SCVAC Kent League 2025 Season Review

For those unfamiliar with the format, the Southern Counties Vets AC League is an annual competition for clubs across London, Kent, Hampshire, Surrey, Herts and Middlesex. Blackheath & Bromley are members of the Kent League which is made up of 2 divisions, 6 teams per division and both the men’s and women’s team started the season in Division 1.

There are 6 fixtures each season, with a different mix of sprint, middle/long distance and field events at each fixture. It’s a masters only league and there are four age categories, 35-50, 50-60, 60-70 and 70+.Athletes compete against each other and their finishing positions equate to points (6 for 1st, 5 for 2nd etc) .Those points are added up across all events at each fixture and the team then get league points based on where they finished on the night (same points scale as the individual events). The reward for the top two clubs in the league is an invite to compete in the season ending finals against the top clubs from the other area leagues to find the overall area champion.

The first fixture was held at Norman Park at the end of May. There was a great buzz being the home team and it’s always nice when you get together with old teammates, competitors as well as getting to meet the new members of the team, especially after a long hard winter of training. After the 1st match both the Men’s and the Women’s team were in 3rd place, and the men’s team actually would take home 3rd place finishes in each of the first 4 fixtures.

On the women’s side, there were a pair of 2nd place finishes in the following two matches at Central Park, Dartford which moved them up to 2nd overall at the halfway point. 

However in match 4 at Tonbridge, the women finished 3rd on the night, and although they held on to 2nd place in the league this put them within 1 point of the chasers.  

There were contrasting results at Fixture 5, held at the Julie Rose Stadium, Ashford. The women’s team, despite only having 6 athletes to cover all 12 events, were still able to finish 2nd and within touching distance of a place in the finals. However a tricky night for the men’s team led to a 5th placed finish and put them in danger of relegation with one match to go.

The season finished with a fixture at Sutcliffe Park culminating in the rarely run 4x200m relay, with both teams finishing on a high with wins in that event. This helped the men see off the threat of the teams in the relegation places, as well as the home club Cambridge Harriers and hang on to 3rd place overall by 1 point. The women’s team had such a strong night that they almost claimed their first nightly victory, but despite missing out by just 2 points they were able to cement 2nd place overall and a place in the finals for the 2nd year running!

Details of the finals should be announced soon – Good Luck Ladies!

Overall it was another good season for the Masters teams and on behalf of the club and the team managers Sam Williams and Steve Hough, I would like to thank all athletes who took part this season and made it so enjoyable, and hope to see everyone back competing again next year.

Athletics, in the most part, is an individual sport so it’s great to feel part of a team and that is the best thing about these League matches, every point counts so whether you took part in one event, or were at every fixture your contributions were much appreciated.

And whilst there were a number of standout performances I did want to highlight a few individuals who were the epitome of team players.

• For the men, Ian Firla took part in 13 different scoring events, in a variety of age groups, often having to hotstep from a field event, to the track and back again and with nightly finishing positions often decided by just a few points these contributions really make a difference.
• Similarly the aforementioned ‘Ashford Six’ were also big contributors across every fixture and really underpinned the success of the women’s team. They are Carole Coulon, Jennie Butler (both 9 events), Jackie Montgomery, Helen Godsell (both 11 events).
• Sam Williams, whilst also managing the women’s team took part in 14 events, and lastly there was Daniela Sage who ran, jumped and threw in a whopping 15 events.

Fantastic effort from you all!

If you are interested in getting involved next season we are always looking for new members too so whether you are an ex-Olympian, a complete novice or somewhere in between everyone is welcome, so come down to the club, speak to the one of the coaches and become part of the Masters Athletics community – you won’t regret it!

2025 B&B Masters Athletics Team

Womens Team – Carole Coulon; Daniela Sage; Helen Godsell; Jackie Montgomery; Jennie Butler; Katy Sugden; Louise Vallins; Maureen Miller; Rita Awatefe-Aydin; Sam Williams; Sarah Belaon; Trang Nguyen

Mens Team – Alan Hardy; Ashley Reid; Clem Leon; Cornelius Griffin; David Adams; Duayne Bovell; Iain Nye; Ian Firla; James Burton; Kevin Ansell; Leonardus De Bruyn; Luca Ercolani; Matt Ellerton; Micah Evans; Paul Sutherland; Phillip Bunn; Roger Beswick; Roger Platt; Sam Aldridge; Simon Tolson; Steve Hough; Steve Langdon; Tim Ayres; William Senbanjo; John Turner; Richard Coe

Ashley Reid