Badminton Gloucestershire and the Performance Centre offer help to fund the course in return for coaching and the following help is on offer:
Level 1 Course: 50% of the cost of the course in return for 10 coaching sessions once qualified.
Level 2 Course: 50% of the cost of the course in return for 15 coaching sessions once qualified.
**Please note you can only apply for funding from one of the County or PC, not both. Also this will be subject to approval by the committee dependent on budget and number of applicants.
To apply through county badminton please contact andywoolway88@gmail.com and through the PC please contact director@badmintonglos.co.uk
With this you will receive additional support from the County or PC coaches and are welcome in sessions during your coaching course to achieve your target amount of coaching experience hours.
Level 2 Coaching Course in Gloucestershire – Act Quickly!
July 2, 2019 admin
We are pleased to announce a Level 2 Coaching Qualification has been set up in Gloucestershire starting in October this year. The dates have been organised to avoid county tournaments/matches/etc, so hopefully it won’t clash!
Gloucestershire Level 2 Coaching Course
Dates: Saturday 5th October Learning Day 1 9am – 5pm
Sunday 6th October Learning Day 2 9am – 5pm
Sunday 3rd November Learning Day 3 9am – 5pm
Sunday 8th December Assessment 9am – 5pm
Venue: Stonehouse Sports Centre, Woodcock Close, Stonehouse, GL10 2EE
Badminton Gloucestershire and the Performance Centre offer help to fund the course in return for coaching and the following help is on offer:
Level 1 Course: 50% of the cost of the course in return for 10 coaching sessions once qualified.
Level 2 Course: 50% of the cost of the course in return for 15 coaching sessions once qualified.
**Please note you can only apply for funding from one of the County or PC, not both. Also this will be subject to approval by the committee dependent on budget and number of applicants.
To apply through county badminton please contact andywoolway88@gmail.com and through the PC please contact director@badmintonglos.co.uk
With this you will receive additional support from the County or PC coaches and are welcome in sessions during your coaching course to achieve your target amount of coaching experience hours.
Please find links for all of the reports for the AGM below. I will bring some printed copies on the night.
For reference, there is also the 2018/19 Development Plan which has been reviewed at the most recent directors meeting and also a draft Development Plan for next year. I must stress this is in draft and is likely to change.
This will be a fun event, so ask your partner now. If you are looking for a partner please put partner required and we will do our best to partner you up. See you there!
Annual Junior Charity Tournament – Entries Open
June 6, 2019 admin
***CLOSING DATE – WEDNESDAY 26TH JUNE***
The annual Charity Tournament will be held on Saturday 29th June 2019 – 15:30 at Bournside Sports Centre to raise money for the James Hopkins Trust.
The Trust cares for babies and children up to the age of 5 with life limiting/threatening condtions.
On the Saturday we were drawn against Yorkshire in the Semi Final at a 9.30 am start.
Our number one Mens pairing of Mike Haywood and Zuli Tejrar went on to play the number one Yorkshire pair and after a very hard 3 setter managed to win 21-13 19-21 21-11. We had to play out of order as Yorkshire’s second men’s pair hadn’t arrived so we had to play our number one Ladies doubles pair Mandy Joiner and Linda Pearcy against the Yorkshire number one pair. Gloucester went on to win in 2 straight 21-14 21-19. Our number 2 Mens pair Mike Kennedy and Dave Evans then went on against their second pair and won 21-18 21-19. Our second ladies pair Rhonwen James and Jo Hammond went on to play the Yorkshire second pair and were very unlucky to lose in an exciting 3 setter 21-15 12-21 19-21. Mike and Zuli played the second pair and won but in another tight 3 setter 24-26 21-16 21-11 and Mike K and Dave shocked us all winning against the first men’s pair in three 16-21 21-18 21-19. Mandy and Linda beat the second pair 21-15 and 21-10 and Rhonwen and Jo beat the number one ladies pair 21-19 21-19. At this point we had already won the game before going into the mixed Doubles the score being 7-1.
Our number 1 mixed doubles Mike Haywood and Linda Pearcy went on to win their mixed in three 21-11 11-21 21-12 but unfortunately Zuli Tejrar and Mandy Joiner lost 14-21 20-22, Mike Kennedy and Jo Hammond lost 17-21 22-24 and Phil Richardson and Rachel McGill lost 13-21 16-21 but the match was already won so it didn’t matter!
The other semi final was between Nottingham and Surrey. Surrey won 11-1 so we had to play them in the final on the Sunday at 12.30pm.
The match was a very nip and tuck all the way through. Our first mens pair Mike H and Zuli Tejrar had a very challenging match, Zuli was suffering with a bad back which he woke up with on the Sunday morning but they managed to defeat their opponents in a fabulous 3 setter 13-21 21-13 21-15. Unfortunately Mike K and Phil Richardson missed out the opposition just being a bit too strong 16-21 18-21. Mandy and Linda had a very comfortable ladies doubles against their first pair 21-9 21-11 and against the second ladies pairs 21-9 21-12 and Rachel and Jo had a good win against the ladies 2 pair 21-15 21-15 but unfortunately lost out to Surrey’s First Ladies pair 15-21 21-23 On the men’s doubles swap Mike and Zuli again had yet another 3 setter which they won 13-21 21-9 21-11. This put the score before going into the mixed at 5-3 to Glos. We knew it was going to be tough from here on in as Mike and Zuli had had all 3 setters. Zuli’s back was very stiff and he was playing on adrenaline and we had to get 2 mixed doubles to win. Mike and Linda started off losing the first end and were not very comfortable. In the second game we were 11-8 down when Mike had to stop as he was in agony with cramp. Very sportingly the opposition gave him time to recover and after taking on fluids and hopping about he managed to play on. From then on they settled down winning the second game then going on victoriously winning the 3rd end 17-21 21-14 21-12 Phew!! In the meantime Zuli and Mandy were still playing on the other court and beating their opponents in two straight 24-22 21-15. Mike K and Jo lost in a tough 3 setter just missing out 19-21 21-14 19-21 and Dave and Rhonwen didn’t really get going so they lost in two 10-21 10-21.
We did what we needed to do and won the match eventually 7-5 to be crowned Over 45’s National County Champions.
County AGM – One for the diary!
May 1, 2019 admin
The Gloucestershire County Badminton AGM will be on Tuesday 11th June and will be held as normal at Hucclecote Community Centre at 7:30pm.
Juniors shine at ICT
April 23, 2019 admin
The Gloucestershire U18 team travelled to Nottingham University with seven of the ten members of the team veterans of previous ICT campaigns. It was hoped that the experience in team would give them the edge in close games and this was indeed the case.
Day 1 The team was drawn in a first round group with Yorkshire, Devon and the Isle of Man.The first match (vs Devon) saw an 8-2 defeat, but the scoreline doesn’t really reflect the closeness of the games. Some notable performances from Vivi Jennings-Trace (15-12, 15-12 singles win) and Scott McKenzie (8-15, 15-9, 14-15 singles defeat) gave the team hope that we were going to be tough opposition for virtually all of the teams we were still to face in the tournament. The second match (vs Yorkshire) was always going to be tough against one of the tournament favourites, and so the 10-0 defeat was not unexpected. The final match of the group (vs Isle of Man) was the group 3rd/4th place decider and coach Sol put out his strongest side to get the team a favourable draw for the next round, the following day. The decision paid off with a 6-4 win, with the Reece Watts / Sian Evans mixed doubles partnership getting the team off to a winning start with a 15-9, 15-10 victory. This victory wasn’t just notable for the scoreline, but also for the fantastic team spirit and vocal support (both from the players and supporters on the balcony). The team certainly ended the first day on a big high, with the prospect of playing Cumbria, Northumberland and Cornwall in the second round the following day.
Day 2 A later start on the second day saw the team face Cumbria, the team that had beaten Gloucestershire on the final day of the 2018 tournament. Revenge was sweet with a 9-1 victory, and many dominant performances across the team. Coach Sol kept a similar team for the next match (vs Northumberland) which saw some nail-biting games, none more so than the boys doubles 1 rubber involving Raiph Ackroyd / Alfie Hancock. The rubber went down to 14-14 in the deciding 3rd game, with the Glos boys just missing out on the victory. The girls doubles pair of Sian Evans / Amy Oakley however sealed the important rubber (14-15, 15-5, 15-7) for a 6-4 victory to Gloucestershire. The final match of the group was the decider to see who would be top, against Cornwall. Cornwall have strength across both boys and girls so the match was always going to be a tough one. The Glos performance however was fantastic, ending in the narrowest of defeats (5-5, losing on games count-back). Glos started strongly, taking both mixed doubles rubbers, however the strength of the Cornwall girls was always going to be a problem with defeats in both girls singles and doubles rubbers. The boys hit back, winning both boys doubles rubbers, with an amazing 15-13, 12-15, 13-15 win for Scott McKenzie/Reece Watts against a very strong Cornwall pair. Ear-splitting support from both around the court and up on the balcony was another memorable point to note about this match. The team, just missing out on the top spot, moved into the 21st-24th place group for the final round of the tournament. The group consisted of Oxfordshire, Staffordshire and Worcestershire.
Day 3 The third day of the tournament saw the team arrive early in the badminton hall for a hard warm-up session, attempting to hit the ground running in the first match against Oxfordshire. The warm-up appeared to pay dividends with the mixed pairs of Raiph Ackroyd / Amy Oakley and Reece Watts / Kajal Patel getting the team off to a 2-0 lead. The following four singles matches saw Oxfordshire take both boys rubbers, but Gloucestershire hitting back with both girls rubbers. The same pattern of dominant Oxfordshire boys and Gloucestershire girls saw the doubles pair of Sian Evans / Chinmayi Kirani (15-8, 15-11) seal a 6-4 Glos win in the final rubber. The second (and final) match of the third day was predicted to be the toughest against Staffordshire, and that proved to be the case when the team ended the mixed and boys singles rubbers 4-0 down. This scoreline, however doesn’t reflect the closeness of the defeats in the boys singles, with Scott McKenzie and Reece Watts losing their nail-biting rubbers against two incredibly tough opponents. The match continued to ebb and flow culminating in a tense 15-9, 11-15, 15-13 defeat for Vivi-Jennings-Trace / Amy Oakley in the final rubber of the match, seeing Gloucestershire lose 6-4 in the end.
Day 4 After the fun (!!) of the 3rd day evening disco, coach Sol wanted the team to finish the tournament on a high with a victory against our close neighbours Worcestershire. The pattern of the team and supporters witnessing close boys singles rubbers continued with Raiph Ackroyd narrowly losing 15-13, 9-15, 13-15 to a strong Worcestershire boy. Reece Watts hit back with the second boys singles rubber. Both our mixed pairs won their points, with a memorable performance by Alfie Hancock / Amy Oakley (15-14, 15-7). The boys and girls doubles pairs then cleaned up for a 7-3 victory for Gloucestershire. A special mention must go to Jamie Monteith, who had battled hard throughout the tournament, but up to that point had not secured a victory. Jamie and Reece Watts joined in the points-fest with a 15-11, 15-7 victory.
Summary The Gloucestershire team ended the tournament in 22nd place (out of 32 counties), which is our best placed finish in many, many years. Some incredible badminton was witnessed, with all but one of the matches being close and competitive. The statistics (below) for the tournament prove the closeness of the Gloucestershire matches with us playing a total of 90 rubbers (best of 3 games), winning 45 and losing 45 rubbers. In total, we won 99 games and lost 98 🙂 The team scored 2341 points and conceded 2338.
Thanks must go to Sol Griffiths (head coach), ably assisted by Dom Jones and Andy Woolway. Some inspired team selections and Churchillian team-talks gave the team the edge in those close matches! A special thanks to Frances Ackroyd who accompanied the team for the tournament. Finally, the team was joined by their supporter-in-chief, Jasper Preston, who sadly was injured just before the tournament but was able to accompany the team for all four days. Hopefully this went some way to ease the disappointment of not being able to play.
Congratulations to Scott Mckenzie, who won the vote for Players’ Player of the Tournament.
17-21 English County Challenge 2019 Report
April 15, 2019 admin
Top Left to Right: Henry Jones, Jamie Pearcy, Sam Gibson, Nathan Mead Bottom Left to Right: Chloe Haywood, Ceri Evans, Joanna Gresty, Matilda Tierney
Gloucestershire U21`s
headed to York in search of redemption after a tough 2018 tournament saw the
young team struggle against high quality opposition. Hopefully the tough times
of previous years would server them well and they could bounce back with
another year’s experience playing in tournaments.
The draw saw the team in Group C alongside Essex, Yorkshire
and Isle of Man, a tough group with some well ranked players. Day 1 started
against the hosts Yorkshire who are well known for strength in depth so this
was always going to be a tough start. Both singles went the way of Yorkshire
but the men’s doubles pairing of Jamie Pearcy and Sam Gibson got Glos on the
scoreboard. Jamie doubled up to partner Matilda Tierney to a mixed win but couldn’t
prevent the team from going down 4-2. Not the worst start and the team looked
to be very competitive in this group.
Onto the toughest game of the weekend against group
favourites Essex lead by Rosemary Allen ranked 7 in England in women’s singles
at senior level. The team were under no illusions we would have to pick our
matches and try to scrape a result. Henry Jones found some great form in his
men’s singles but unfortunately lost out in a tough 3 set match against Mannah
Rahman who went unbeaten in singles over the weekend. Ceri Evans played some
good rallies in her singles and deserved a lot of credit for volunteering to
play singles. Both the doubles also went the way of Essex meaning an
unassaibable 4-0 lead going into the mixed. Pearcy/Tierney paired up and lost a
very tight match 21-19 in the third whilst the perfroamance of the match came
from Henry Jones and Chloe Haywood combing to prevent the whitewash. The 5-1
scoreline a bit harsh on the team and if the 3 setters had gone our way a draw
would not have been an unfair result.
Onto the crunch match against Isle of Man, time to step up.
The team got off to a bad start in the singles which saw the team 2-0 down,
potentially expected with Jessica Li turning up for the opponents. The doubles
saw Joanna Gresty and Matilda Tierney with a crucial 2 set victory and the mens
doubles pair of Gibson/Pearcy winning but in 3 sets, would that dropped set
prove crucial come the end of the match. Pearcy/Tierney continued their good
form with a 2 set win so it all came down to final mixed match. Henry
Jones/Chloe Haywood competing in a very intense game sadly losing out in 2 sets
meaning a 3-3 draw but Isle of Man securing 3rd place in the group
on sets won.
This meant on Day 2 Gloucestershire would be competing for 13th-16th
places. A bit harsh considering some fantastic performances throughout Saturday
and being very competitive even against the top teams. Glos would go into day 2
buoyed by form and not disheartened by the final scores.
Glos vs Lancashire looked to be a tight match. Jamie and
Matilda this time taking up the singles responsibilities and both coming
through with 2 set wins, a great start. A reverse in fortune saw both doubles
pairs edged out in 2 sets meaning it again would all come down to the mixed doubles.
Team Glos used to this experience from day 1 and the experience would show.
Pearcy/Tierney combining again to win in 2 sets meaning the set won by
Jones/Gresty in their loss was enough to secure victory meaning Glos would
avoid the playoff for last place and would instead fight for 13th/14th
against Leinster.
Again the team got off to a flying start taking straight set
wins in both singles, the perfect start. Nathan Mead would partner Jamie Pearcy
with Ceri Evans and Joanna Gresty in the womens events. Both succumbing to some
strong Leinster doubles pairs in straight sets. A familiar theme with the tie
to be decided on the mixed games. Pearcy/Tierney winning the first set 21-19
with the reverse result in the other mixed with Gibson/Haywood losing a narrow
first set. Countback meaning the tie was level on sets and Glos leading by 3
points. Pearcy/Tierney losing the second set and everyone feared the worst
before Gibson/Haywood put in a great performance to win the second set and take
the tie down to the final games with the team separated by a single point.
Sadly both pairs eventually losing out meaning a 4-2 loss and a 14th
place finish for Gloucestershire.
All in all it was a very promising tournament from the whole team with every player contributing. Sometimes unlucky with results but the team ran some very good teams close and should be proud of the way they represented their county.
Badminton Gloucestershire was created in May 2012 and is the one stop shop for badminton in Gloucestershire. It is formed of three seperate organisations: BG Community, BG County and BG Performance.
BG Community
Works closely with schools, coaches, volunteers and the local clubs to provide friendly competition, share good practice and introduce people to the game of badminton. Read More
BG County
Provides training and competition for junior, senior and Master’s badminton players and is the next step up from participation in school, junior and league clubs and provides a foundation for movement to the BG Performance centre. Read more
BG Performance
Works with gifted and talented players of all ages and levels of play. Quality coaching is delivered to allow young people the opportunity to develop their potential and reach high competitive levels. Read more
