AN ENDANGERED sporting league set up more than half a century ago has been saved from extinction.

Abingdon’s branch of Aunt Sally, the traditional Oxfordshire game, faced folding in January after committee members announced plans to retire.

But now lovers of the game have stepped up to the plate to keep it going for years to come.

Grove resident 92-year-old Basil Collins, who founded the Abingdon & District Aunt Sally Association 54 years ago, said “disaster” had been averted.

Oxford Mail:

Clutching an award for service to the game, in which competitors throw sticks at a wooden dolly to knock her off her spike, he said: “When I heard they were going to close it I said ‘they can’t’. I thought with all these people supporting it over the years, it would be disastrous. I was very happy to hear it’s staying open.”

Mr Collins set up the Abingdon league in 1960 and still keeps tabs on it, though he no longer plays.

He added: “I was approached by two people from the Oxford league who wanted me to set it up. I said ‘I’ll do it for two years’ but stayed for 30.”

James Barguss, the league’s current chairman, urged players to step up to the committee when two long-standing members announced plans to retire.

He said: “That’s when I said ‘I physically can’t do this myself, I need people to help me. I need the support.

“Within about a week I was inundated with offers, a new treasurer and a new secretary, which was really heartening. Aunt Sally is bigger than one person. It needs to continue going.”

The 38-year-old, who lives in Banbury, followed his late father Graham Barguss’s footsteps into the league.

His 65-year-old father died suddenly last year after suffering lung scarification.

Long-serving player Paul Stone, who lives in Didcot, encouraged new players to sign up to the league on registration day next week.

The 57-year-old said: “We are trying to get younger people to have a go, otherwise eventually all the oldies will clear off.”

Anyone interested in playing can find out more at a registration evening at Abingdon Conservative Club on Tuesday night from 8pm to 10pm.

Find out more at abingdonauntsally.com.