action
05:59 in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup. Bramsgate convincingly won a first round Kent derby
06:04 against the high flying Chatham Town.
06:07 And that's your round up of this weekend's football action.
06:10 Now moving on, a charity challenge which has been encouraging people across the county
06:14 to pledge a total of one million miles of activities is reaching its final month. Set
06:19 up by the Folkestone Channel Rotary, the aim of the initiative is to encourage members
06:22 of the public to challenge themselves whilst racing a pound for every mile that they run,
06:27 jog, cycle or skip. Well as the challenge was just setting off in April, here's Abbey
06:32 Hook.
06:33 "The clue is really in the name, to move a million miles in total. Encouraging members
06:39 of the public to get physical in any way they can, whatever their age."
06:45 And for one of the youngest members of the team, her sights are set pretty high. Already
06:51 she's completed the London Mini Marathon.
06:53 "I'm also doing a 12 hour cycle based at the Three Hills, so I'm going to be challenging
07:01 people to ride with me, do a few miles, do a few minutes. I have collaborated with the
07:08 Channel Rotary before with the Forchlight Sleep Up project and ever since then I just
07:13 wanted to help."
07:14 The Sports Trust are also helping all young people get involved by offering inclusive
07:20 activities for those with disabilities.
07:23 "Our goal with the Sports Trust is to create those sessions and to do that we need to upskill
07:28 a workforce, so coaches and leaders who can run those sessions to ensure that everybody,
07:33 no matter their ability or disability, experiences the benefits of physical activity."
07:40 By joining forces with charities across the county, this campaign is hoping to get Kent
07:46 moving one million miles, one step at a time.
07:50 Abbey Hook for KMTV.
07:53 "Our next challenger is Rotary member Duncan. I couldn't speak to Duncan as he is not feeling
08:00 so well at the moment, so instead I spoke to one of the organisers, Joe, about how Duncan
08:05 has been getting along.
08:06 "Ok then Joe, thank you very much for joining us. I wanted to start by talking about one
08:10 of the members of the Folkestone Rotary Club who's been with you guys for quite a few years
08:14 now and it's Duncan. Now he's taken part in the Million Miles Challenge. Can you tell
08:19 me a bit more about Duncan and his story taking part?"
08:21 "Actually yes, it's a pity because Duncan did wish to be with us today, but he unfortunately
08:31 has got cancer and he's had quite a serious illness over the last few years. But luckily
08:36 he's been accepted onto a research programme more recently, which is at University College
08:43 Hospital in London.
08:44 The Million Miles Project was designed just, or conceived just for this kind of purpose.
08:50 To give Duncan the motivation to get himself fit again. He was always very keen on fitness
08:55 and keeping himself healthy and this has really knocked him out. But now he's taken on the
09:00 challenge to walk 150 miles for his treatment. So he's walking from the tube to University
09:06 College Hospital and he's walking to his doctor's surgery and he's going to accumulate 150 miles
09:12 and try and raise funds for charity."
09:14 "I mean as you mentioned, that is what it's all about. And you also said that we did wish
09:19 for Duncan to be with us today and he hasn't been well enough to speak with us. But we
09:26 do wish him all the best and what an inspiring story as well for him. I just wanted to quickly
09:32 move on. You've been taking part in the campaign yourself, what have you been doing to keep
09:38 moving?"
09:39 "I have indeed, I've been cycling a thousand miles over the summer. And so I've got, the
09:47 weather hasn't been great so I'm kind of a fair weather cyclist. So I've achieved 830
09:53 miles of my thousand miles. But I'm off on a cycling holiday next week and I'll easily
09:59 finish my thousand miles by then."
10:01 "Yeah, I mean it's really inspiring and you know, it's all for charity as well. But also
10:05 people are getting lots of personal benefits out of it as well as you mentioned, just getting
10:08 moving in general. But I wanted to ask you, before we go, how's the campaign going so
10:13 far? I know it runs until the end of September now. What are we doing in terms of targets
10:17 at the moment?"
10:18 "Well, we're doing well. It's very hard to get a clear picture, which I would have loved
10:22 to have today. But we have a lot of people on JustGiving, many of whom are not showing
10:27 any funds in at the moment. Obviously they collect them in because we've told people
10:31 they collect funds in until the end of the year. But we have many who are not on JustGiving
10:36 pages. And we have a number of other organisations, so groups of people doing things like the
10:43 Saga Workforce who run Tanque, a whole group of 62 of them run to raise funds for us. But
10:50 also the Rowing Club who are supporting, we have a triathlon next Sunday at Folkestone
10:54 Harbour. The Rowing Club are supporting us in that. They look after the swimmers in the
10:59 sea and they've taken on 1,500 miles of training in support of Million Miles. But so has Folkestone
11:08 and Victor Running Club. And the Rugby Club, the Hockey Club, so many people, large groups
11:15 of people are doing challenges."
11:17 "I mean, so many different ways to get involved, running, cycling, swimming, as you mentioned
11:22 there, a Million Miles challenge. Joe, good luck. We'll catch up with you, I'm sure, at
11:26 the end of September to see just how the campaign got on."
11:29 "Great. Thank you very much for the opportunity, Bartolomeo."
11:33 "Now, we've reached half time, so it's time to take a quick break. But coming up, we'll
11:36 be asking why chess hasn't been recognised as a sport in the UK, and should it be? Well,
11:41 those at the Medway Chess Club certainly think so. They've been campaigning for more people
11:46 to join their weekly sessions. We'll also have an update from Danny Brazenall, the not-so-novice
11:51 now cyclist who's been making his way around all Football League stadiums. We'll see you
11:55 in just a few minutes.
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15:09 Hello and welcome back to Invictusport live on KMTV.
15:13 Now, how good is your chess?
15:15 Maybe it's something you tried at school and forgot all about.
15:17 Or maybe you're one of the thousands, perhaps millions, who picked up the game during the pandemic.
15:22 Well, the Medway Chess Club is calling for more people to pick up the pieces
15:25 after the government has announced plans to invest in what it's calling the transformation of English chess.
15:30 Well, I went along to see how I shaped up against some of the club regulars.
15:35 You've got to really think hard.
15:38 Just enjoyed the tactical thought process of it.
15:41 I don't think there's anything else like it.
15:43 It just sort of goes up.
15:45 There's plenty of reasons why members of the Medway Chess Club love coming back week after week,
15:49 both to play casually and competitively.
15:52 Over the past few years, the game has grown exponentially with the rise of online chess
15:57 and its presence in pop culture breathing life to a new generation of chess lovers.
16:01 But more locally, members here are hoping that with government backing, the sport will have a UK resurgence.
16:07 I think the advantage of this place is it's central.
16:11 And we've come along with a lot of younger players because of the location.
16:17 It has really helped for the young players.
16:19 So we're hoping that the numbers keep going up.
16:23 And with this government initiative, we're hoping that we'll get more players and the club will expand more players.
16:29 This is Pash Gal, who insisted on giving me a game.
16:33 Unlucky for me, I lost quite quickly.
16:36 Well, any of the members here at the Medway Chess Club could beat me any day, but that doesn't matter.
16:41 What the government wants to see with this investment is that more people take it up at all ages
16:46 and that eventually it leads to more clubs opening like this one.
16:50 The government is investing a million pounds to fund the English Chess Federation
16:54 to turn England into what it describes as a chess heavyweight,
16:57 with people encouraged to play in their local parks and clubs.
17:01 The government also mentions encouraging young girls to play,
17:04 something that Medway regular Nicoletta told me is important to her.
17:08 My first thought when I started playing here was,
17:12 why aren't there enough women here? Why are they not playing?
17:16 I consider potentially starting a women's chess club separate from this one,
17:21 which is actually not a good way to go about it.
17:24 I think it's a lot better to just keep this community in just the one community
17:28 and try to attract more women here.
17:30 The way it looks does not matter in chess whatsoever,
17:33 so I think this is pretty much the only space where I'm kind of like leaving the house,
17:37 wearing whatever I'm wearing and just kind of enjoy playing chess.
17:42 So with the club planning an open day in Rochester Cathedral later this year,
17:46 perhaps the chess boom could be this club's next winning gambit.
17:50 Bartholomew Hall for KMTV in Medway.
17:53 Now joining me here in the studio, we were just talking then,
17:57 is Pascal Hickey, right off absolutely destroying me there when I came round the other night in a game.
18:03 Pascal, thank you very much for joining.
18:05 I had a lot of fun when I came down the other night,
18:08 and everybody I spoke to told me, and this was even without me asking,
18:12 that they believe chess is a sport, and in many places around the world it absolutely is recognised that,
18:17 but in the UK it's not recognised as a sport. Why do you think that is?
18:21 I think it's less publicised to start with, and of course we have a recent plan
18:26 by our Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to publicise it more.
18:31 So it's all about, I guess, publicising it, making it aware that it's available in public places,
18:37 and obviously with chess clubs, yeah, need a bit more publicity I guess.
18:43 But I suppose that's what it's all about now, and you've got your own event coming up,
18:47 and I mentioned it briefly in the report there.
18:49 November, you're going to be taking the team down to Rochester Cathedral. What's that all about?
18:54 Yeah, I'm looking to get chess tables placed somewhere in Rochester.
18:59 I approached Canon Giles, the top man down in Rochester Cathedral,
19:05 and he showed me around for 40 minutes, and actually he took me into the nave of the cathedral,
19:10 and we have this beautiful oak table. It's a very historic, very ancient oak table, about 30 foot long,
19:16 and he said to me, "Do you want to use it for a corporate chess promotion day?"
19:20 And I went, "Of course."
19:24 I mean, it's one thing we hear about chess in the park, chess in the cathedral,
19:27 I mean, it's taking it a step up a bit, isn't it?
19:29 It is a bit, and we're going to use that day, and I believe you yourself might come along, Bartholomew?
19:33 Potentially, you know, I do love a game of chess, even though I'm not so good,
19:37 and I'm not going to challenge you now, even though we've got the board here.
19:40 But yeah, I think for me, when we were playing there on the day the other day,
19:46 I was a bit nervous going into it, because I hadn't done it in a few months,
19:48 but it does come back to you really quickly when you take that break,
19:51 and all the muscle memory of it came in.
19:54 I was remembering getting to the middle first, controlling the board, that kind of thing.
19:58 But it's not just about the social aspects of things, and you can see on the screen now,
20:02 I'll just quickly point to this, my sort of thinking face there,
20:05 when not really much was going up on the other end, I'll be honest.
20:08 You had other things on your mind.
20:10 That was it, yeah. No, but you all play competitively as well.
20:13 You're the captain of one of the teams.
20:15 Yeah, I would say it's under Kent Chess Association, KCCA, and Kent Chess Association.
20:25 And we've got five or six levels.
20:27 You've got county level, you've got NPA Scent level, you've got Harvey, you've got Tom Fuller level,
20:35 and then you've got the lowest level, which is I'm captain of one of the teams in the lower level.
20:39 But there's room for everybody at every level, you know.
20:41 Harvey, Tom Fuller, county, and NPA Scent.
20:45 Now, we talk a lot about lots of different sports on this programme,
20:48 and all the different opportunities for people to get involved.
20:51 Now, for me, listening to that, even though I'm somebody that loves chess,
20:54 it's a lot of levels, lots of different things to think about,
20:57 and that's already on top of what can be to some people quite a complicated game.
21:00 What's your sort of message to somebody that wants to get into it and wants to play competitively?
21:04 Yeah, I think it's fairly easy to get through the basic rules, you know.
21:08 It gets a little bit more advanced when you have things like castling and NPA Scent,
21:13 taking a piece off the first or second rank.
21:16 But basically, the moves are quite easy to pick up over a short period of time.
21:22 The strategy is the difficulty one, you know.
21:24 I don't seem to make a lot of progress, but I enjoy it, and I win a few and I lose a few, you know.
21:29 But the higher level players seem to have certain, you know, like the fried liver approach,
21:35 or the Queen's Gambit, and all these kind of – and they tend to remember them and see them coming.
21:40 Yeah.
21:41 Yeah, I'm not so blessed.
21:42 I'll be honest, straight over my head.
21:43 At this stage, but as you said, when you carry on and you get to learn these sort of openings in a different way,
21:48 it does come to you.
21:49 But another big side of it, of course, is the social side.
21:51 And we heard from – I spoke to – we didn't hear from him there, but I spoke to Navi Dintzer.
21:56 He's one of the core members of the team, controls your website and your sort of social approach,
22:00 which obviously we know is quite important in getting younger people involved.
22:04 He also brought his son along.
22:05 Yes.
22:06 And his starts to start playing now.
22:07 Yes.
22:08 And I'm going to ask you about it, but I've got a quick video to play of just about his journey.
22:12 And I'll just preface this as well.
22:15 Navi suffered from cancer.
22:17 He's now survived it.
22:19 But that was kind of a part of his journey into coming back to chess.
22:23 What is it?
22:24 What is that sort of magic part of it for you that made you fall in love?
22:27 I think it's something that I've enjoyed doing since I was young.
22:31 So when I had to revisit due to my unfortunate circumstance, it came naturally.
22:36 It really helped me in my journey.
22:39 So it gave me something to focus on, be positive and work towards, and gave me mental toughness.
22:43 And I really enjoyed this chess club because it's got a great community of support and members.
22:48 Now it's something you get to share with your son as well.
22:51 Yes, that's right.
22:52 So he's also a member.
22:54 And the good thing is that I've actually beaten cancer.
22:56 So I'm in remission at the moment.
22:58 So I'm looking forward to playing many more games and helping him develop as a player too.
23:02 Obviously, Navi's story is very heart-touching.
23:08 But have you found that with the youngsters coming in that they've kind of inspired you all?
23:12 Yes, well actually I think we have a recent influx of ladies as well.
23:16 We have had disabled in the past.
23:18 They've come and gone.
23:20 But yes, with the children, little Oscar was five when I first started to play him.
23:25 And I asked him what school he went to.
23:26 And his dad jumped in and said he doesn't go to school yet, he's still at nursery.
23:30 But he's still playing chess.
23:31 At the age of five.
23:32 So the basics are easy to learn, easy to pick up.
23:35 It's the strategy that very often kills.
23:37 Well, I'm going to ask then, show me your best opening.
23:40 How do you always go into a game?
23:42 Let's say you're the black pieces.
23:43 I take on the white list because I tend to...
23:45 Okay, fine, fine, fine.
23:46 So I normally open with king to g4.
23:51 And then I would tend to, well I like to go the opposite, so I tend to go in the middle.
23:55 And then I would probably, you try to get your knights out quick as you can.
24:01 So I'd probably take a knight out to here.
24:03 That's f3.
24:05 Okay.
24:06 And then you would possibly take that pawn because it's free.
24:10 Yeah, of course.
24:11 Well, then, you know, I maybe would take that pawn then.
24:14 Yeah.
24:15 And then I would probably...
24:16 And then, of course, the game would start to develop from there.
24:18 We've got to move on because I've got to catch up with a story that we have been following.
24:22 So take a listen to this.
24:23 Before we go this evening, I'm going to give you a bit of a catch up with a story that we have been following.
24:29 Danny Brazenore, if you cast your mind back earlier into the summer, we gave you his story.
24:34 He's the novice cyclist from Sevenoaks who's made it his mission to cycle around all 92 football stadiums.
24:40 And he's just coming to the end of that journey now.
24:42 So I caught up with him at the end of last week.
24:45 So, Danny, thank you very much for joining us at the Bristol City Stadium.
24:49 How's it all going so far?
24:52 It's going really well, thank you.
24:54 It's been a journey, but yeah, we're getting there.
24:57 Brilliant. And what's the exact amount, number of stadiums?
24:59 We've got all these pictures of you standing outside of them with your banners.
25:02 And I mean, once again, you're doing such a brilliant work here for the charity.
25:07 But how many of them have you have you reached?
25:10 I think it's 60, 68, I think.
25:14 I'm not too sure, but it's around 60, Mark. I think I've got about 20, 23, 26 left.
25:20 Fantastic stuff. But I mean, what's the strain like?
25:23 You know, you were quite the novice cyclist going into this.
25:26 How are your legs feeling?
25:29 I'm in a lot of pain each day, but other than that, not too bad.
25:32 One minute it's like your feet and then next minute it's your groins, then it's your thighs, then it's your hamstrings.
25:38 But yeah, just take it as it comes.
25:40 First couple of days, we had little bits of hiccups, but other than that, we've got through them.
25:43 And yeah, it's going really well.
25:45 Really good. Well, once again, congratulations on making the journey so far.
25:49 And we'll see you in Kent next week.
25:52 Have you got any sort of final messages?
25:54 The charity that you're doing this all for, it really has a close meaning for yourself.
26:00 How are you feeling in terms of the fundraising?
26:04 The fundraising is amazing. And the clubs as well have let us into the ground.
26:09 It's amazing. Like today, Bristol City on the final run, let us come in and actually do the talk with you.
26:16 So it's been really good.
26:18 Really good, Danny.
26:19 I feel up to about 8,200.
26:21 That's incredible. Well, Danny, thank you very much for speaking with us.
26:24 I'll let you get back to it. I know you've got many more stadiums to visit.
26:27 And we'll see you next week at Priestfield.
26:30 OK, thank you very much.
26:32 See you later, Danny. Bye.
26:33 Brilliant stuff. Well, that's full time on today's episode of Invicta Sport.
26:37 And if you want more from KMTV, you can watch all our other special programmes by heading to our website, kmtv.co.uk.
26:43 Well, from me, I'll be back on Friday. I'll see you then. Bye bye.
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