Join Abby Hook with a roundup of Kent's sporting action: on today's episode, we're joined by some of The Medway Falcons, a Handball Team from Kent and 11 year old Ice Hockey player Daisy Ayley who's hoping to raise money to compete in Canada.
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00:00Hello, good evening and welcome along to Invictus Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated
00:20to wrapping up all of Kent's sporting action. I'm Abi Hook, here's what to expect on this
00:25Monday 9th December. We'll take that, Gillingham bring home max
00:31points with crucial win. Cash for Canada, Gravesend ice hockey prodigy
00:37fundraisers for Dream England rugby tour. And meet the Flying Falcons, Medway handball
00:45team call for more people to get involved in the sport.
00:50But first a round up of the headlines and we start with Kent Cricket who's announced
00:54their new head coach, three months after the departure of Matt Walker.
00:59Former England all-rounder Adam Helioke has been named to take over the role. The 53-year-old
01:05had been playing a career of 16 years, in which time he capped in Surrey to nine trophies
01:10and led England in the one-day international cricket.
01:14The former England all-rounder has joined our county side on a three-year contract with
01:18his first competitive game, set to be a county championship division two away fixture against
01:23Northamptonshire on Friday 4th April.
01:28Maidstone boxer Sam Noakes has retained his British and Commonwealth titles with a huge
01:32win at Wembley Arena. After going the distance of 12 rounds, Noakes put away Norfolk fighter
01:37Ryan Walsh by unanimous decision in what he'd describe as the toughest fight of his career
01:42so far. The 27-year-old lightweight has now won all four of his fights in 2024, including
01:48two for the European title. It comes as Sam's brother, Sean Noakes, was also fighting on
01:52the same card and came away successfully, defending his English welterweight belt against
01:57Matthew Rennie.
02:00Rugby despite the weather, making life difficult for any sport. Kent's rugby teams in the National
02:04League Two East all managed to come out victorious.
02:07Tambridge Juddian scored 17 at home against Henley, who came out of the fixture without
02:11a single point. Meanwhile, Canterbury powered through to defeat the Oxford Harlequins 31-10,
02:17seeing them get to fifth place in the National League Two East.
02:20And last but not least, Sevenoaks beat the Worthing Raiders 36-7, even despite being
02:25the away side, but used the conditions against their opponents, forcing them to run into
02:30the wind for the second half.
02:35Now let's take a look back at this weekend's football results. With many games impacted
02:38by Storm Dower, of course, our Kent sides mostly pulled off victories. The Gilles managed
02:43to end their string of losses with a win at Priestfield, and Dover continued their domination
02:47down the Isthmian Premier. But before all that, let's travel down to Sittingbourne to
02:51have a look at the third round of the FA Trophy.
02:54Welcome to this week's football roundup. We're kicking off a wet weekend of football at the
02:58Staxon Stadium in the third round of the Isuzu FA Trophy. Sittingbourne are at home, facing
03:03off against Enfield. And it didn't take long for Sittingbourne to strike first. Troy Howard
03:08made a run down the right side and slots it across to assist Henry Sinai and open the
03:12scoring 1-0.
03:14And a failed corner comes around again, and it's a swinging in cross that lands at the
03:18waiting head of Jacob Hutchinson at the back post, leaving keeper Harley Earl just a second
03:23too late to dive in. The score is tied up 1-1.
03:27Some more chances come from Enfield's boot, mostly from crosses from the left side, and
03:31it's yet another header, this time from Sam Youngs in the 20th minute, to put the ease
03:352-1 up. Only six minutes on, and a clever ball down the wing finds Howard, who slots
03:40it across the net yet again. But this time, it's met by Joseph Bocci, who hammers it home
03:45to go 2-2.
03:46Then it only took another five minutes of play, a free kick by Richie Hamill flies to
03:50the far post. It's a mess of heads as the ball floats menacingly, and it's struck with
03:54a beautiful bicycle kick again by Bocci. What a goal to take the lead with.
03:59And it's that back post again. Keeper Rhys Forster has to command his box better. A corner
04:04from Hamill is headed in by Alfie Tuck, and it's an own goal. What a tough end for Enfield
04:09who started out so strong. No more goals were scored in the second half. Both ends
04:13had some shots, but no one managed to convert, ending the intense match four goals to two.
04:18Elsewhere in the third round, Ebbsfleet narrowly lost out on a win, going 3-3, but losing on
04:23penalties 4-2 away against Sutton. In the National League, they remain dead last, but
04:28they do have a game in hand. They'll spend it against 22nd placed Fylde. Could be a chance
04:33to climb up if they play their cards right.
04:36In League 2, Gillingham ended their streak of losses with a 1-0 victory against Salford.
04:41The mid-table side will drop just below the Gilles, who have to pick up more wins if they
04:45want to finish in single digits.
04:48Down in the National League South, Maidstone didn't have a game after their 3-0 thrashing
04:52of Averley last Monday, and Tunbridge had a game in the Kent Senior Cup, beating Herne
04:57Bay 2-1. They'll face Enfield tomorrow in a league game. Here's the table, both sides
05:01in the middle of the pack, but Tunbridge do have a lot of games to make up.
05:04And here's the Ithmian Premier. Chatham didn't play since their 7-1 win over Bognor Regis.
05:09Dover went to Dulwich Hamlet and won 4-1. Dartford also scored four against Bognor Regis
05:14at home.
05:16Here's the table, with Dover continuing their domination, while Chatham Town are the lowest
05:20Kent side at 10th.
05:22Well, that's all for this week's Football Roundup.
05:27And after the draw earlier today, we now know the history-making Sittingbourne will take
05:31on either Chesham United or Salisbury after their replay tomorrow night.
05:35And don't forget you can keep up to date with the latest football news by reading Kent Online.
05:39But did you also know you can have your weekly digest of Gilles news sent directly to your
05:43email inbox? Just search Kent Online email alerts and sign up on the website for all
05:47the latest written transfer news, match reports and interviews. If the Gilles isn't your cup
05:51of tea, well, there's plenty more email alerts to choose from, including all the latest non-league
05:55football news as well.
05:59Now it's time to meet tonight's first guest. Eleven-year-old ice hockey player Daisy Aylier
06:04is asking for donations this Christmas. She's hoping to fly all the way to Canada to compete
06:09as part of the Girls England Under-13 squad. After picking up the sport just two years
06:14ago, she's now been selected to take part in the world-class Quebec International Pee-wee
06:18Hockey Tournament. But in order to get there, she needs £5,000 worth of funding. Well,
06:24Daisy and her dad, Andy, join me in the studio now. Thank you so much for coming in.
06:29Now, tell me how this all began. Why did you decide ice hockey at such a young age
06:33as well?
06:34Okay, it's a really funny story, but my sister had a birthday party with her friends and
06:39I weren't allowed to skate and I really, really wanted to. So for my next birthday party,
06:43I had an ice skating one. Then I went to a hockey game and I just loved it.
06:47Were you just too young to do the skating at that time or?
06:49No, because it was my friend's birthday party, so I weren't allowed to go because there was
06:54only invitations.
06:55Oh, and now I bet you're better at skating than all of them anyway, so you show them
06:58up, right? And what made you go competitive? You obviously wanted to try it out and have
07:02a bit of fun, but then there's got to be a bit of competition there.
07:06Yeah, I like winning because my team's always very happy when we win and the changing rooms
07:11are very fun and you make a lot of friends.
07:14And dad, Andy, how do you feel about this, thinking of her flying all the way to Canada
07:20and competing for the country?
07:22Yeah, it's fantastic, especially in such a short amount of time to get to the England
07:28squad in two and a half years is fantastic. I mean, she's so dedicated. She eats, sleeps
07:35and breathes hockey, don't you?
07:37What are you more dedicated to, hockey or school?
07:39Hockey.
07:40Hockey. Oh, did we say that on TV? Maybe not. Do you find yourself thinking about hockey
07:45while you're at school then?
07:47Definitely, because I miss days off at school for hockey. So the day before, I'm thinking,
07:53oh, I can't wait for hockey tomorrow whilst I'm in lessons.
07:56Then you work even harder within your lessons to make sure you can, yeah? I know mum's and
08:01dad's listening as well.
08:03All right, so tell me about the Pee Wee tournament. I haven't heard of it before. I don't know
08:07what it is. I don't have a clue. I used to watch ice hockey growing up. I love watching
08:11it, but I've never played. I don't know what sort of getting into it as a youngster's like
08:15as well. So tell me a bit more about it.
08:18It's basically, so you go there and you play against a lot of teams, but I think we get
08:22put into groups and you just play against loads of teams. We also go to a sweet shop
08:27called Sugar Shack and we go to a snow park as well.
08:29Oh, wow. That's a load of fun. I suppose what's it like? What's the ultimate goal and the
08:36dream for it? And also the crucial funding behind it too, because that's got to be a
08:41really difficult thing as a parent to think about how much money she needs, but this could
08:45be the future for her.
08:46Well, that's it. I mean, it is very expensive, very time-consuming. Obviously, it's different
08:52to many sports because the ice rinks are scattered around the UK, so the travelling is relentless,
08:58but it's fantastic. I mean, we can't wait to get to Canada, can we?
09:03I bet. I bet.
09:05I'm not sure who's more excited, Daisy or me.
09:07Do you ever get Dad on skates? Is he any good?
09:10Yes, I got him on skates last year and I remember him coming home and telling me,
09:14I can skate on one foot.
09:16And you just sort of had a laugh to yourself and thought, no, I beat you. How are you going
09:21to go about raising this money then? £5,000, that's a lot of money and at Christmas as
09:25well when people are already struggling with things like the cost of living crisis and
09:29to get people to dip into their pockets, it's going to be extremely hard.
09:32We've been quite fortunate so far, haven't we? With some donations and some sponsorships.
09:38So we're slowly getting there and yes, we'll find a way.
09:43Daisy, who were you inspired by? Because there must have been someone or something other
09:48than not being allowed at your friend's birthday party, but where you thought, I could do this
09:52or that's something I want to do because you don't really see the sport that much.
09:56No, so when I went to watch my first ice hockey game at our club, we do mascots. So two or
10:02one person goes on and skates with one of our pro teams called the Dynamos. And when
10:07I went to watch the ice hockey game, I really thought that that would be amazing. So I started
10:11playing and I thought I'd love to do it. And I've done it quite a bit after.
10:16It's incredible to hear you talk about it as well. It's so inspiring as well. I know
10:20there'll be a lot of people out there and especially on Invicta Sport, we like to get
10:24local people in and doing sports right from the beginning as well. But tell us about your
10:28team and how that dynamic works. I know you mentioned it's good fun in the changing rooms
10:33and the locker rooms after, you're all sort of laughing and joking. And tell me a bit
10:36about how the positions work as well. Do you play a certain role in the team?
10:40Okay, so I mainly play defence, but we sometimes switch it around. So at the start of last
10:47season I think, we switched it around to see who played better with people, who played
10:52better in certain positions, and we just kind of figured it out.
10:55Okay, and what's your favourite sort of position to play? Because it's quite physical as well.
10:59When I've been to watch, you probably get slammed against the side of the ice rink.
11:03Is it that ferocious when you play?
11:06You kind of get used to it almost, and the padding does really protect you. It's like insane.
11:11It's really heavy as well.
11:12And you don't feel a thing.
11:14Okay, so that's alright, you can...
11:16Yeah.
11:18Amazing. Well, we wish you the very best of luck in getting to Canada as well, and we'll
11:23be following your story very, very closely and having you sit here playing for England
11:27as well next time you talk to us, yeah? What do you reckon?
11:30Thank you so much.
11:31Amazing, Daisy. Best of luck. Andy, thank you very much for coming in.
11:36Now we've reached half time, which means it's time for a break, but coming up, I'll be joined
11:40by the Medway handball team looking to bring the sport into the mainstream, after our production
11:44assistant Etta Lee went along to test her own skills out on the court soon.
11:49I'll see you in a few minutes.
15:12Hello and welcome back to Invictus Sports, live on KMTV.
15:16Now, despite the sport being popular across Europe, handball is yet to reach the same level
15:20of fame here in the UK. Local team, the Medway Falcons, are calling for more
15:24people to get involved in the sport. We went down to one of their girls training
15:28and find out more about the sport and some of the challenges they face here.
15:32During the 2021 and 2022 Handball Champions League, over 1 billion people tuned in to watch.
15:39Considering this, there is not much of a scene in the UK.
15:43However, local team the Medway Falcons hopes to change this.
15:47I came down to the under-15 Medway Falcons girls training to get a taste of what their training is like.
15:53Handball is fast-paced, with players attacking and defending together.
15:58It requires quick decision-making, jumping to shoot and strong defence.
16:03Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel accredits many of his signature moves, like the star jump, to playing handball in his youth.
16:12The Medway Falcons have been growing since 2013, with a women's team and men's team taking part in the league.
16:19Now, on top of these teams, they brought handball to many local schools to train up a future generation of handball players.
16:26This includes 14-year-old Nelly, who recently got accepted to the GB handball squad.
16:32I started playing when I was four, and I only started playing because my sisters and my mother were playing.
16:39I would love to become a professional, and since I've already been playing it for eight years, I don't think it will be hard for me.
16:46And since I already have a lot of ideas of the sport, I just find it easier.
16:53I'm looking forward to playing in the GB team because we could play a lot internationally, and leading from there, I can go and represent my home country.
17:04Despite the growing popularity of the sport, the UK still faces some issues.
17:09The team's coach, Ivona, shed some light on why this may be.
17:13Personally, in my opinion, there is not a lot of money being put towards handball.
17:19If we could get more money, more advertisement of the handball, I'm sure there would be more people coming to handball.
17:28And many of the girls are not choosing to stop now.
17:31I would love to play handball for my life.
17:35Because I really do enjoy it, and there's a lot of success, I think I will continue in the future.
17:41I'd like to go further in handball, you know, maybe in the GB.
17:47After feeling inspired hearing the girls, I decided to put my skills to the test and have a go at shooting a penalty.
17:54Etelie Reynolds for KMTV.
17:59Good stuff there. I was saying earlier, Etelie needs a bit more practice there, and then she'll get it in the net next time.
18:04But Ivona and Nelly, join me in the studio now. Both of you, thank you so much for coming in.
18:09Now, firstly, tell me, how did the club start, Ivona?
18:12So we started the club with my friend in 2017.
18:17We started mainly for the girls, and then we started getting more interest with the men, with the women, with the boys as well.
18:28So we created a whole handball team for everyone.
18:33So there was a demand for it as well?
18:35So there was quite a lot of demand.
18:37We played in a league, we played in a Premier League, we played in a Regional League.
18:41We had under-19 team, under-16.
18:46Yeah, it slowed down a little bit during the pandemic because we couldn't train.
18:51But after the pandemic, we started to rebuild, go to schools, introduce handball to schools and get the youngsters to play handball with us.
18:59That's the key thing as well, introducing it to young people while they're at school,
19:03so they know it's just as attainable as things like netball and basketball that are, I suppose, more widely known and played as well.
19:10Nelly, you've followed in your mum's footsteps and recently joined the team as well.
19:14What was that like for you as a young person coming into a sport? What made you want to do that?
19:19So I started playing when I was four.
19:21So I grew up with the sport a lot, and I've always been on the court.
19:25So I guess it's just always been there for me.
19:28And now that it's getting more popular, it's easier to play with people who know what they're doing now.
19:32Definitely. And does mum know what she's doing? Who's better out of you two then?
19:37I think she's getting better now.
19:39Not as good as you yet.
19:41So do you play different positions? How does it work? We saw from Etelie's piece there, some of the training and stuff.
19:46But how's the formation work? Is it similar to any other ball sport?
19:50So I think it's a little bit different because handball is a team sport.
19:56Everyone attacks the same time, everyone defends the same time.
20:00We do have wings, we do have back players, we have a centre player, line player and the goalkeeper.
20:06And everyone is in attack the same time and in defence the same time.
20:10So you're saying a bit more about the demand for it as well.
20:13And you found that a lot of people wanted to join, obviously dropped off in the pandemic as many different sports and organisations did.
20:19We've been learning today and been looking into it that a lot of young girls,
20:24when they get into sport, when they turn into teenagers, that sort of age sort of drops off.
20:29Young girls' sport isn't pushed, I suppose, as much as you see young boys, especially in things like football at school.
20:35That seems to be really pushed, but perhaps not the same for other sports and for young girls, would you say?
20:41I don't know. It's like if you introduce the sport early enough to the girls and boys and especially girls,
20:48and then they like it, they will stay.
20:51And we do have quite a lot of players who did stay and play sport and play handball and they're still playing.
20:57We have a couple of players who are in a women's GB team who come from Maduey and representing the country.
21:05So once you're introduced, you will stay if you like it.
21:09And if there is an opportunity, wherever they go, to universities and to the town where the handball is played,
21:16they will look for the club and they will play.
21:18Nelly, we can see a bit of you playing on the screen there. Excellent girl, look at that.
21:22So you recently got into the GB squad. What's that process like?
21:27And how does that feel, being able to say, yeah, you play for Great Britain?
21:31So I first started playing, so I play for two teams. I play for West London Eagles and I play for Maduey Falcons.
21:38And then from there, I went to a programme called the Regional Academy.
21:42And it's just a skill-based development training, basically, and you have that once a month.
21:49And I guess I just got spotted by the head coach, the head GB coach, and I got to do some trials.
21:57And yeah, I got into GB.
21:58How did that feel?
22:00It felt good.
22:02The dream?
22:03Yeah.
22:04And another dream that clearly is very successful. We can see, how many medals is that on the table?
22:09There's maybe 10 or so. What are they all for? It seems that's very impressive.
22:15So most of them are from school games. And then some of them are from like under-14 championships and under-16 championships as well.
22:25And what's that like? Do you find, what's the difference, I suppose, with like the girls' game and the boys' playing handball as well?
22:31Do you ever have mixed games or anything? We just had a young girl on that plays ice hockey.
22:35And she was telling me she actually plays with the under-14s boys as well in such a physical game too.
22:40So are there any mixes of different games?
22:42I think there used to be mixes in like under-14 if they didn't have like enough players.
22:47And I used to have the opportunity to play for them.
22:50But now that they're getting older and stronger, it's not really safe to play with them.
22:56Yeah, I suppose that's why they have to separate their games as well.
23:00But when you're younger, I suppose that's how you can get more people into sport, I suppose, by mixing them.
23:04How do you think, you said that you go into schools and you sort of get schools on board with this and get young students on.
23:10How does that process, what does that sort of look like?
23:12Do you go in as a sort of an outside independent sort of sports body and you put lessons on, I suppose?
23:17Or what would be the idea there?
23:19So the schools are aware that there is a Midway Falcons club.
23:23And because handball can be taken as a GCSE, the teachers would like the players to get more skilled.
23:33And be more prepared for GCSEs if they're taking in handball.
23:37They invite us for the trainings.
23:39But I work closely with Rochester Grammar School for Girls where I started last year.
23:45The teachers knew me from the school games where I was refereeing and introducing my team and the handball.
23:53And they invited me there.
23:55So I trained there twice a week with the girls.
24:00Lots of them coming to the school trainings and then they come to the club trainings as well.
24:06So we try to do that with every school whenever we've got the time because we also work.
24:13And get young people inspired just like Nanny.
24:16Right from four years old.
24:17Well, congratulations to you both.
24:19Best of luck as well.
24:20Thank you very much.
24:21And we'll send Etelie down for some more training and some more practice as well.
24:23Definitely.
24:24Maybe the whole Invictus Sport team will have a game.
24:25Absolutely.
24:26You're welcome to come.
24:27Thank you both so much.
24:28Now we've reached full time on today's episode but there's just a few minutes of extra time to take a look at this week's Action Replay.
24:35It's the segment where we take a look at the clips and pictures that you, the KMTV audience, have sent in.
24:39Let's take a look.
24:41First up on this week's Action Replay we join some paddle boarders who've been spreading the Christmas cheer on the Medway.
24:47Eagle Eyed Invictus Sport viewers will remember the group from last year who say the Jolly Glide is becoming something of a tradition.
24:54From Santas to elves, reindeer and a Christmas tree, the stand-up paddle boarding group founder Anna says this year the team brought the magic like never before.
25:05Next up with less than a week to go until the start of this year's World Darts Championship,
25:09one youngster from Kent is hoping to follow in the footsteps of darts sensation Luke Littler after being pictured with him at the Junior World Championship in Gibraltar.
25:19The tournament, considered the top event in the world for under-18s, was a huge success for Drake Porter,
25:25who at age 12, one of the youngest competitors, managed to make it all the way to the semi-finals.
25:31Dreaming of becoming a professional player and already got the sponsorship under his belt,
25:35we wish Drake the very best of luck on his way to becoming a sensation just like Luke.
25:41And finally, Kent racing driver Ruben Stanislaus has been included in a short film dedicated to seven-time Formula One World Championship's Lewis...
25:49Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton's final race for the Mercedes team.
25:54The 20-year-old was among those featured in the montage, which was about inspiring those who also dream of becoming an F1 driver.
26:01Stanislaus started racing at the age of six when he was dubbed a mini Lewis Hamilton,
26:06as he topped the timings round tracks like Kent's very own Buckmore Park.
26:13Speaking about being part of it, Ruben told Kent Online it was an honour to be selected in the goodbye tribute
26:19and saying that Lewis' style on and off the track is something he's always admired.
26:24That's it for this week's Action Replay. Don't forget it could be you in next week's edition.
26:29Just send in your pictures and videos on social media or to sport at kmtv.co.uk.
26:36And that really is full time on today's episode of Invicta Sport. I'll see you again next Monday. Bye bye.