International Medieval Combat Fighting is a new martial art which combines traditional martial arts and larping.

Teams from across the world get together at historically inspired tournaments to battle it out to see who reigns supreme. 

Knyaz fighter James Walters said: “It’s very good fun, it’s good exercise and the adrenaline rush you get from it is great, especially if you like medieval history.”

Knyaz is a medieval fight club based in Hounslow that are partaking in a tournament in Italy later this month. 

I attended one of their training sessions at their hub, Backstreet Dojo, to find out more about this peculiar pastime.

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South West Londoner recently attended the D Word 5 Conference, hosted by the Black Collective of Media in Sport (BCOMS). 

The event brought together industry leaders and emerging talent to discuss the future of diversity and inclusion in the sports media landscape.

Nakeira Westmaas and Toni Afoke hosted the conference which featured a powerful line-up of guest speakers, including Alexis Nunes, Helen Campbell, Jo Ogunleye, Aadam Patel, and Hayley Bennett. 

Throughout the evening, the speakers shared valuable career insights and also discussed the critical steps that still need to be taken to ensure the industry becomes a more inclusive and diverse space.

Alexis Nunes said: “The biggest change I want to see in the [sports media] industry, come next year and just for the future, is more women in it.

“More women in front of the camera, more women behind the camera and being unapologetically them.”

Watch the video below to see more and hear further insights from the event.

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Thousands of Zimbabwe cricket fans arrived in Nottingham to watch their Test team play on English soil for the first time since 2003.

The Zimbabweans went in as underdogs against an English side ranked the second best cricket team in the world, but this didn’t stop fans flocking to Trent Bridge to sing songs and share stories.

A census taken in 2021/22 estimated that over 130,000 Zimbabweans live in the UK, and although their team were beaten over three days, Nottingham played host to a festival atmosphere for the African team and their fans.

Titan, a Zimbabwe fan, said: “Honestly speaking, I’m not really looking at what the outcome would be.

“But it’s great to be around other Zimbabweans celebrating a step forward, and a lot of progress that we would expect as countries that have a lot of history.”

Back in London, the World Test Championship final has concluded at Lord’s with more longawaited good news for African cricket fans.

South Africa overcame Australia by five wickets, marking their first global title since 1998.

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An England and Harlequins U20s rugby player took part in a 24 hour kicking challenge to raise money for her father’s cancer treatment.

Ella Cromack, 20, aimed to complete 1611 conversions at the Twickenham Stoop Stadium on 30 May, with this number representing the date that her father received his diagnosis. 

Simon Cromack was diagnosed with an incurable, glioblastoma brain tumour in November 2023 and has since been receiving treatments in , due to them being unavailable on the NHS. 

When people have challenged Ella’s stamina for the challenge, she said: “Physically it’s going to be tough but mentally, it’s going to be easy knowing that I’m doing it for my dad.”

Watch the video below for the full report.

Feature image credit: Grace Wiszowaty

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Walking football is becoming an increasingly popular way for retired people to stay active, social, and connected to the sport they love.

The game is played across the UK — including in South West London — where sessions are held at venues like St Mary’s University in Twickenham and even Fulham FC’s Craven Cottage.

According to Age UK, staying physically and socially active in later life has a proven impact on mental and physical health.

Walking football is offering just that — with a slower pace but all the same ion.

In this video, participants speak about the physical and emotional benefits of the game, from feeling part of a community to stepping onto a Premier League pitch in their later years.

Reflecting on his experience, walking footballer Mark Allen said: “It’s given me a reason to get out, to laugh, and to play again — just like I used to.”

Watch the full story here.

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Crystal Palace celebrated their first major trophy in their 164-year history with a jubilant parade through the streets of Croydon on the late May Bank Holiday.

Thousands of fans lined the roads near Selhurst Park as a red and blue double-decker bus carried the FA Cup-winning squad along Whitehorse Lane, marking an unforgettable moment for the Eagles faithful.

The celebrations followed Palace’s stunning 1-0 victory over Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the FA Cup final, an upset that left City without silverware for just the second time in Guardiola’s tenure, excluding the Community Shield, since his debut 2016–17 season.

Reflecting on the significance of the win, Peter Saysell, Vice Chair of the Crystal Palace Independent ers Association, said: “It is the best moment in this club’s history. We’ve come close twice before, so third time lucky!”

Under manager Oliver Glasner, Palace now look forward to a potential European campaign, having qualified for next season’s UEFA Europa League.

After a season-defining triumph, fans and players alike will be hoping the best is yet to come. 

Watch the full story below.

Featured Image Credit: Jeff Warder via Wikimedia Commons

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The world of darts is undergoing a young player-led transformation.

No longer are the sport’s rising stars born from smoky pubs and having had one too many pints, but of children vying to follow in the footsteps of former youth and current PDC world champion, Luke Littler.

Major tournaments draw in record-breaking viewership figures and youth academies have grown to accommodate such a rise in enthusiasm for the youth division of the sport.

Darren Barson, CEO of the Junior Darts Corporation told South West Londoner: “The PDC do a fantastic job in promoting the sport, and Luke Littler within that.

“It has given us a completely new audience.”

Darts is now officially the fastest growing sport in the UK with 35% of Brits more interested in the sport now than was the case two years ago.

The quantity and quality of junior players has risen over the last two years.

Barson said: “All of the young players at our Foundation Tours, most of whom are between 12 and 14, have an average above 85.

“Some of our top players are consistently performing above that with an average of 90.”

According to Darts Orakel, the top ten ranked adult professional players have an average of 97.

The JDC run both foundation and advanced level tours where under-18s come together to pay and play, both for fun and a chance to advance their professional careers.

The best of the best will head to Gibraltar later this year as part of the JDC’s Junior Darts World Championship competition.

Joe Wheeler founded the Farringdon Junior Darts Academy last year after noticing children in his local area enjoyed playing the sport but had no safe, structured environment to play it in.

Joe said: “On our first open day I was expecting about ten or 12 children to turn up, including my own.

“I was surprised, and thrilled, when 49 kids showed up. So we have been very very busy.”

Alongside his role as an academy coach, Joe’s three children – Lily, Lola and Woody – also compete in junior darts tournaments.

Joe said: “I think it’s an easy game to play, but a hard game to play well.

“Anyone can play and you do not have to be the best player in the world to enjoy playing.”

Woody, 12, said: “I like playing darts because my whole family played it, and I always beat my sisters.

“I would like to be a professional when I am older, and if I could play anyone I would play Luke Littler, because if I beat him, I would be world champion.”

Darts professionals think that in the coming years the top flight of professional players will be between 18 and 25 year olds, significantly lower than the current average age of 36.

Barson said: “In the last few years the sport has quadrupled and I think it will continue to grow.

“The UK is not just seen as the main area for growth, projects in America, Canada, New Zealand and the Gulf states mean the sport is growing internationally, which will only benefit players and audiences.”

The JDC collaborate with foundations, schools and other sporting organisations – such as Manchester United – to bring darts to children that ordinarily may not have had access to playing the sport.

Barson said: “Lots of other sports and educational organisations are seeing darts as a great way to build children’s confidence as well as focus. It is a great one for maths as well.

“The benefit is you do not need a massive playing area. You can put something on a wall and allow the children to explore the sport.

“I think there is a place for darts in education, and it’s a conversation that needs to be happening.”

Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons

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On June 6, young athletes from schools across London took part in the first-ever basketball competition to be held at Trafalgar Square.

The event was hosted by Jr. NBA 3v3 as part of a new collaboration between NBA and London Marathon Events, hoping to increase participation in the sport.

Trafalgar Square was transformed into three courts providing all-day action, featuring boys’ and girls’ competitions, wheelchair basketball coaching and 3v3 coaching for primary school children.

London Marathon Events CEO Hugh Brasher said: “Inspiring more people to be active is at the heart of everything we do at London Marathon Events, and hosting the first-ever basketball tournament in Trafalgar Square was a landmark moment.”

The fight for the title of champions came down to the final 10 teams, with nine London boroughs represented in a show of strength across the capital. 

In the girls’ competition, Ealing-based Glenthorne High School triumphed against Lambeth-based Lilian Baylis Technology to take home their championship rings.

Ealing-based Drayton Manor High School came out on top against Bexley-based Beths Grammar School in the final of the boys’ competition.

Drayton Manor High School coach Jamie Black said: “I am blown away and am so proud for the boys to make it to the finals, let alone win.

“When they are my age, they can look back and say, ‘Not only did we play at Trafalgar Square, but we won’. It is an amazing story to tell their families.”

NBA champion with the Miami Heat Ronny Turiaf, awarded the winners of the boys’ and girls’ competitions with their prizes, and took part in autograph sessions, while the Philadelphia 76ers mascot, Franklin the Dog, met with participants and spectators. 

The day concluded with some of London’s leading content creators taking part in NBA 3X, with the mixed elite 3v3 competition – which included a dunk show – bringing down the curtain on a memorable day at Trafalgar Square. 

Featured image courtesy of London Marathon Events

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A trail running programme for young people recently launched for its third year, holding the first trail meet event at Morden Hall National Trust Park.

The Alpine Run Project (ARP), set up by Iron Man triathlete John McAvoy, introduces 16 to 23 year olds from across the country to trail running through regional meets and races.

Trail running is a type of running that is done on off-road outdoor trails which tend to involve uneven terrain and running uphill and downhill.

ARP partnered with the National Trust for the London event to host fun training drills and activities to introduce new participants to running on outdoor trails.

ARP ambassador Claire Rozario said: “We’re going to get more young people out here on the trails and outside in nature.”

The programme send race teams to a variety of events each year, including the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) trail race that is held in Chamonix, .

New participants will hope to run their first ever trail races with some having attended UTMB tryouts at Primrose Hill, proving the ARP motto: ‘From the streets to the peaks’.

Watch the full story below.

Feature image credit: Jasper Kain

Third party footage credit: Alpine Run Project

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The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, has announced a new project that seeks to open up the sport to more people in London.

The new three-year collaboration involves a £500,000 investment from the Mayor and the LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) into Rally Together London, a programme which will train 250 people from under-represented backgrounds to the tennis workforce and facilitate sessions for local communities, with a minimum of 50% to be female.

This initiative aims to inspire and at least 5,500 more young people – especially those from disadvantaged boroughs to engage with tennis – while leveraging the return of women’s tennis to the Queens Club after over 50 years as part of the HSBC Championships running through to 15 June.

Rally Together London will recruit, train and deploy 200 tennis activators to deliver the sport and these activators will help grow the LTA’s Barclays Free Park Tennis programme which offers free, weekly sessions with equipment provided on public park courts, and LTA SERVES which takes tennis to the heart of local communities for young people who may never otherwise have played.

Khan said: “The really exciting aspect of this partnership is that we will be reaching young people across the capital and specifically young women, as we create new opportunities for them to play tennis and to the tennis workforce.”

Tennis coaches are the lifeblood of the sport and this funding will provide a cohort of 50 the chance to achieve their LTA Assistant (Level 1) and Instructor (Level 2) qualifications to help grow participation in parks and community venues, improve employment opportunities and grow the number of female coaches in the sport.

Naomi, an LTA SERVES Activator from Badu Sports, said: “It’s great that this new partnership between the LTA and Mayor of London will help give more young people across the city access to the sport — particularly as tennis has historically not been fully inclusive or accessible to underrepresented groups.

“Not only is tennis a great sport to play, but it can also help young people to develop their skills as a volunteer or coach, and even be an opportunity for paid employment.”

The Mayor and LTA plan to work together on various initiatives and campaigns to promote women’s tennis and women’s sport across the capital, such as the recent launch of the HSBC Championships with a pop-up tennis court on the city’s iconic Trafalgar Square.

Khan added: “I am delighted we are announcing this new partnership as women’s tennis returns to the iconic Queen’s Club for the first time in more than 50 years, with world’s best players competing in our city at the HSBC Championships.”

Many of the world’s best women’s tennis players are taking centre stage this week in West London, including Britain’s own 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and British No.1 Katie Boulter.

They are ed by esteemed players including reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys and Paris 2024 Olympic Champion Qinwen Zhen, former Wimbledon champions in Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina.

London is the undisputed global women’s sporting capital this summer with the Rugby World Cup set to take place at Twickenham in August, which will have a world-record attendance for a standalone women’s rugby.

Khan declared: “I am determined to bring even more sporting events to our city as we continue working to build a better, healthier, more prosperous London for all.”

This partnership will allow more people to experience the multiple benefits that tennis brings whilst growing the number of LTA activators and coaches and ensuring that the tennis workforce is reflective of the diversity of the capital.

LTA Chief Executive, Scott Lloyd said: “In particular, we are excited by the opportunity to grow the female tennis workforce, which will in turn help provide opportunities for more women and girls to pick up a racket and play.”

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