Blog Sport

Cotswold residents will soon benefit from new and improved health and leisure services in the Cotswolds following a district-wide review into leisure provision.
At a meeting on Monday 1 March, the Council’s Cabinet unanimously supported the adoption of the Cotswold Leisure Strategy – an all-new vision for leisure that will provide sustainable physical activity and sport opportunities for residents and local communities in the Cotswolds.

Members of Cheltenham Lacrosse Club are putting on their running shoes to raise funds for Cheltenham-based National Star.
Earlier in the season, lacrosse club members voted for a local charity to support this year and chose National Star.

Legendary BBC commentator Bob Hunt is to retire after a career spanning five decades.
Bob has become a staple fixture at Forest Green Rovers and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club since he began reporting from their grounds in the ‘80s.

A task group has been set up to look into the two recent closures of leisure facilities in Tetbury and Fairford.
The closure of sports facilities at Sir William Romney School in Tetbury and the proposed August closure of the gym at Farmor’s School in Fairford was discussed by Cotswold District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Rebecca Denyer is off to The Netherlands after being selected to represent Scotland 40s in the 2019 European Hockey Masters Championships.
Rebecca, who runs Chipping Campden-based creative agency Red Lemon, will be swapping her Mac and visual storytelling hat for her hockey stick and Saltire as she represents Scotland at Masters level.

Earlier this month, one of England’s best polo players, Luke Tomlinson, and Alzheimer’s Society Ambassador Rupert Adams welcomed guests to a special charity polo day at Beaufort Polo Club.
The jam-packed event was held in support of Alzheimer’s Society, raising more than £38,000 for the charity which provides information and support, funds research, campaigns to improve care and creates lasting change for people affected by dementia in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Tennis lovers – ideally couples – are invited to take part in the 38th Coln Valley Tennis Tournament on Saturday, June 8.
Organised by the Chedworth-based Hill & Valley Lawn Tennis Club, the long-established event raises funds for the club and the churches of Coln St Dennis, Coln Rogers and Chedworth.

The weather looks set fair for the North Cotswold Point-to-Point at Paxford on Easter Monday (first race 1pm).
Torrential rain caused the last-minute cancellation of last year’s meeting but the opposite is true 12 months later as the current dry spell is expected to continue over the holiday weekend.

Horse racing fans could be in for a treat this weekend when the Duke of Beaufort’s Point-to-Point takes place at Didmarton, near Tetbury, on Saturday afternoon (March 2).
It is difficult to believe that 12 months ago this meeting was cancelled due to the “Beast from the East” while this week has seen the highest February temperatures recorded in England.

By Jake Exelby

Elizabeth ‘Dibby’ Brown is best known as the trainer of Cousin Pete, who dead-heated for third in last season’s Cheltenham Foxhunters and will aim to go two better in March.
She has been training at Kilkenny Farm near Bibury – primarily for the Phillips family, who bred, own and ride Cousin Pete – since 2014, and achieved the distinction of a winner with her first-ever runner when ‘Pete’ won at Cocklebarrow and has an impressive 40% strike rate between the flags.

By Russell Smith

GEORGE Henderson, whose riding career was put on hold for five years due to horrendous injuries, made a fairytale return to the winner’s enclosure on The Caller at the Savills Heythrop Hunt meeting at Cocklebarrow, near Aldsworth, in Gloucestershire, on Sunday, January 27.
The 26-year-old had ridden 21 point-to-point winners plus one hunter chase success before breaking his pelvis and back in an accident following his finals while at Reading University.

A Cotswold leisure centre’s multi-use games area will receive a major upgrade after contractors were appointed to install an artificial turf pitch.
The new sand-dressed pitch at Chipping Norton Leisure Centre will replace the existing Tarmac surface which has reached the end of its life and will meet the growing and more varied needs of residents.

The Cocklebarrow Races is the perfect family day out in the Cotswold countryside and the perfect cure for rubbing away those January blues.
The Heythrop Point-to-Point event has in the past attracted a host of celebrities – whether it’s David Cameron, Jeremy Clarkson, Alex James, Giles Coren, John Inverdale, Jilly Cooper, Xander Armstrong, Zara Philips or Liz Hurley, you are almost certain to see one or two of them on Sunday, January 27.

Enterprising occupational therapist Lizzie Large and founder of West Oxfordshire Wheelchair Dance has put her best foot forward to launch new dance classes for Gloucestershire’s wheelchair users.
These classes will be a first of its kind in the county. Cotswold Wheelchair Dance is putting out a call for members to join its ‘Everyone Can Dance’ classes following the success of running in West Oxfordshire since 2016.

Stroud District Council is joining forces with coaches and clubs to lay on 50 sports activities free-of-charge at both its sports centres – and there is something for everyone.
The Active For Life Health and Wellbeing Day at Stratford Park Leisure Centre in Stroud and at The Pulse in Dursley will showcase sports through a huge range of taster sessions on Saturday, September 8.

Two West Oxfordshire leisure centres are set to be relaunched after being extended and improved.
Both the Windrush Leisure Centre in Witney and Chipping Norton Leisure Centre will benefit from brand new equipment and facilities following the works costing more than £750,000 in total.

Chipping Norton Leisure Centre is set for a major upgrade after councillors gave funding the green light.
The centre, based at Chipping Norton School, will be given an artificial turf pitch which will replace the existing Tarmac multi-use games area, while the size of the gym will be increased by 60 per cent.

Stroud District Council is expected to strike a deal with one of the biggest indoor skateparks in Europe which could see it get an impressive new home and put Stroud in the running as an Olympic destination.
RUSH Skatepark is set to be offered land next to Stratford Park Leisure Centre to replace its current premises.

A football club in the Cotswolds is looking to a bright future in a new home after landing a £50,000 cash injection from West Oxfordshire District Council.
Charlbury Town Football and Sports Club was left without a clubhouse after it was demolished to make way for the new Community Centre in the town.