On Friday night (17th November) fans and riders of the Kent SLYDE Kings came together to celebrate another successful season on the shale at Central Park Stadium.
This season saw the Sittingbourne-based side once again reach the National League title defining Play Offs, though alas there was to be no fairytale ending - not for want of effort though from Chris Hunt's tightly-knit squad of riders.
The End of Season Party organised by Kent Supporters was a chance for friends to meet up one more time before heading into the winter and also a chance for the fans to mix with the riders and for the riders to thanks those who have kindly provided sponsorship to them over the course of 2017.
The other side to the event was to present riders with awards and there were a number of these to be given out courtesy of the 'Supporters Of Kent Kings' (SOKK) who organised and superbly raised funds for the riders throughout the season and for the event and we shan’t forget their fundraising efforts at the final meeting of the season in a hurry!
It wasn’t just the Kings riders who were honoured during the prize giving - the Southern Development League [SDL] side the Kent Code Kestrels who went so close to being League Champions in the inaugural SDL campaign were also to be honoured and the Kent SOKK Code Kestrel of the Year was James Laker. Hailing from the village of Eastry near the Cinque Port town of Sandwich, James featured in all of the Kestrels' fixtures in what was his first season at this level. James also got a couple of late season call ups for the Kent SLYDE Kings senior side in what was a successful season for the rookie - the first of many local lads to be inspired by the Kent club to take up League racing one trusts. James received the CodeClean Trophy plus cash donated by CodeClean.
Another rider in his debut season rewarded for his sterling efforts in 2017 was 15 year old Anders Rowe. Anders had to wait until his birthday in May before he could pull on the SLYDE-sponsored Kings colours and take his place in the team. However once he did there was no room for doubt as to why the Kings' management signed him up. Hailing from Swindon, the young man took his opportunity with both hands and even had a spell in the main body of the team. Anders was the recipient of the SOKK Young Rider of the Year and received the Dave Pringle Trophy and a cash award from SOKK.
The next award was the SOKK Special Award and there was only ever one man in the running for this and that was the Kings' inspirational captain Luke Bowen. Once again Luke led from the front both on the track and in the pits and some of his team riding especially with Anders Rowe wowed the fans on a regular basis. At the start of the season Luke went on a long unbeaten run registering maximums seemingly for fun and only a nasty shoulder injury disrupted what was another fantastic season for the fans' favourite. Luke received the Dave Raines Memorial Trophy and a cash award from SOKK.
The main award though was the SOKK Rider of the Year and it went to a young man who has made incredible progress in only two full seasons and this year guided the team through the period of Luke Bowen’s absence superbly, becoming Kent’s youngest ever captain. We are of course talking about Norfolk-born Jack Thomas. Jack received The Boiler Engineer Shield which has been presented to the Rider of the Year for past few seasons, along with the CTA Keepsake trophy along with a cash award from SOKK. It means it was a double for likeable Thomas who back in October was named the Coastal Radio Rider of the Year.
So with the season all wrapped up now attention turns to 2018 when the action gets underway with home meetings on Good Friday (against the 'old enemy' Eastbourne) and Easter Monday - details to follow,