Spotlight On… Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club
The Royston Rockets BMX Racing Club was established in 1982, and this year is celebrating 40 years at the Burns Road site in Royston.
Phil Townsend, the club’s longest standing member and the man who knows everything about BMX Racing, tells of how the club was created by a group of local parents who embraced the new craze of BMX Racing from America.
Many people wanted to take part in motocross but couldn’t afford a motorbike, so they started riding pedal bikes round the tracks and racing one another, BMX Racing was born!
After relentlessly hassling the local and county councils, the parents were given the land on Burns Road to use. Formally a rubbish tip, Phil recalls the club members built the track themselves and created a very successful club taking full advantage of the 80’s obsession with BMX.
The club began to struggle in the 90’s as other sports became more popular and whilst the efforts of the club members were greatly appreciated the track was not built to last and it began to decline. Thankfully the committee were determined to keep the club going and the new millennium saw club numbers start to increase.
The inclusion of BMX Racing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics reinvigorated the sport nationally, and after the 2012 Olympics in London the club was granted funding from Sports England Olympic 2012 for a complete rebuild. Input from Royston First, Luton Airport and Royston Town Council facilitated a brand new hut to be installed, which further transformed the club, enabling it to grow and improve to around 180 members that it has today.
In 2021 the club had floodlights installed, this has the huge advantage of the club being able to practice all year round, and draws members from other clubs to practice at the track during the Winter.
BMX Racing is a sport for life, our club members are 4 years and up and there is no upper age limit, everybody is very welcome and the club regularly runs ‘Come and Try’ sessions where you can hire a bike, helmet and gloves and try out the track in a safe environment.
For further information about the club please visit www.roystonrockets.co.uk
