With the championship season at a close, it’s the time of year for End of Season Awards where fans, riders, promoters, team managers and sponsors come together to celebrate the season and the riders.
So, the party is arranged for Friday 11th November at the Radio Rooms in Berwick for 7.30pm, it’s a 5 hour journey from our home, but regardless of times, logistics etc, we would absolutely be attending - when Chris says he will be somewhere, he stays true to his word
(not like some people)
We had to arrange for Amara-Mae & Cruz to be allowed out of school 2 hours early to enable us to make the journey up to Berwick, and for those of you who have children in school & pre-school, you’ll know that it’s not straight forward to just collect them early from school nowadays, it’s a jump through hoops process, that makes you never want to ask to take them out of school early ever again …
We collected the children and set off on the road to Berwick, the journey wasn’t so bad, and we arrived at 7.15pm and parked up in the Asda car park next to the venue – where we all got changed and ready for the party in the back of the van, yep you heard that right ….
We walked into a jam-packed venue with no spare seats or tables, luckily the wonderful paramedic from Berwick made space for us (I know you read this blog so THANK YOU), before the presentations began.
It’s time for the awards for the Bandits which was a clean sweep for Chris who won all of the awards - we were all super proud of him, even though I was secretly thinking where are we going to display these ones ha ha
Supporters Club Rider of the Year
Berwick Bandits Rider of the Year
Berwick Riders Rider of the Year
Every time Chris’s name was called out as the winner of the award he would get up and make his way on to the stage, quickly followed by little Cruz who ran after him to help collect the trophy it was just the sweetest thing, and he absolutely stole the show, certainly not afraid of the stage …
As soon as all the speeches were finished, we said our goodbyes and left, the kids were tired and hungry, and we knew we had another 5-hour journey home due to Amara-Mae’s dance commitments on Saturday morning and another awards do on Saturday night.
We jumped in the back of the van, and all got changed again for the journey home – PJs for the kids, and comfies for me and Chris - nothing worse being uncomfortable on a long journey. We went through a McDonalds drive through about 30 minutes into the journey home, because at that time of night everyone only wants to eat junk food apparently …
The children fed and happy and now getting ready to go to sleep, and then boom, the moment parents dread on a journey with children, Cruz is sick whilst we are on a dual carriageway with nowhere to stop. I am leaning into the back of the van trying to help him using McDonalds paper towels .. too much information I know sorry, but it is what it is, Chris managed to stop, and we cleaned him up and we were back on the road and luckily shortly after they were both fast asleep, bear in mind it was almost midnight at this point, and we still had 3 hours left until we got home.
The last 2 hours were tough, but we made it and arrived home at 3am. Knackered.
Was it worth the effort, of course – the fans, sponsors, the club etc all deserve the effort to say thank you for the support, kind words etc throughout the season, it’s the least we can do as a family, and Chris always likes to show his gratitude …
As many of you will now know Chris isn’t returning to Berwick for the 2023 season (Berwick announced it after the party) he has been linked to all the other 8 clubs in the league, I mean it's pretty funny … if we believe everything we read, and all the fans who think they know it all, he’s going to be a very busy boy next year ...
Chris has had an amazing year at Berwick, and the few times we made the journey to support him the fans, staff and management were really friendly which was so lovely, and it was worth the journey every time because boy I know I am biased but Chris racing that track is just something else
Some fans will be understanding, some won’t, but that’s life and Chris makes the decisions for himself - what suits him, where he wants to ride and what’s best for his other commitments - it's never an easy decision and is part of the roller coaster ride we have every year, but the decision is his, no-one else's and in this business you have to just let the haters hate
After our 10 hour round trip to Berwick, arriving home early hours of the morning and just 3 hours sleep, the day flew by and it was time to get ready for another awards night - this time closer to home, just 30 minutes down the road in Leicester for the World Speedway Riders Association with the luxury of being able to get ready at home, and a babysitter ..............
#Bomber is an incredible rider, I’ve been a Speedway fan for over 40years! We’ve screamed for him at Peterborough Panthers & love his absolute commitment to wherever he’s riding. I don’t doubt he is able to do this because of his wonderful family being right behind him. Loved reading this…thank you 😍