{"id":110054,"date":"2026-06-24T15:11:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/king-charles-recognizes-decades-of-grassroots-sports-service\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T15:11:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:11:05","slug":"king-charles-recognizes-decades-of-grassroots-sports-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/king-charles-recognizes-decades-of-grassroots-sports-service\/","title":{"rendered":"King Charles recognizes decades of grassroots sports service"},"content":{"rendered":"
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LONDON: King Charles III<\/a> has recognized a longtime volunteer rugby coach with a British Empire Medal, bringing unexpected joy to a grandfather who initially feared an official letter contained bad news.<\/p>\n

Steven Thompson, a 62-year-old self-employed accountant, said he was surprised to learn he had been included in the King\u2019s Birthday Honours list for his decades of voluntary work in grassroots sports.<\/p>\n

Thompson said he initially thought the official-looking letter might be related to a recent speeding incident, but instead discovered he had been awarded the BEM for more than 30 years of service helping develop young athletes.<\/p>\n

A coach at Fairwood Waterloo Rugby Club, Thompson recalled taking his son, Matthew, to the club nearly three decades ago when he was about 5 years old. He now enjoys watching his grandson, Daniel, play for the same team.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Echo newspaper, Thompson said receiving messages from former players who credited their early experiences with inspiring a lifelong passion for the sport had been particularly rewarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf in some small way, I\u2019ve got them hooked on it and enjoying the sport, then that\u2019s great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The recognition comes as King Charles continues his royal duties while reports suggest he could reunite with his US-based grandchildren for the first time in four years.<\/p>\n

More read,\u00a0King Charles honors leading British figures at investiture ceremony<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier, King Charles III honored some of Britain\u2019s most accomplished individuals in a special investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, recognizing contributions in sport, healthcare, and the arts.<\/p>\n

The ceremony marked the king\u2019s fifth investiture of 2026 and the 23rd investiture conducted by members of the Royal Family this year.<\/p>\n

Among those receiving honors was England football star Georgia Stanway, who was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to association football.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LONDON: King Charles III has recognized a longtime volunteer rugby coach with a British Empire Medal, bringing unexpected joy to a grandfather who initially feared an official letter contained bad news. Steven Thompson, a 62-year-old self-employed accountant, said he was surprised to learn he had been included in the King\u2019s Birthday Honours list for his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.bolnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/FotoJet-96.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t