THE rise of cycle speedway in West Fife will reach a landmark moment this weekend when a Fife team takes to the track in a British league environment for the first time.

Fife Cycle Speedway, consisting mainly of high school pupils from Queen Anne as well as Madras College, will go up against Hull in the British Cycling North and Scotland league on Sunday more than three years since the formation of a Fife Schools Championship.

The sport quickly captured the imagination of youngsters and, in January 2014, plans were lodged with Fife Council to build an outdoor track at Queen Anne High, which was just the third in Scotland alongside circuits in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

It was completed in June last year and paved the way for the formation of a Fife-wide club, who will be known as the Fife Revolutions, and in September were invited to take part in the Three Rivers League competition alongside Edinburgh, Glasgow and Northumbria.

Now, with experienced Hardie Bikes cyclist Craig Hardie heading up the team, Fife will take part in this year’s Division 2/3 programme against Hull, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Northumbria, Bury, Stockport, Sheffield and Astley and Tyldesley, who are based in Manchester.

Creating a Fife team to compete at British level is a long way from when Craig Masson, PT in pupil support at Queen Anne and Scotland’s first qualified cycle speedway coach, started sessions in the sport at the school when they had no bikes of their own.

“When we started, we didn’t have any bikes, but from there everything started taking off,” he recalled.

“I wanted to start something for the pupils other than things like football or basketball but this is beyond what I expected. After we competed at the Three Rivers tournament at the tail end of 2016 and did well, we took the decision to enter a team to the British league. There are nine teams in the northern section; we play home and away and we’re the furthest north.

“The team is made up mainly of high school kids so hopefully teams will maybe not take us as seriously. We are going to be led by Craig Hardie, who has lots of experiences in different cycling disciplines, and he got involved because of Hardie Bikes’ sponsorship.

“The team is open to anyone who wants to take up cycle speedway. We’ve got three schools (Queen Anne, Madras and Glenrothes High) who act as feeder teams into the team but once people see them in action and how skilful the riders are, how competitive it is and how exciting it can be, people might want to have a try.”

Cycle speedway follows the same principles as motorcycle speedway but racing takes place on short oval dirt or indoor tracks, with the object not to slide the bikes around the turns unlike in the motorised version.

Craig is hopeful a large crowd will watch Sunday’s match, which begins at noon, and continued: “Bury and Stockport started out in the same way that we did, and Glasgow have someone at the age of 78 riding for them, which shows it’s a sport for all ages.

“There’s no limit to the numbers we can have at the club, although for matches we selected six main riders and four reserves. I’m nervous because it’s our competitive debut; we want to try and get a big crowd along but I’m excited to see how we’re going to fare. It’s something new and the guys will go to tracks and places they’ve never been to before. I’m pleased with how much we’ve progressed to have an established team.

“My expectation would be to at least win all our home matches but we’re hoping to surprise a few teams on the road.”