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NEWSLETTER/BULLETIN 2016/2017 Date: May 2017
My name is Ian Bosworth and last year I became the chair ofthe Leicestershire Badminton association, taking over from Steve Lofthouse.
First of all, I’d like to say many thanks and express mine andthe committees’ gratitude to Steve for all his hard work andcommitment to a role he made his own. I hope to be able tocontinue his good work.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a member of SouthLeicester Badminton club and have been the matchsecretary there for several years.
I’ve been in the role of Chair for the last year and have beengiven tremendous support by the rest of the committee.
As I’m sure many of you are aware, BadmintonEngland lost their funding for the top players and this could have a cascade effect on thegeneral badminton community.
At present, badminton in Leicestershire isstrong and healthy, but it’s incumbent on us allto push badminton and encourage the youth to take up our great game.
We have great coaches, donating their time and efforts in the pursuit of excellence and I’d like to thank them for all their tireless work.
Likewise, Greg Howes and Carole Spencerdo a fantastic job promoting our sport throughthe schools.
My aim as Chair is to ensure we remain in aposition of strength, doing all I can to improvethe membership and promote Leicestershireas a county, determined to produce top qualityplayers for the future.
Thank you to all our members for all their hardwork during this season.
Ian Bosworth, Chair LBA
The new umbrella association offers all youngpeople a high quality schools sport competitionprogramme.
Team Leicestershire is a new voluntary umbrellaassociation which brings together all secondaryschools across Leicestershire, Leicester City andRutland and eight voluntary school sportsassociations, Leicestershire schools Badminton isone of the eight sports.
If you require further information pleasevisit www.teamleicestershire.org
Leicestershire BADMINTON players seen herewearing their new "TEAM Leicestershire " kit.
Leicestershire and Rutland Sport launch"TEAM LEICESTERSHIRE "
NEWSLETTER/BULLETIN 2017/2018 Date: May 2018
Leicestershire 1st TeamMatch report Final SCCWeekend 2017/18 - Tom Armstrong Captain.Leicestershire started the day in a dizzy 3rd
place with dreams of pipping Saturday’s firstopponents Avon to 2nd place. Only two pointsseparated us from them in 2nd and the team wasconfident. The singles started with three toughmens games. Sahil at 1 came through a toughencounter in 3 sets.Unforturnatley RichardandJai both went down to steady opponents in 2sets as did the girls pairing of Grace and Laura.4-1 after the singles wasn’t quite the start wehadhoped for. Themensdoubleprovedequallyfrustration, Carl and Sahil missing out in 3 tightsets, and Tom and Jai underperforming alsolosing in 3. The girls then put up some greatfight, Sarita and Laura narrowly losing in 2 tightsets, while Grace paired up with Zoe King to wina in a professional display in 2 sets. 7-2 going inthe mixed. The mixed was to be shared, Sahil,having to play his 3rd game of the match, pairingup with Hope, just falling short in 3. Sarita andTom finally put some form together and pickedupa consolationwin at 2mixed. Final score 8-3.Glasgow and North Strathclyde were our next
opponents , who decided to turn up for the finalweekend with a much strong team thanprevious boasting several current and exScottish national team players. Sahil, Richardand Jai were up first in the singles. Sahil,possible tired fromhis3matches in thepreviousmatch went down in 3 tough sets. Richard,pickeduphis performanceandplayedbrilliantlyto win in 3 sets, Jai, couldn’t find top gearagainst a very experienced Gordon Thompsonloosing at 3rd singles. In the girls singles, Gracekept us all on our toeswith anexcellent 3 setwinvs their no 1 after losing a tight 1st set. Laurafought hard but couldn’t match the physicalityon the Glasgow no 2. 3-2 down after singles.
Doubles would prove equally tough, Clarky andJai paired up, a perfect blend of youth andexperience- winning in 2 good sets. Somequestionable rankings form the Glasgow teamsaw Carl and Tom play a tough second pair,battle hard and probably play their bestbadminton for a while to win in 3 tight sets! Thegirls were equally hard done by form somequestionable rankings, Sarita and Hope pair up
this time gelling well in the 3rd set to win. Graceand Zoe then had a very tough pair at 2 (whodefinitely should be their 1!) Fighting hard butlosing in 2. 5-4 up going into our usual strengththemixed! TomandHope came together for thefirst mixed, and despite winning the first setcomfortably, somehow managed not take thewin. Clarky then reluctantly stepped onto themixed court with Zoe, struggling to gainmomentum went down in 3 sets. Final score 6-5defeat leaving us down in 6th place with onematch to play.
Heading into the Sunday determined to put thedisappointment of two defeats behind them.Safetywasall but assure, andwithanextremelytight league, we could still finish from 7th to 3rd
realistically! Surrey stood in our way and theboys were up and ready to go first up in thesingles Sahil and Richard put in arguably theirbest performances, Richard in particularbeating Ben Beckman to give us a 3-0 lead(their 3rd singles w/d injured). The girls up next,Grace, and Laura won fairly comfortably in 2.5-0 after the singles and we were back in thehunt for 3rd position. Jai and Clarky were kept at1, and though fought hard, lost in 3 sets. Tomand Carl as usual went to 3, but won a toughmatch. Laura and Sarita reunited for the 1st
doublesandhad todigdeep to keepa resurgentSurrey pair at bay, winning 21-18 in the 3rd set.Grace and Zoe continued their impressive formwith straight sets wins at 2. The mixed startedvery well, Hope and Sahil reunited anddominated their 1st pair in 2. This left Sarita andTom to bring home a 10-1 win and assured usof 3rd place! Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be withtheweekend taking its toll on the senior pair! 9-2was still a great win against fairly recentchampionsandassuredLeicestershireourbestever finish in the top division of English (plusScotland) County badminton.
A great team effort not only from players therethis weekend but the whole season.
EXCEPTIONAL RESULT FOR COUNTY FIRST TEAM
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NON COUNTY TOURNAMENTS
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In September 2017 Amie and I took a group ofjunior county players to Badminton Englandhead quarters in Milton Keynes for a weekendof coaching and socialising.
The original date in June had to be cancelled due tothe refurbishment of the floor so the date wasrescheduledforSeptember,which turnedout tobebetter, as it was a good start for the new season.The weekend started with two hours of coachingwith two very experienced coaches, Elizabeth CannandSteve Foster. After lunch another two hours oncourt work, then dinner and off to the Bouncecentre. The players had a fab time socialising whichended with a few games of pool back at the lodge
(and a beer for the parents) then a very welcomedgood nights sleep.
Day 2, hearty breakfast and back on the courts foranother two hour session, lunch and then the finaltwo hours coaching session. It wasn't a jolly for theplayers who all worked hard and definitely gotsomething out of the weekend away. We all have afab time and will be repeating it again this year, itsalreadybookedforSeptember. Wecouldn'tdo thistrip without the help of some very dedicatedparentswho provided lifts and helped supervise thekids, a big thanks to them.
Carole and Amie
MILTON KEYNES BADMINTON TRIP
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At the end of every season we hold a club presentation lunchwhere players are presented with awards for most improved/commitment to the sport and good attitude. Well done to all theplayers. We also present the Whitwick Junior Club Cup and Iam pleased to say that Jemima Haines was awarded the cupat the end of last season. Jemima has been at the club as aplayer since she was nine years old, she always attendedregularly and was very committed to learn, she entered all thejunior tournaments, and as she got older she was there to helpthe young players, she also took her Level 1 coach coursewhich she had no trouble in passing. Whenever we neededhelp with the club or anything badminton related she was
always the first to put her hand up to help, we are so pleased to have known such a lovely young lady. She has now movedon to university where I am sure she will show as much commitment to her studies as she did at the club.
Carole and Amie
Whitwick Junior Badminton Clubsay farewell to Jemima
Theclub is still going reallywell,wehave49members, 25 of those are girls which isgreat news for badminton. Nineteenplayers also attend the PerformanceCentre at Babington Academy onTuesdays and Thursdays and more attendother coaching sessions at Babington.
Five U12s players from the club will bereceiving their county colours this season.I encourage all the members to compete atwhatever level is relevant to them, manyhave played and enjoyed the experience ofthe non- county tournaments this season,some players just enjoy being a part of theclub. The players and parents are a verydedicated bunch, they always support thetournaments, the club activities and socialevents. The Club presentation lunch at theend of the season is always one to lookforward to, players and parents sharing thesuccess and improvement of theiryoungsters throughout the season. TheChristmas social trip to "Rebound” wasagain well received with 42 youngstersenjoying bouncing around!!!!
The next social trip is in June to the homeof Badminton England in Milton Keynes,where the players will receive expertcoaching advice and two hours coaching,lunch and visit to the badminton museum.
You may have noticed that it’s not justbadmintonwe teach,weencourage a goodclub atmosphere, all working and helpingeach other, hopefully the experience will
help when the players start thinking aboutjoining adult clubs.
Some have already played in the adultleagues, Eve Dale & Ella Haines helpedLoughborough Leys Ladies team to winDivision 1, and Luke Hoult and Harry Clareplayed in the Whitwick New Hall 2 teamwho won the league.
Moving on!!! That’s good.Carole & Amie
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The weekly Wednesday night sessions are atHarborough Leisure Centre. We now have a total of 90Junior players registered with Badminton Englandmembers, of which 16 regularly attend the 4-5pmsession; 29 the 5-6pm session and 32 the 6-7pmsession.
Each member is given a free club hoodie and theopportunity to enjoy a social evening at the annualChristmas meal.
Harborough LC Junior Badminton Club and RobertSmyth Academy received “Runner up School andCommunity Partnership Award” from the LearningSouth Leicestershire School Sports PartnershipCelebration Event 2017. The “Outstanding ClubMember” trophy for 2017 was awarded to Elliot Baker.Many members have continued to take a pro-activeapproach in entering the Non-County Tournaments.Elliot Baker & Mitchel Adams were runners up in theLSBA Junior American U17s Boys DoublesTournament. Congratulations go to Theo Parsons and
his friend who won the U10s Boys Doubles event at theWhitwick tournament in Feb.
The club enter teams into the South Northants JuniorLeague, the teams competing this season were oneteam of U14s and two teams in the U18s. The U18s “A”team didn’t lose a match in both legs and were crownedtop of the league.
The third internal club tournament events were heldearly this year. A special presentation night will be heldwhen trophies will be presented to winners & runner-upof U10s; U12s; U14s & U17s Boys & Girls Singles andDoubles events. Also a gift for the retiring ClubChairperson will be awarded.
All players have again had the opportunity to test theirskills against a BKL Badenko automatic shuttlecocklauncher which is improving their skills and providingfun.
The Club Website -http://www.harboroughlcjuniors.org.uk/
Ray Phipkin – Head Coach
LSBA - AGMTuesday 22nd May
TESCO COMMUNITY ROOMBeaumont Leys
7pm
LSBAPRESENTATION EVENING
Friday 29th June
Hugglescote Social ClubDennis Street, Hugglescote
LE67 2FP
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A grant was obtained from Blaby District Councilwhich helped with the set-up for a trial 4:30pm to5:30pm session to be held for the five weeks ofAutumn Term 2. This was aimed at Junior Schoolchildren with “The Racket Pack” equipment andTink & Flo awards from Badminton England beingused. Although by the end only seven wereattending the club decided to continue and openthe session for players from school years three tonine.The weekly Friday club night’s sessions run from4:30–5:30pm and 5:30–7:00pm at BrockingtonCollege. We now have 51 junior playersregistered with Badminton England.
Many members take a pro-active approach inentering the Non-County Tournaments. A specialmention to Billy Hammond & Jos Dove whofinished runners-up in the U14s Boys Doubles
event. We also have members who are part of“Team Leicestershire” and dependant on theirtechnical and tactical badminton skills have theopportunity to represent the LSBA in matches.
To encourage young new coaches the club gavea grant to Tom Cowperthwaite to help with hisBadminton England Level 1 coaching coursewhich he successfully was awarded. The clubnow has five Badminton England qualifiedcoaches coaching at the club.
To develop the Junior Members of a suitableplaying standard, some players are invited to stayon and join in part of the senior club sessions.South Leicester Juniors still a Club mark club andnow has its own section within main web site:http://www.southleicesterbadminton.co.uk/login
Ray Phipkin – Head Coach (31.03.2018)
JUNIOR BADMINTON CLUB
LBA - AGMThursday 10th May
BABINGTON ACADEMYLEICESTER
7.15pm
LBAPRESENTATION EVENING
Friday 26th MayBIRSTALL GOLF CLUB
7.15pm onwards
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MELTON JUNIOR CLUB
The coaching programmes for junior andintermediate levels at Melton Old Grammarians(OGs) continue to thrive, over the past two yearsthe Club’s coaches have held regular badmintonclasses at a number of schools in the Melton areaas well as holding periodic Festivals attended bystudents from across the region.
For those seeking to progress further the Cluboperates coaching sessions on Monday nightsover the winter and these are consistently wellattended at both Junior and Intermediate level.
This year’s end of season tournament saw 20juniors compete at Long Field Academy under thesupervision of Club Coach Linda Hallam. ClubCaptain Neil Hunt commented, “It is great to seeso many of the younger generation enjoyingbadminton and the ongoing improvement instandard we are witnessing is highly encouraging.The work we are planning to put in place for the2018/19 season will ensure even greaternumbers can participate at Old Grammariansnext season.”
The junior coaching is at 6pm on a Monday nightat Long Field Academy with Intermediate
coaching following at 7pm. The normal club nightwith then begin at 8pm. Coach Linda Hallamconfirmed the decision to start Junior coachingearlier would enable OGs to cope with the everincreasing number of younger players wanting toplay badminton. “It is our intention to try and buildever closer links with the Melton school childrenacross the Melton area. Having established suchan encouraging base to our Junior andIntermediate activities the next challenge is tofurther increase numbers and get as manyyoungsters as possible coming through to seniorlevel and participating in our normal club nights.We now have a seamless transition from beginnerthrough to regular member at OGs and we willmake every attempt to deliver even greateropportunities for junior and intermediate playersnext season.”
Anyone seeking to be involved in the junior andintermediate coaching programmes or wishing toobtain more information on what Melton OGs canoffer in this area should in the first instancecontact Linda Hallam on 07729 036928 or byemail on [email protected]
JUNIOR BADMINTON IN MELTON THRIVING
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At themoment at the Hermitage Leisure Centre wehave loads of girls coming along, which isstrange ... but brilliant!
One reason will be my granddaughter spreading theword amongst her friends at school, and the factthat I have been coaching in eight local primariesschools again this season in North WestLeicestershire. I am now starting to build a goodrelationship with them. To sustain this my aim is tocontinueworkingwith thesameschools next season,creating good school club and leisure centre links.I work in each school for six weeks (1 term) for two
hours per week teaching 8-10 year olds, hopefullythe schools are recognising that badminton is asport that can be delivered in a small school hall,having worked with me to do it . Even if the childrenonly receive six weeks per year with me its betterthan not at all. When they eventually move ontosecondary school they will at least have had a go, asat the moment most don't try badminton until YR7.
I enjoy working with the youngsters, they are all soenthusiastic and willing to learn.
Carole
SHORT OF GIRLS ??!!
RAY LIGGINSWinner - Tom, Runner up - Mitesh
Plate winner - Rock, Runner up - Quin
COOPER CUPWinner - Carly, Runner up - HannahPlate winner Abbi, Runner up - Lexi
RAY LIGGINS & COOPER CUP
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5th April 2018, ICT has finally arrived.
Day 1 The first match, we had Middlesex who onpaper looked tricky, however with there top girlwithdrawing it left them fairly thin, there’s sadly notmuch to tell about this match, it’s was a very routine9-1 against an extremely weak Middlesex team.Next up were the Irish, Leinster, this was alwaysgoing tobeavery tricky tie.Theproblemwealwayshave with the Irish is they are always veryexperienced they all know how to play in thesesituations. That and a very strong Girls line upsaw them through to a8-2 victory.However,whatwe saw was the first of many strongperformances my our very own marathon man,Sameer.Going into the third and final match of the day andthe first group, we knew whoever won between ourselves andSuffolk would be going into the Top Half with Leinster. We got offto a great start, winning both mixed very comfortable, Harry andIssy even winning a Maccy’s for winning to 0. Next won was theBoys singles which is where the match was going to be won andlost, despite Martin having a slight, let’s call it a blip we recorded tomorewins. There top2girls proved too strong for us takingboth thesingles and first girls doubles, but we ran out comfortable 7-3winners in the end.
Day 2 First up we had our toughest match against Cheshire, withmany tipping them for a Top 4 finish. They were strong across theboard, however nobody had apparently told Jess this. Jess was ona mission she demolished their number girl at singles, beforecomfortably beating the number 2 ladies doubles pair. Luckily forLuke, Jess’s performance was so good we get to focus on this,insteadof themammothTaxi hisopponentgot on theirmatchpoint,somesayLuke is still looking for theshuttle.An8-2 loss toCheshirebut a performance nobody can fault.Up next the mighty Yorkshire, a tough match as always but thiscertainly isn’t theunbeatableYorkshireof old.Wewerebeaten7-3,but this match set the tone for what was to come. The way weapproached the match and attitude we took onto the court wasfaultless. There were very good results from Martin and Ella in theMixedand IssyandJess in theDoubles.Butacross theboard itwasthe performance and intensity that impressed.The last match of a tough second day was Hampshire, the winnerwould play for 9/12 and loser 13/16. On paper it looked close, asit proved to be. We played with intensity and concentration. Wewon the matches we were supposed to win, all very professionally,in two sets. We showed heart in the tougher matches. Jess lost atight singles in 3, and then Jess and Issy took their very strong firstpair to 3. The match ended with a 5 all draw which we won by 2ends. A great result won by the character of our players.
Day 3Having beaten Hampshire, we were playing for positions 9 to 12,in a group with Staffs, Herts and Notts. First up was Staffs, this wasprobably themost disappointing result of the tournament for us, westarted slowly, losing both mixed and realistically struggled torecover from there. We lost 6-4 in the end. After a few honestconversations with players, this match became all about thereaction going forward.
Straight after the Staffs match we had Herts. A team who over thepast couple of years have given some very heavy defeats, this wasarguably the toughest match in this group. Like I said, this matchwas all about the reaction. I was going to attempt to break thismatch down, but I won’t. As a coach I always preach it’s all aboutthe performance and not always the result, I’ve done ICT now forsevenyears, I canhonestly say I’venever beenprouder of a team’sperformance. We lost five all on games, but intensity level andshear guts the players left on the court is all you can ask from anyathlete, I was a very proud manager.
Day 4 The last match, Notts, we knew that a 7-3 win would beenough to get us into the Top 10, this would be a massive result forus. So with some slight tweaks to the team we gambled and wentfor it. 6-4 loss shows thegamble sadly didn’t payoff. Not theperfectend to what can be considered a successful tournament.
Top 12 was a good result and with so many nearly results, thiscould’ve been so much more. Whilst we now say goodbye to alarge group of players this tournament has welcome some youngfaces toour teamandshown that the future ismost definitely bright.I’d like to thank everybody who makes ICT such a specialtournament, the parents and anybody who came down to support,the Coaches who helped me out over the four days (Cam, Jai,Hope, Neil) and the two people, who have the hardest job which iskeeping me sane, Hayley and Big Pete.
ICT REPORT - 2018
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Central Leicester’s coaching sessions at Gartree High school each Monday evening remain full to the
brim. No sooner have juniors moved on to higher coaching or in to the adult club, than new members
have swelled the numbers again. The adult club now has two new junior girls and one new junior boy
available for its league teams.
One ‘new addition’ this year is the full green walls in place of the green and white walls originally
designed for Gartree. Central were delighted that the school split the cost of repainting with their
hosts. For both adults and juniors Gartree is now an attractive venue.
Coaches: Greg Howes,Lesley Howes & Ajay Pitrola
PRIMARY SCHOOL COMPETITIONS/PROMOTIONSFosse take the title
Fosse Primary School is Leicestershire’s Countybadminton champion for 2016/17. In the finalsheld at Babington Academy, Burton on the Woldshad the overall pairs winner, but Fosse, as a team,had strength in depth, out-pointing Burton andtaking the team title.
Less Schools but more childrenThis year began with a great deal of optimism afterit was announced that the Government was tovirtually double the sports premium given toprimary schools. We fully expected that moreprimary schools would want to join our promotionsand competitions for the 2017/8 season.However, it has not turned out that way. It couldwell be that, with more to spend, schools couldafford to appoint sports companies to oversee alltheir sporting activities. We have therefore seen afall in participation in Leicester from around 20 to12 schools participating. However, on a very
positive note, the number of children from theseschools engaged in further coaching has risenand we have had to run a further two hour sessionat weekends to accommodate them.
Badminton in generalTwelve months ago I reported on the outrageousdecision by UK Sport to axe Badminton’s elitefunding. Since then they have retractedsomewhat and funded some of our individual eliteplayers. Perhaps our complaints have not been invain after all.
If there is one subject contained more thananything in the emails I receive, it’s the health ofour young children. I received my first one on theday I took on the role of Development Officer.Today, some 9 years on, little has changed in thecontent of those emails.
I maintain that PE or perhaps we should call itHealth and Physical Education should be a coresubject at Primary School. What do you think?
CENTRAL LEICESTER'S JUNIOR CLUBCONTINUALLY FULL
Report from 'The BadmintonMan'Greg Howes
Leicester City Development Officer & Coach
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FOSSE TAKE THE TITLE
Fosse Primary School isLeicestershire’s County badmintonchampion for 2016/17.
Five primary schools qualified for thefinal at Babington College: Fosse,Millfield, Burton on the Wolds, St Johnthe Baptist and Foxton. In all 50children competed for the title of countychampions.
Following the group stages both Fosseand Burton had three pairs through tothe quarter finals, with St Johns andFoxton having one each.
All four schools were represented inthe semi-finals with Burton’s QuinDunkeley and Ned Pritchard facingFoxton’s Alfie Brindley and EdwardBootheway, and Fosse number one’sShaan Rana and Kane Page upagainst St Johns Callum Porter andAdam Yates. In the first match
DunkeleyandPritchardweredominantin their 15-7 win over Brindley andBootheway, but Rana and Page had amuch tougher battle in their last gasp15-12 win over Porter and Yates.
The pair’s final saw Burton’s Dunkeleyand Pritchard v Rana and Pagecompete for first place it was a closematch but the power and experience ofthe Burton pair clinched it 21-17 toclaim the individual pair’s title.
The disappointment of losing the finalsoon turned to elation for Fosse, whenthe team scores were accumulatedand they out pointed Burton on theWolds to become our new CountyChampions.
Team placings:1st Fosse; 2nd Burton on the Wolds; 3rd
St John the Baptist; 4th Foxton; 5th
MillfieldGreg Howes
Leicester City BadmintonCoaching & Development Officer
PRIMARY SCHOOLS COUNTYBADMINTON FINAL Our LBA junior badminton club
has had a very good season, 20players in the beginners groupand 24 in the advanced group.Many of our players have takenpart in the non countytournaments.
We have been very lucky tohave four coaches.
During the summer I am runningsessions on Saturday mornings9.30am to 12pm at BabingtonCollege if anyone wants tocome along contact me.
Telephone 01530 245098
Grahame Forryan
LBA JUNIOR CLUB
LBASUMMER CLUBevery Monday night
BABINGTONCOLLEGE
for more details pleasecontact
Richard on07541133683
USEFULWEBSITESwww.lbadminton.org
(Senior)
www.leicestershireba.co.uk(Schools)
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UNDER 11s & 12s REPORT
& CHAMPIONSHIPS REPORT
Primary Midway 1st LegThe usual northbound trip to Sheffield Concord sportscentre, with a mini super squad seeking experience andraring to have a go! Everyone gave there all including a 1stouting and debut to Bridget Murray. A great day and thesquad cameawaywith a credible 3rd place, but after an errorandqueryupgraded toa fantastic 2ndplaceafter the1st Leg.
Primary Midway 2nd LegGreater depth and interest enabled us to field 2 teams for thereturn Leg giving several players there opportunity to debutwith Tom Cowperthwaite kindly and expertly agreeing tomanage Leics 2. A growing in confidence team 1 attendedbelieving we could hold on to that 2nd place and finish in themedals. A mighty effort by all with great team spirit anddetermination by all in their ability and after a strong seasonsaw us battle with old adversaries Warwickshire 2,Yorkshire 2 and Notts in the group phase. Leicestershirelosing narrowly to Notts to finish runners up in the group andleavingus facingaplayoff for third.Theother sideof thedrawsaw Leics 2 pull together and playing fantastic badmintonachieve the same result and finish runners up in their grouponly losing to Warwickshire 1. This set up a play off for 3rdplace against Leics 1. Leics 1 went on to finish 3rd and claimrunner up overall. What a fantastic result for both youngsides.
Well done to all the parents for support and patience on along day.
U12 Shires LeagueWith 90% of the team making their debut in the ShiresLeague and the majority being U11 it was going to be aninteresting season. A tough draw saw us play againstYorkshire1, Hertfordshire, Warwickshire 1 and 2,Buckinghamshire and Cheshire.Yorkshire 1 was a tough away match and the experienceYorkshire side came away 17-3 winners. Next up was aneven stronger Hertfordshire side who won 20-0 with someclosematches going to 3 endsbut just losing.Undeterredwenext faced Warwickshire 1 and 2 in the same day at home.Warwickshire 1 were too strong for us but we easily beatWarwickshire 2 17-3 to secure the 1stwin! This then spurredthe team on to fight hard and beat Cheshire 17-3 and finallybeat Buckinghamshire to finish a fantastic season with threewins and three losses. This left us in 8th position out of 16teams and gained us qualification to the shires Finals!
The Shires finals were held at Stoke Mandeville right in theEaster break.With not all the squadavailable due toholidaysand both George and Matilda returning on the day of thefinals from far off destinations it was going to be tough toimprove on the 8th position. The team were totally focusedand ready to perform and in the first game against Devondrew 10-10 only losing on count back after leics concededfour matches 21-0 due to an unforced delay of a player at theairport! This then put them in a play off for places 5-8 againstEssex first who after lots of tough matches Leicestershirewon 11-9 to set up a 5-6th play off against Surrey.Unfortunately Surrey were too strong but Leicestershirefought hard all day a finished a very credible 6th overall. Allthe team played fantastic and we were very proud how theygave it their all. Particularly the girls who won 11 out of 12singles and hardly dropped any games all day.
Bring on next season when the squad are true U12’s!
Under 12 ChampionshipsThis yearsU12sChampionshipswent off like a dream,manyyoung players (the youngest 7 years old) turned up tocompete against each other.
The boys singles was played in two groups with the top twogoing through toplayasemiand final, thesemi finalistswere:Quinn v Ollie and George v Alex . Quinn and George won thesemis and the finals was set, what a exciting final two lovelyplayers competing for the singles crown, George took thefirst end but Quinn fought back and 3 ends was needed toseparate the lads, George was triumphant winning the lastgame 25- 23!
The girls singles was played in one group of six, Sylvie wasthe outright winner by winning all her games, the runner uphad to be decided on points as Katie, Lola and Mitilda weretied on wins, Katie just edged it by 5 points and took secondplace.
The boys doubles were played in a round robin with the justfour pairs all fighting it out. The number 1 seeds Quinn andGeorge won all three games to win outright with Adam andAlex finishing runners up.
There were only three pairs in the girls doubles, but all sixgirls showed what a good level they are at, considering theirages. Zara, aged 7 years, filled in for her injured sister Lexiand enjoyed the day so much she also played in the mixedevent with Oli. The winners were Matilda and Sylvie, runnersup Katie and Lola.
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This year was the first year that Mixed doubles had beenincluded, and what a lovely thing to watch, the girls really didtry to play mixed by covering the net and the boys in chargeof the rear court ! it was playedas round robin so all pairs hada chance to compete against each other which made itinterested to watch.
The winners were Quinn and Sylvie and the runners upGeorge and Katie.
It was a fabulous days badminton and wonderful to see ouryoung players in action.
Abigwell done toSylviewho joined the tripleChampionclub !
For our first season as managers Chris and I havethroughly enjoyed managing such enthusiastic charactersand see them all develop. Many have improved their skillsand play whilst also making a great effort to overcomeemotional pressure, which as such young players is verymuch appreciated. They are all so keen to achieve andthis has made us immensely proud all year. It culminatedwith a great result in the Primary Midway medal, fantastic6th position in the Shires League and many medals on thenational circuit. We had Quinn, George, Sylvie, Matilda,Katie and Lola all represent Leicestershire at the U11Nationals as well! What a fantastic team and year wehave had!
Massive thanks to the parents and PC coaches as well forsupporting such a young side.
Sylvie gets Triple Crown inU12s Championships
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This year has been a tough campaign for our Leicestershire team beingdrawn in a strong pool, however the team consistently showed a greatattitude. We featured three new faces to Shires duty who gained anexcellent experience and thoroughly enjoyed their rookie season.
We got off to a great start convincingly winning against Yorkshire 2 andStaffordshire. Next upwasa longhaul trip to Ipswichandwhere thereweresome incredibly closely fought games. Fortunately the results came ourway and we left Ipswich, requiring only one win from the next threematches to ensure a playoff position.
Next up was Norfolk but unfortunately ‘the Beast from the East’ forced therearrangement of this fixture and as well another which caused a verycongested month of matches in March. Taking the risk in the snow, six ofour players travelled to Yorkshire to face their first team, unfortunatelyYorkshire proved to be too strong and we went away with a loss. Howevera big thank you to these players for travelling in such difficult conditions(and of course to their parents!!)
In the penultimate group match, Warwickshire 2 proved far stronger thananticipated and although there were some excellent displays of effort,sportsmanship and teamwork, a couple of incredibly close games wereclosed out in favour of the opponents, final result – draw.
Unfortunately the final Norfolk game couldn’t be rearranged but we weregiven the win, finishing a very creditable 10th which meant a date withDevon in the playoff, away! Travelling with only 6 players proved too muchof a task against a strong opposition and with that, the campaign over.
Again a big thank you to the commitment of the players and their parentsto travelling to these matches and showing dedication and commitmentthroughout the season..
Those who represented U14 in the Shires this year are, Carly (5),Hannah (3), Fallon (3), Evie (3), Sylvie (3), Matilda (2), Sansha (1),Thomas (6), Leo (6), William (6), Mitchell (5) and Eddie (1)
UNDER 14s SHIRES LEAGUES
Two legs and a great opportunity to get many new players involved – fifteenfaces in total and for four of them, their first time in a county shirt.
The first leg finished strongly, with our more experienced team only beingbeaten by a very good Yorkshire 1 team. The second leg featured a lessexperienced squad and new players, who worked extremely well togetherand were a credit to their county shirt. Their efforts and commitment to oneanother was excellent and they played with real positivity and endeavour.Many games were decided by narrow margins and a very closely foughtmatch vs Yorkshire finished 5-5, a points count back was needed,unfortunately this was lost by a mere 4 points. This meant a creditable finalposition of 3rdoverall for both events.
Those representing in the Midway included; Carly, Fallon, Sylvie,Matilda, Lucy, Isla-May, Amy, William, Mitchell, Eddie, Archie, Jack,Jack, and Gabrielle.
UNDER 13s MIDWAY
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As the manager of the U15s team (the oddage group year) we only compete in the NorthMidway league, which is played over twolegs.
After the first leg we were standing in 3rdplace, going into the 2nd leg the team weredetermined to improve on that position.
We travelled to Sheffield on Easter Sundaykeen and ready to compete, our first matchwas against the league leaders Lancashire,we gave it our best shot all our players playedto the top of their ability, but Lancashire had astrong side and we lost 7-3 although we hadsome very close games, two games going to21-20, it was a great team effort. We then tookon Warkwickshire and it just wasn't our day,we lost 6-4, again some very close games.We then ended the day on a high noteby beating both Yorkshire 1 and 2 which isalways nice. Our final position was 3rd. It wasa fantastic effort from all the team made up ofOwen, Ayush, Lewis, Elliott, Tilly, Emma,Hannah and Carly.
Thanks to Luke who helped on the day tomotivate the team and keep them amusedwith his antics.
Amie HoultUnder 15s Manager
UNDER 15s NORTHMIDWAY TEAM
PLEASE CONTACTCAROLE OR GREG
If you would like to take any coachingqualification, start up your own Junior
Club or be a badminton volunteerCoaching opportunities for your
members
[email protected] 01530 811984
[email protected] 0116 2621476
UNDER 13sNATIONAL BRONZE MEDAL
FOR CARLY
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Going into this season the target for this team wasalways to qualify for the finals. With many of lastyear title winning U14s squad stepping up a yearand looking to continue the success.
Our first match of the season was against localrivals Derbyshire, with no Sophie and only half aGrace this could easily have turned into a trickytie. However no such problems as we displayedall the concentration and intensity need tocomfortably win 16-4. This very much set thetone, the next match was against Yorkshire 2which was won 20-0.
After this was a somewhat strange tie againstLincolnshire, they were a player short, somehowDanny ended up playing 2nd ladies singles forLincolnshire, however he was quickly dispatchedby Sophie losing in 2 ends. We won this match18-2.
Up next was our second local rivalry of theseason, Nottinghamshire. With Sophie stayingaway at a Gold tournament, all the best laid planswere ruined by Jess making into the finals of thesame tournament, however after a quick
emergency text to Carly and we had a very ablereplacement. I take great pride in sayingeverybody played well and we rolled Notts over20-0!!!
Our last 2 matches of the regular season wereagainst Warwickshire 1 & 2. With Warwickshire 1arguably the strongest team in the country thiswas always going to be an uphill battle, anddespite some well fought games we came outlosing 15-5, our first defeat of the season. A quickreaction was needed by the players to recoverand put an impressive performance in againstWarwickshire 2, a big win would guarantee aplayoff spot. That is exactly what we did winning18-2, giving us an impressive 5th place finish.
Our league finish gave us a home playoff againstNorfolk. Norfolk having travelled to Leicester for a9am start, were promptly dismissed by a veryprofessional performance and a 20-0 win.
With Shires Finals and the York TeamTournament to play, this season has all thepotential to become another success.
Chris Hall, Manager
UNDER 16s REPORT
2017/18 LEICESTERSHIRE LEAGUE RESULTS
17
MASTERSIf you are turning of age! 40 years plusand would like more information on the
Leicestershire Masters Teamplease contact Carol Harding
LEICESTERSHIRE OPENBabington Academy
Saturday 23rd& Sunday 24th June(re-arranged due to snow)
Peter started his badminton career in Leicestershire, and was soon recognised as a young man with some talent .
After his success playing though the junior ranks and many hours of training on the courts, competing intournaments and juggling a university degree his dream was recognised, he is now a profession player ranked36 in the world for men's doubles. He travels the world with his regular partner Tom Wolfenden competing againstthe best players in the world. The season has been a busy one, starting in September by winning the EnglishNationals Championships in Wycombe, competing in the European Championships, the Thomas Cup in China,The Yonex All England, German Open, Swiss open and European Team tournament in Russia. The cream onthe cake was in July 2017 when the guys got their glory and won the Canadian Open.
PETER BRIGGS
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Luke Hoult, U14 last year, U16 this year.WHERE ARE THE YEARS GOING ?????
TRIPLE WINNER FOR THE2ND YEAR RUNNING
UNDER 16s CHAMPIONS RESULTS
BOYS SINGLESWINNER: LUKE
RUNNER UP: TOM
GIRLS SINGLESWINNER: JESS
RUNNER UP: TAMSIN
BOYS DOUBLESWINNERS: LUKE AND ROWAN
RUNNERS UP: OWEN AND LOUIE
GIRLS DOUBLESWINNERS: JESS AND TAMSIN
RUNNERS UP: SOPHIE AND CARLY
MIXED DOUBLES:WINNERS: GRACE AND LUKE
RUNNERS UP: TOM AND TAMSIN
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Asuccessful season for Sophie (Leicestershire) and partnerMegan from Notts. The girls have worked hard to build agood doubles partnership which showed by them winningthree silver medals and two bronzes in Badminton EnglandU15s Gold tournaments this season. As they headed off toRedbridge to the U16s Nationals they were looking forwardto going one better than silver after loosing in three finals.They won their group stage comfortably, the quarter finalwas a different affair, it was a much tougher match, but thegirls were playing well winning the first game then justclinched it in the 2nd, 22-20. A nights rest then onto the semifinals on theSunday, thegirls knew thismatchwouldbehardas their opponentswere the number 2 seeds, after a excitingmatch which lasted 45 minutes they came through winning21-19 in the 3rd end. Onto the final the girls had a verynervous start, which saw them lose the first end 21-6, aftersucha lowscoringgamestarting the2ndend theirmoralwaslow, but then suddenly they camealive andweredeterminedto do better, surprising their opponents as they took the nexttwo games just managing to win 22-19 in the 3rd. The2017/18 National Girls Doubles title was theirs, what an endto the season.Big thanks to Chris Hall (Leicestershire) and Notts coachPete Mills for their coaching on the day.
Ian Watson
THE 2017/18 UNDER 16s GIRLS DOUBLESNATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Luke had a great end to the tournament season bycoming away from the U15s nationals with a bronzemedal in the doubles event.He started the day with the mixed partnering GraceSherwin also Leicestershire. The mixed is always atough event as it's a knock out so not much room forerror. Theywon their first game in 2 ends, they knew thenext game would be more difficult and they were right,they lost in 2 ends to a good pair. Next up was thesingles event. Luke had two good wins in his singles
game which got him out of his box for the first time thisseason, he then went onto to win the next game, butthen an experienced singles player Oli Buckler stood inhis way of progressing any further. At their last meetingLuke lost quite badly, but this timeLukewasdeterminedto give him a good game, he achieved this butunfortunately lost the game. Doubles were next with hispartner from Dorset, Jake Prentice, they won their 2groupgameswhich took them into the knockout stages.They won the next game, now onto the the quarterfinals, this was a very nail biting match which they justwon 21-23 in the 3rd end.
A good nights sleep then onto the next day the semi, atthis stage in the competition you really have to beon topform, they worked hard and tried their best but the rivalpair, Dan and Joe, were just too strong on the day andthe tournament was over for Luke and Jake.
Naturally Luke was disappointed but was pleased witha national bronze medal in a strong field of players.
A National Medal for Luke
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Sunday 3rd December saw the U17s travel tothe Concord Leisure Centre in Sheffield totackle the first leg of the annual North MidwayLeague – one of the players’ favouritefixtures of the season!
With several counties unfortunatelymissing due to Shires League clashes, theday was not as keenly contested as usual buthopes were high that Team Leicestershirecould make a strong start to their campaign towin the League for the second consecutiveyear.
The Team:Sameer, Harry, Rowan, Joe, Tom,Tamsin, Tilly, Izzy, Jess & GraceWith easy wins in every rubber, the team arein an excellent position to repeat this feat,finishing in first overall position having lostonly five games all day and posting a total of1026 points, well ahead of second placeYorkshire 1 with 928:
Leicestershire 10 – 0 LancashireLeicestershire 8 – 2 Yorkshire 1Leicestershire 10 – 0 CheshireLeicestershire 8 – 2 StaffordshireLeicestershire 9 – 1 Yorkshire 2
Unfortunately due to the snowy weather this yearthe second leg was cancelled.
UNDER 17s REPORT
Leicestershire players Tom and Eve came avery respectable 3rd place representing theEast Midlands College Badminton team inthe regional championships.
REGIONAL COLLEGECHAMPIONSHIPS
LSBAJUNIOR COUNTY TRIALS
Babington AcademySunday 17th May9-30am - 12-30pm
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Girls WinnersDe Lisle College
LSBA UNDER 18s SCHOOLS LEAGUESBoys Winners
Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth I College
The Leicestershire Schools Badminton Leagues winners 2017/18 were:
The winning schools from the County finals went through tocompete in the East Midland Regional round of Badminton EnglandNational Schools Championships at Nottingham University onMarch 19th.There were some hard fought games against teams fromDerbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire.Humphrey Perkins KS4 girls fought hard against some goodopponents but unfortunately lost all their matches, Ashby KS4 boysjust missed out this year on progressing into the National round bylosing 3-2 against William Farr, giving the Ashby lads second place.Good news for the two remaining Leicestershire schools, asNewbridge KS3 boys and Iveshead KS3 girls won all their matchesand went through to the National finals to represent the EastMidlands.
LEICESTERSHIRE SCHOOLS' BADMINTON LEAGUES WINNERS
KS3 Girls - Iveshead
KS3 Boys - Newbridge KS4 Girls - Humphrey Perkins KS4 Boys - Ashby
KS4 - Boys - AshbyKS4 Girls - Humphrey Perkins
KS3 - Girls - IvesheadKS3 - Boys - Newbridge
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UNDER 18s REPORTThe U18 squad have had a successful season, coming 9th in the Shires League, only losing one match to Yorkshire's firstteam. They then travelled down to Bristol to play Avon for a place in the Shires League finals. The team won 15-5 so will beplaying for a final position between 1-8 on Sunday 27th May!! Great finish, particularly for the five older players in the squad,to end their junior careers and the 2017-18 season on a high!
The squad also journeyed up to York one weekend in January to take part in the York RIO (Railway Institute Open)tournament. This isan invitational tournament competedbyeight countiesandaweekendenjoyedbyall ... players,managersand parents! The team had some hard fought close matches, great preparation for ICT, and came 7th overall.
TEAM PLAYERS
FOR THE
2017/18 SHIRES LEAGUES
& 2018 RIO
Martin, Tom, Eve, Ella, Hritika,
Sameer, Harry, Izzy, Jess R,
Jess A, Rowan, Luke,
Tamsin and Joe
23
This year's U18 CountyChampionships had, what must be, arecord number of entries for this agegroup compared to previous years!There were 24 entrants, 18 of thosecompeted in all three events ... it wasa long day with many hard foughtclose matches and fantastic displaysof courage and determination!
Special congratulations to Martin,triple county champion in boyssingles, level doubles with Tom andmixedwith Eve. Eve alsowon the girlssinglesgivingher thedouble this year.Well done to both!
FULL RESULTS
Singles winnersMartin Beynon and Eve DaleRunners upSameer Chenia and Hritika Modi
Boys doubles winnersMartin Beynon and TomCowperthwaiteRunners upSameer Chenia and Harry Clare
Girls doubles winnersJess Allen and Tamsin BettsRunners upIzzy Pike and Jess Rodgers
Mixed doubles winnersMartin Beynon and Eve DaleRunners upHarry Clare and Izzy Pike
U18s COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
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In a season that has seen Leicestershire achieveincredible results across the board, the PC cancertainly be proud to be associated with so manytalented and hardworking individuals whocontinue to push Leicestershire forward.Leicestershire 1st team, who achieved it’s highestfinishing position in memory, has five players whohave trained with us in the past few years. Wehave an U17 European Champion, U19 & U15National Champions, U19, U15 & U13 NationalBronze Medallists and countless other medalsand achievements from around the country inevery discipline. Achievements that we aremassively proud to have played even the smallestpart in.
During the year, and certainly since Christmastime, we must highlight just how good theapplication to the training has been. Not only inthe effort level but also the commitment andwillingness to buy into routines has been a hugeimprovement. This is a great start, but as always,we can still get better!
I recently went down to watch the U11 Nationals,I came away with one word that highlighted thedifference between the very top players and thegood players, FOCUS! This is a lesson that wecan all learn, every time we train we are there toimprove as both badminton players and athletes.
Players must ask themselves, how good do I wantto be? What am I willing to do? These aren’tquestions that we can merely tell players theanswers to, but that the players must answerthrough actions.
As a PC we must challenge our players toconstantly become braver and to accept thatdevelopment is a process. Be brave enough toaccept that result aren’t always the mostimportant things.
We have had the current PC Structure in place fora few years now and believe, whilst there is stillroom for improvement, we have a very goodsystem that can successfully develop players tobe able to compete at a very high level. We arealways looking to improve the system anddevelop as a PC and give our players the bestchances of achieving their ambitions in the gamewe all love.
As ever the PC is thankful to all the supportiveparents and hardworking committed players. Wemust also thank our incredible committee andcoaches for the time and effort that they put intoour system.
Here’s to another successful year forLeicestershire Badminton.
PERFORMANCE CENTRE REPORT
25
I once again take great pleasure in providingthis end of season report.
This Association work with Schools, Clubsand Local Sports Associations throughout theCounty to provide Competitive play forchildren from the ages of 8 to 17 years.
Many thanks to all of our Team Managers andCoaches for the management and teamselection during our competitive campaignthis season.
Also thanks to all parents and volunteers – wecould not function without your tirelesssupport.
I would like to single out our Junior CountyCaptain – Chris Hall, a position he has held forfour years. Chris provides a valuableconnection between the players,performance centre and parents.
This is our 5th year of the formal TeamLeicestershire/Performance Centre set up.Well done to Chris, Mark, Anthony and allcoaches involved.
Leicestershire Senior County 1st teamachieved a top three finish in the CountyPremiership league recently. This is the firsttime this has been achieved by anyLeicestershire team!
Out of the 12 players competing in the aboveteam - six have come through theLeicestershire Junior to Senior system!!
Quite an achievement – and a testimony toour long term ‘Team Leicestershire' legacy!
We continue to be supported by Greg Howes- Leicestershire’s Badminton Development
Officer – ‘Mr Badminton Man' efforts andinvolvement is not only Junior but all aspectsof Leicestershire Badminton.
Congratulations all of our success incompetitive play both individually and at teamlevel. Details of which can be found on theLSBA website and in this Newsletter.
To date so far our very young team of U12sreached the Shire Leagues Finals finishing 6th
in the country, the U18 Shires Teams arethrough to the finals, and the U14 & U16reached the Play offs.
The U18 ICT Team had a fantastictournament this year finishing 12th of 32teams!
Without players there would be no LSBA. Wehave a dedicated network of coaches andofficials that take every opportunity to ‘talentspot’ for young new players. This is done atarea coaching sessions, schools leagues,trials and club coaches introducing theirplayers. A special mention to Carole Spencer,Greg Howes, Terry Talbot, Graham Forryanand Ajay Pitrola for their efforts.
A final mention, not only those mentionedearlier, but to all members of the LSBACommittee who work behind the scenes.
A special mention to Cathy Buckler who willbe retiring from the position of Secretary at theend of this season. The five years Cathy hasbeen in the position has been one of totaldedication! Her attention to detail and themany hours of committee tasks have beenmuch to be admired. Cathy enjoy yourretirement!
Dave Armstrong, Chairman
LEICESTERSHIRE SCHOOLS BADMINTON ASSOCIATION
Chairman’s Report for the - 2017/2018 season
26
More and more Leicestershire players are enteringBadminton England National tournaments, some asyoung as eight years old. The experience of playing incompetition is so important if our players are toprogress to a good standard, it's not just about winningmedals at this age, although its a very nice feelingwhen you do! It's about learning from your experiencesas a tournament player, working hard in training toachieve the best you can be.
The Leicestershire Performance Centre offers theplayers the opportunity to train 2.5 hrs twice a week onTuesday and Thursday under the experienced handsof Anthony Clark (Performance Director), Mark King(Senior County Captain) and Chris Hall (LSBA County
Captain). The training doesn't end there as quite a lotof the players also have one-to-one coaching. Theseyoungsters are very dedicated to badminton as aretheir parents who put a lot of money and time into theirchildren to enhance their progression in this sport,tournament fees, hotel costs and travel costs are notcheap.
"Badminton parents" do spend a lot of time with theirchildren seeing them grow and progress in a sport thatthey enjoy, which I think is great, they grow up soquickly then they fly the nest and it all goes quiet!!! andyou can have your weekends back.
Carole
TOURNAMENT PLAYERS 2017/18 SEASON
27
TOURNAMENT PLAYERS 2017/18 SEASON
28
TOURNAMENT PLAYERS 2017/18 SEASON
29
Leicestershire's Hope Warner's badmintoncareer is going from strength to strength shehas come a long way since starting herbadminton career at Babington.
It's pleasing to see such a lovely young ladydoing well in a sport that she loves. Hope isranked at number 1 in her age group at bothgirls doubles and mixed doubles, she has hada very busy and exciting season some of herresults consist of winner of the Derby-Nottsgold mixed event, Northumberland mixedand doubles winners, U19s Nationals womendoubles champions and runner up in themixed, she reached the quarter finals of theBulgarian senior open, and was selected torepresent England at the U19 world teamchampionships, and the U17s six nationalstournament in Denmark. Her mainacheivment in November was travelling toPrague and becoming U17 European mixed
doubles champion. What a season, and stillonly 17 years old.
Hope trains at Loughbouough University andis a Leicestershire and Rutland "GO GOLDambassador" for badminton, which helps tofund her to reach her full potential.
Congratulations to Hope who was alsonamed this years Leicester Mercury youngsportswomen of the year.
The end of the tournament season does notmean that its time to rest, she will be puttingmany hours in at the gym getting ready foranother busy 2018/19 season.
Hope is a very talented young lady who is verydedicated to her sport, I am sure we will bereporting on Hope's badminton career formany years to come, we wish her everysuccess in the future.
HOPE WARNER
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LBCA CHAIRMAN'S REPORTIt is my pleasure as Chairman to report on another successful yearfor Leicestershire Badminton.We as an association continue to push towards the targets andvision of the newly revised development plan which provides astrong road map for our future. I am delighted to report thrivingprogress towards this plan. My thanks also goes to my fellowmanagement committee. The committee has worked well duringthe year. I really appreciate the energy and commitment eachindividual of the committee brings to the association.
NO STRINGS BADMINTONThe beauty of No Strings Badminton is its simplicity. There are nomembership fees, no contracts or hidden clauses to tie you down.This is why the current session at Babington Academy is stillrunning with record numbers, topping at 43 people turning up onenight!! There is a good mix of ability and genders and everyonethoroughly enjoys the fun, friendly atmosphere.
CENTRAL LEICESTER BADMINTON CLUBHavinga thrivingclubmembershipand juniormembership,CentralLeicester Badminton Club made a milestone decision before the2017/2018 season. Several adult club members got together toloan the club funds totally more than £1500 which was matchfunded by Gartree School to refurbish the existing hall. Repaintingthe walls green meant that the standard of badminton playedimproved greatly as most players were now able to see theshuttlecock!
SUMMER DOUBLES TOURNAMENT JULY 2017Another great tournament with some very close matches. Thestandard is improving each year.Mens Doubles Winners:Rahul Navichandra and Kiran DharmendraLadies Doubles Winners: Hamsi Ganesh, Shruti ShindeMixed Doubles Winners: Karli Leung, Leo
ADULT BADMINTON COACHINGOngoing sessions held at Babington Academy on Saturdayevenings. If you are beginner/improver and want to improve yourgame and learn the skills and techniques, this is the course for you.It will be on a first come first serve basis and places are limited.
To get more information please contact Ajay on:[email protected]
NEW SATURDAY JUNIOR BADMINTON SESSIONI have started a new session at Babington Academy that runs eachSaturday between 12-2pm. This session is to support the juniorcoaching undertaken in schools by Greg Howes and provides apathway in the Team Leicestershire setup. The sessions havegrown in popularity since they started in November 2017. The aimis to encourage more grassroots players into the sport.
Ajay
31
Well done to everyone involved with the seniorcounty teams, here are the links to how thethree teams have done this year:
The county 1st team led by Tom Armstrong hashad an excellent year in the premier divisionwith a best ever finish of 3rd above some verystrong counties such as Yorkshire and Bucks.1st Team colours for Hope Warner, Grace Taylorand Sahil Sipani. 1st team player of the yeargoes to Sarita Patel with an impressive successratio of 69%, with Tom Armstrong and Zoe Kingclose behind both with success ratios over60%.
The county 2nd team led by Toby Moon has in theend had a disappointing year and althougheveryone gave there all it wasn’t meant to be,and sadly the team has been relegated todivision 3 to play alongside our 3rd team. Nextseason I’m sure they will all be super motivatedto get back to division 2. 2nd team county colours
for: Wembley Prince 2nd team player of the yeargoes to Simon White.
The 3rd team led by Louise Lester have had avery tough year in division 3 after beingpromoted last season. Aided by some greatcontributions from our junior players the teamheld their nerve to stay in division 3 by 2 points!And then came 4th overall. 3rd team countycolours: Kyle Cherry, Issy Pike and Jess Allen.3rd team player of the years goes toMark Jeffreys with an 80% success ratio.
I also have some sad news to report; LouiseLester after many years of playing andcaptaining Leicestershire county teams hasdecided to step down. Lou has been awonderful and incredibly organised captaingiving her all. On behalf of everyone in thecounty, thank you Lou.
Mark KingLeicestershire Badminton County Captain
LEICESTERSHIRE SENIOR COUNTY 2017-18
Over 65 Masters TeamThe Over 65 masters team won all their league matches this season, won a play off match which took them through to theNational finals in Hatfield.Once again the draw was against them as their first match was against Lancashire the current title holders. Lancashire area very experienced team who have players that have represented England. The Leics team were determined to giveeverything they had, and they did, the wholeteam played to the best of their ability,unfortunately the final score was a 9-0 loss,but many games were close and it wasdeemed a great match.Day 2 Leicestershire had to play Wiltshire,playing off for 3/4th position, some very tiredlegs but just enough left in the tank to get a 8-1win, this gave the team 3rd position in thecountry, which is a great result.Big thanks to Captain Edward Hayes whodoes a great job of organising the team.
The team:Carole Spencer, Jan Thompson,
Cathy Buckler, Dave Watts,Edward Hayes & Richard Dayman
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This year Leicestershire entered an O45, O50, O55 ANDO65 team in the Inter County Masters CountyChampionships.
Shortage of known keen players, especially women, in theO40 and 060 age group meant we were unable to enterteams.
The O45 team beat Shropshire twice 8-4, 7-5, drew againstDerbyshire 6-6, and lost to Nottinghamshire twice 3-9.The O50 team beat Norfolk 7-5, Lincolnshire 9-3, 6-6, losingto Nottinghamshire twice.
The O50 team beat Norfolk 7-5, Lincolnshire 9-3, 6-6, losingto Nottinghamshire twice.
The O55 team beat Northamptonshire twice, 8-4, 6-3, andlost to Shropshire and Nottinghamshire.
TheO65 team, again, hada very successful season,winningNorthamptonshire twice, 6-3 and 7-2, Buckinghamshire 2nd
twice, 9-0, 9-0, and Hertfordshire once 6-3, losing away 4-5.
They then went on to beat Cheshire 7-2 in the playoffEastMidsvWestMids, soareheading for the finals tobeheldin Hatfield on the 28/29th April.
Asmentionedearlierweneeda larger pool of players toentermore teams, and keep the ones above running.
Trials are held in September, at the LBA Hall, for any playersinterested in joining the squads.
Badminton England would like all Counties to appoint aDevelopment Officer to promote Masters Badminton, ifanyone is interested please phone me to get moreinformation.
I would also like someone to take over my job as Masters co-ordinator and Match Secretary. Having done it for twentyyears, the time has come to pass the job on to a youngerplayer.
Carol Harding01509 550207
MASTERS REPORT 2017 - 18
Mark King and Carl Jennings as number 2seeds stormed to victory in the mastersEnglish Nationals men's doubles over 40sevent.
In the final they beat the number 1 seeds intwo sets 21-17, 21-19, to finally beat thechampions of the previous two years.
Carl also won the All England Seniors O40’smixed with Rebecca Pantaney to completethe collection of at O40’s winning singles,doubles and mixed at both Nationals and AllEngland – a brilliant achievement.
Mark and Carl both represented England thisseason in the 2018 McCoig Trophy againstScotland in Glasgow (winning their games)
They and are off to Represent Team Englandin the 2018 Nations Cup in June.
Hope it goes well Guys !!!
NATIONAL TITLE FOR MARK & CARL
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For Leicestershire to continue to enter teams in the NationalMasters Leagues we need a willing volunteer to be thecoordinator.
Carol Harding has done a wonderful job over the last 20 yearsallowing a lot of players to represent their county. I know Carol haswanted to retire from thisposition for acoupleof years,BUTnoonehas offered their services to take over, she has requested onceagain in this years report that she wants this season to be the last.Please consider helping your county to be represented in theleagues and offer your help.
I am sure Carol will be more than happy to explain in detail whatis required to do this job.
Please call her on 01509 550207 or drop her an email:[email protected]
Carole
Every season Leicestershire enter Masters teamsinto the national leagues as we will be doing againin 2018/19 season.If you play in the leagues you are eligible torepresent the county.
Every year Carol Harding organisers sessionsinviting players to come along to the masterstrials, it's usually at the start of September atBabington.
For us to continue to select teams we need toknow what players are out there that might beinterested in playing, so please let Carol knownow and she will send you the dates of the trials.Please don't think that you are not good enough!!Come along and give it a try.
Please help us to continue to fly the flagfor "Leicestershire MASTERS".
The LBA committee meet on aregular basis and usually has atleast 10 members at eachmeeting. We discuss a range ofissues from improvements to theLBA Hall to ways we canencourage grass rootsBadminton.
We are aware of issues affectinga number of clubs when it comes to attracting newmembers and in particular lady players. We welcomeany ideas members may have to assist or remedy thisproblem.
This years AGM will have a proposal for a change to theexisting Ladies league or the introduction of a new
league to run alongside the existing league butreducing the team to 4 Ladies.
I would ask all clubs to consider this proposal carefullyprior to the AGM.
I would like to offer my congratulations to the senior firstteam who have achieved a third place in the CountyPremiership league for the first time in our history.
Finally I would like to thank all the committee membersfor their dedication throughout the year and to all theclub committee members who do an equally fantasticjob keeping the league running so smoothly.
Ian BosworthLBA Chairman
LBA CHAIRMAN'S REPORT
MASTERS CO-ORDINATORNEEDED
MASTERS BADMINTON
RESULTS
Men's singles: Samuel Ricketts beat Shane Wilson in 3 ends.
Ladies singles: Grace Taylor beat Hritika Modi 21-11, 21-9
Mixed: Zoe King & Tom Armstrong beat Laura Mercer & Anthony Clark 21-16, 21-11
Ladies doubles: Sarita Patel & Laura Mercer beat Zoe King & Grace Taylor 21-14, 16-21, 21-16
Mens doubles: Tom Armstrong & Carl Jennings beat Sam Ricketts & Shane Wilson 21-18, 19-21, 21-18
Leicestershire Restricted Championships 2017/18 Season
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Badminton England have funds available forclubs to bid for to use to develop their club.
This is a great opportunity to assess funds to helpwith anything to do with club development andencouraging membership.
WHAT NEXT? Think of a way that could help yourclub develop and increase membership.(It doesn't have to be a massive project). Forexample, it could be running a summer clubencouraging new members and offeringcoaching.
All clubs seem to be short of ladies, why not dosomething about it and organise Ladies Onlycoaching sessions.
Maybe set up a junior club to work along side thesenior club.
The funding can not be used for existing activitiesor existing members subscriptions.
When you have completed your plan send it to theLBA committee who will take a look and see if it fitsthe criteria of "club development". It can then besubmitted to Badminton England.
Greg and I feel that £500 max per club would bea reasonable amount to start a project, butultimately it's Badminton England who allocatethe funds.
Don't miss this opportunity to develop your club.
Carole and Greg
FUNDING FOR DEVELOPING CLUBSS
LBA Match Secretary Report 2017/18 Season
Loughborough Students Record Haul
In my forty odd years of playing league badminton, ten of those as League Secretary, I donot recall any club winning eight divisions in one season. That honour this year fell to theLoughborough Students, winning all four of their mens divisions, both mixed divisions, theirsecond ladies division and a Hall division. Well done guys. It’s amazing how you don’t seemto get any older!
Also having a successful season were Trinity badminton club from Hinckley securing twotitles and South Leicestershire and Loughborough Town with a similar return.
Last year I reported that Central Leicester had set a league record for the highest points totalfor a losing team. This year they broke that record and were jointly involved in breakinganother record. At the end of their mixed division 3A match against Meltonshire seconds,Central had won a record 11 games and 476 points, yet finished on the losing side. Togetherwith Meltonshire’s 503 points the tie produced the league’s highest total combined pointshaul of 983. Come on Central let’s have a winning record next time!
Greg HowesLBA Match Secretary
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CONGRATULATIONS!6 Medals in the Commonwealth GamesWhat an achievement, thanks to the whole team for giving us
a wonderful tool, "MEDALS" to promote badminton
Maybe one day we will see some faces from Leicestershire on the podium...
CHRIS & GABBY ADCOCKMIXED DOUBLES EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS
And another season comes to a close, howtime fly's. I hope you have had an enjoyableand successful season, a bigcongratulations to all the League winners.
I know a few clubs have been experiencinga lack of lady members and some arefinding it difficult to field full teams.Because of this there is a proposal that theladies teamsconsist of fourplayers andnotsix, in my opinion this is a downward move.We should be trying our hardest toencourage more ladies into the game,reducing the numbers in the team seems tobedefeating the object.Wecannot expectladies of a good level to just appear, we allneed to encourage ladies and men of aslightly lower standard to be a part of ourclubs, if we encourage this, they willdevelop, we cannot have a quick fix! SorryI will get off my soap box now.
As you will see in this newsletter ourLeicestershire junior players areprogressing nicely and are filteringthrough into the senior clubs. I guess someof you have experienced playing against
them already. There are many other goodjuniors that are not playing for the countyor training with the PC. These players areshaping up to be good club players for thefuture and we need to get them into theclubs. So if you are interested in workingwith Greg and I to help this happen pleaseget in touch. Happy to advise.
What a fantastic end to the season for ourEngland players bringing back six medalsfrom the Commonwealth Games and theresent success in Spain in the Europeans.Gabby and Chris retaining their crown inthe mixed doubles, a bronze for Marcusand Lauran and a silver medal for Rajiv inthe singles, congratulations to all theplayers.
This type of success can only help the sportwe all love, inspiring all the young players towork hard and excel in the sport, then thedreams ofmany players of standing on thatrostrum could be realised.
I will end with thanking everyone who sentin the articles, it always seems a shamethat no league clubs contribute, but theyare always asked.
I apologise in advance if I have missedanything that you feel should have beenadded.
And finally a big thanks again toAngie Connors for helping me to put thistogether.
Have a good summer. See you on thecourts !!!
Carole
and finally ...
