Mansfield teenager Will Bingham, named Young Sportsperson of the Year at the Mansfield Sports Recognition Awards, aims to establish himself even more firmly on the regional combat sports scene during 2025, writes James Bovington.
He hopes to have a professional career in MMA and kickboxing, in both of which he remains undefeated on home soil.
“I was delighted to receive Mansfield’s Young Sportsperson of the Year Award for 2024,” said Will, who will be 18 in July.
“I had a successful year, with the highlight being participating in the WFC World Combat Fighting Championships in Hungary for the second successive year.
“I was part of the squad from Revolution Gym, Sutton, where I’ve been training under Neil Huntley for the last three years.
“I was proud to bring home a gold in both kickboxing and MMA, and take joint ninth place out of 350 competitors at the tournament, along with teammate Daisy Fisher.”
Will’s two golds contributed to Revolution’s medal haul of 30, including 11 golds and 14 silvers, which placed the team second out of 62 competing clubs.
“I specialise in MMA and K1, which is a type of full contact kickboxing with short, hopefully explosive, full contact matches fought over three, three-minute rounds,” he said.
“I absolutely love it. I’m at Revolution most days, doing classes or working out in the gym. Neil provides fantastic opportunities for me to spar with talented opponents, sometimes older and more experienced, which ensures that I continue developing.
“I love preparing for upcoming fights and enjoy coaching younger fighters to prepare mentally for their bout, and then supporting them in their corner.”
Coach Neil said the teenager was one of the best athletes he’d had the pleasure to coach.
“Shaping that skillset and watching him develop is scary, given the potential he has to go to the top,” he added.
Throughout 2024 Will continued to reap success, both at Revolution’s home shows, where he won and retained the RECC British title, and further afield, winning his debut amateur MMA bout at the BMF show at Barnsley Metrodome.
He then remained undefeated in a K1 bout in September and the following month claimed a first-round knockout in his second amateur MMA bout with BMF.
“I finished the year winning the ISKA K1 English title in my 70kg weight group, said Will. “Then in December I was honoured to receive the young sports person award from the Armchair Club, a group of businesspeople keen to support local athletes, and others. I want to thank everyone who has helped me achieve my goals these last two incredible years.”
A sports science student at West Nottinghamshire College, he also works part-time at Curry’s to help fund training and competing expenses.
Will is looking to expand his range of sponsors to help towards further success this year.
“I’m grateful to my existing sponsors for their generosity, so many thanks to Heartfeltz, Eurotec, Amazon Websites, and Lottie’s Bakes. I’ll do my absolute best to prove it’s a wise investment,” he added.
For the third succesive year Will plans to join the Revolution squad competing in the Hungary world championships.
Anyone interested in sponsoring him should contact Claire Bingham on 07538 379397.