A huge well done to senior county player Henry Jones who has been selected to represent Team GB at the 2024 Racketlon World Championships.
Henry will travel to Rotterdam to compete over three days of competition taking place between 2nd – 4th August. Racketlon is the combination of the four biggest racket sports in the world: Table Tennis, Badminton, Squash and Tennis and you can keep track of how Henry is doing on Tournament Software
This year the Gloucestershire Restricted Tournament will be held on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd September at Cheltenham College, Thirlestaine Rd, Cheltenham GL53 7AB
If you have a BE number please enter online using Tournament Software
If you do not have a BE number you can use one of these forms:
THE DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS SUNDAY 1st SEPTEMBER
IMPORTANT CHANGE TO THE USUAL SCHEDULE:
Saturday Sept 21st
Adults Singles to completion
U12 and U18 events
Sunday Sept 22nd
Adult doubles and mixed to completion
U14 and U18 events
AGM
Date: Wednesday 19th June
Time: 7pm
Location: Dean Close School
Tuesday 29th August at 7pm
Venue – National Star College, GL53 9QU – Please come to reception where you will be directed.
Here are the various documents/reports available as usual prior to the meeting:
Junior Match Coordinators Report
Please find below a list of roles with a very brief overview of their responsibilities. If you would like to volunteer for any of the roles below, please get in touch with Alistair (alistairpearcy@hotmail.co.uk) or Andy (andywoolway88@gmail.com) / alternatively you can express your interest in person on the night.
County Director – Alistair Pearcy
Overseeing the running of county badminton. This role is designed to provide guidance and support, shaping the badminton offer in Gloucestershire and liaising with Badminton England.
Assistant County Director – Andy Woolway
To support the director with the above. Andy has also been running Playwaze for the junior structure and has been organising ICT admin. Andy will be stepping down from the role this year.
Honorary Secretary/Registration and Treasurer – Emily Prankard
Manages the counties finances. Ensure payments are received and invoices are paid. Tracks all payments to ensure the books are accurate.
Head Coach – Sol Griffiths
Heads all delivery for junior county coaching. Organises county training, plans training sessions and liaises with junior team managers with regards to team matches. The head coach also selects teams and the county training squads.
Community Director – Chris Dickens
Organisation of community events such as meet and greets, CPD opportunities, charity tournaments and junior local leagues. Supports local grassroots badminton.
Assistant Community Director – Mike Griffiths
Supports the Director with the above duties.
Seniors Coordinator – Ian Woolway
Be the BE point of contact for the SCC teams. Lead on selection and ensure all senior county teams are managed/captained well.
Masters Coordinator – Linda Pearcy
Coordinates the fixtures for the Veterans County matches and team tournaments. The coordinator ensures that courts are booked and shuttles are purchased.
Tournament Secretary – Becky Pantaney
Organises and implements Badminton England sanctioned tournaments and the County Restricted.
Junior Fixtures Secretary – Sarah Robbens
Liaises with other county representatives to create a calendar of fixtures. Ensures that courts are booked for home games and that all match details are communicated to the head coach and the junior team managers.
League Representative – Ian Woolway
Represents the counties views to the Local League Committee.
Senior County Selection Committee – Ian Woolway, Isla Townley, Jamie Pearcy, Jon Horsfield and Mandy Joiner.
Selects the playing squads and team selection of matches based on the County Selection Criteria.
In the 2023/24 season we would like to introduce the following roles;
Playwaze Coordinator – this is current fulfilled by the Assistant Director. Playwaze is currently used for communicating training times to players/parents and collecting training fees.
Social Secretary – To ensure social opportunities are provided across the county setup.
The Gloucestershire Senior & Junior Restricted Tournament will be held on 23rd/24th September at Cheltenham College.
The tournament as usual is open to players who meet one of the following criteria:
If you are registered with Badminton England and are able to enter online here is the link:
If you aren’t able to enter online here are the details and entry forms for both the senior and junior tournaments.
Saturday 23rd September Start 09:00 – Finish 18:00
Senior Events up to & incl Quarter Finals, Senior Consolation rounds to completion
Sunday 24th September Start 09:00 – Finish 17:00
Semi Finals and Finals
Saturday 23rd September 2023 – from 9:00 onwards
U12 & U16 Events to completion
Sunday 24th September 2023 – from 9:00 onwards
U14 & U18 Events to completion
If anyone has any issues/questions please contact Bex via email: Badders2010@hotmail.co.uk
Support Badminton Gloucestershire and Be a Part of Our Success Story
Are you passionate about badminton? Are you looking for an opportunity to make a positive impact in your local community? Look no further! Badminton Gloucestershire is seeking sponsorship to take our team to new heights, and we want you to be a part of our journey.
Why Sponsor Badminton Gloucestershire?
How to Get Involved:
We welcome businesses of all sizes to partner with us. Whether you’re a local entrepreneur, a well-established company, or simply a badminton enthusiast with a desire to contribute, we have sponsorship packages tailored to suit your needs and budget.
To explore sponsorship opportunities or discuss customized packages, please contact us at director@badmintonglos.co.uk
Badminton Gloucestershire is ready to take the badminton world by storm, and we want you by our side. Join us in our pursuit of excellence, community development, and sporting achievement. Together, we can make a lasting impact on the local badminton scene.
Don’t miss this chance to showcase your brand, support a passionate team, and make a difference. Become a sponsor of Badminton Gloucestershire today!
Gloucestershire first team travelled to Milton Keynes to compete in the Division 1 playoffs with the hope of gaining promotion to the Championship. The absence of doubles player Mike Haywood who holds a perfect regular season record was a blow to the team but confidence was still high amongst the players.
Having been promoted the previous season to Division 1 the aim was to consolidate and avoid relegation, but the squad surpassed all expectations eventually finishing 2nd behind Lanarkshire and booking a spot in the May playoffs. Joining them from the southern division was Suffolk and Hertfordshire who were sure to provide stiff competition.
Gloucestershire started their promotion challenge against Division 1 South champions Suffolk. The singles went largely as expected except for a slight upset for Kerry Mullen who battled out a 3-set win. The second women’s singles spot has been shared this year by Mullen and Chelsey Salt who have done the job despite not particularly enjoying singles, but their performances and results have been vital for the team. A 3-2 lead going into the doubles would stand strong throughout the doubles with both the men’s and women’s doubles shared between the two teams setting up a grandstand finish for the mixed doubles. Both were nervy encounters going the distance and true to form the games were split resulting in a 6-5 Gloucestershire win. A solid start and performances to build on for the afternoon match against Hertfordshire.
A largely unchanged team went into the afternoon match with lots of confidence and this showed in the singles. Gloucestershire taking a 5-0 lead headed by the men of Jamie Pearcy, Chris Hotchen and Dale Turner and followed up with wins from Sanskriti Chhabra and Chelsey Salt. The doubles went similarly well with just a minor blip in the men’s doubles with Hotchen and Pearcy losing out to a strong Hertfordshire pair but still putting in a promising performance. With every game holding value towards the final table it was important to put a strong mixed performance in even though the tie was won at 8-1. Again the mixed were tight affairs with Nicola Gresty and Jamie Pearcy grinding out a 3-set win whilst Mullen and Ian Woolway eventually missed out 23-21 in a final set decider. The afternoons performance showed everyone what the team was about with every player contributing towards a potentially promotion deciding result. It also set up a super Sunday clash against playoff leaders Lanarkshire.
After a relatively early night Gloucestershire headed back to the National Badminton Centre bright and early to prepare the bodies for one final push towards promotion. The day started with two high quality singles matches. Pearcy just missing out on a perfect men’s singles season but his performances to get the team off to a winning start in every match up until now have been invaluable. Hotchen produced a solid display of patient badminton to grind out a straight set win and give us a 2-1 lead with the help of Lanarkshire forfeiting the third singles match. Women’s singles were always going to be very tricky and despite two valiant performances Gloucestershire would come out of the singles down 3-2. Gloucestershire knew another couple of points would secure promotion and with the level doubles being shared between the two teams’ promotion was secured. Chhabra and Gresty delivering a candidate for performance of the weekend taking down a strong Lanarkshire partnership. With the pressure now off the team could enjoy the final mixed doubles. Despite defeat in both and a final score of 7-4 to Lanarkshire the team had delivered yet again and secured promotion.
| Won | Drew | Lost | Points | |
| Lanarkshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Gloucestershire | 2 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| Suffolk | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| Hertfordshire | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
A massive well done to every player contributing to the team not just in the playoffs but throughout the regular season and a big thank you to all supporters who made the trip to Milton Keynes. Next year will be even tougher in the Championship but there is no doubt this team still has further room for improvement.
**Image courtesy of Alan Spink
ICT saw an increase in teams entered in 2023 to 28 teams meaning that the competition returned to its 4 day format. After finishing 20th out of a possible 22 last year, Gloucestershire were keen to rise up the table. In the first round Gloucestershire were handed a favourable draw of Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire and Cumbria. Lots of unknown facets with these opponents as we have not competed against any of them in the shires league. Gloucestershire had a tough start taking a heavy 9-1 defeat to Nottinghamshire who were exceptionally strong on the girls side. Needing to bounce back we played staffs in the evening match, Gloucestershire showed a few frailties succumbing to a 7-3 defeat…a match that coaches and players feel they could have won. Undeterred the team came out positively Tuesday morning beating Cumbria comfortably 8-2.Round 2 put Gloucestershire in against the Isle of Man and Derbyshire (who beat us narrowly in 2022). Gloucestershire were getting in to their groove beating the Isle of Man 7-3 and beating Derbyshire 8-2 respectively.Tired bodies starting to show the players had to find some energy for round 3. We ended up with surprise opponents Surrey along with Wiltshire and Lancashire. A 9-1 loss to Surrey on Wednesday afternoon was not a true reflection of the match, we fought hard but ultimately came up a long way short. Like the staffs game on day 1, we knew that if we could everyone on top form for Lancashire we would had a chance. Some nervy moments cost us key games in the singles and mixed doubles leaving us on the end of a 6-4 defeat. After another shock loss in the coaches vs players pool game the players had some final night pizza to help in preparations for the big local derby Thursday morning. It worked, Gloucestershire came out firing winning 6-4 …much to the dismay of the Wiltshire coaches.A 17th place finish is a great result. This shows the work Gloucestershire is putting in is working, hopefully we can climb even higher next year. Thanks to everyone who supported on the journeyICT TEAMRex YeungRex Rocco – DevoySam SzczurekAdam WaltonAyush IyengarAnnie LyuChinmayi KiraniAbigail BarnardEmma MilneTilly MannPlayer of the tournament – Annie LyuRunner up – Rex YeungCoaches –Sol GriffithsRebecca PantaneyHannah Mutlow
The first gold tournament of 2023 saw success for Jamie Pearcy winning the Mens Singles at the 2023 Northumberland Senior Gold.
The gold circuit is the top tier of national competition in England with just 5 tournaments taking place over the course of the season. The circuit is for the elite and top level players competing to qualify for the English National Championships which this year takes place on the 4th/5th February in Nottingham.
The 23 year old made the 500+mile round trip in search of his first gold tournament win and seeded 2 was always in with a good shout. He started off with a bye in Round 1 followed up with a comfortable win against Yorkshire’s Jonathan Bedford. In the quarter finals it was another 2 set win against the 5/8 seed Harry Jones where he would compete against Wiltshire’s Saahen Shetty for a place in the final. Having dropped the first set Jamie turned the match around winning 19-21, 21-18, 23-21.
The final promised to be a tight affair against Rohan Thool, although unseeded the Middlesex man toppled the number 1 seed in the semi-finals. Again Jamie dropped the first set but regained his composure to take the next two sets relatively comfortably running out the eventual winner 17-21, 21-12, 21-12.
Well done Jamie!
You can view the full tournament results by clicking here.
Both Junior and Senior restricted tournaments were held over the weekend of the 24th/25th September. The weekend was a great success with a record 139 participants competing over all age groups. This is a great trend for the county and long may it continue:
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| 92 | N/A | 88 | 79 | 87 | 82 | 101 | N/A | 122 | 139 |
All the results can be found by clicking here
Well done to everyone who competed as well as all winners who can expect their engraved trophies soon.
If you have any photos from the weekend, please send them to director@badmintonglos so they can be uploaded to the website!
Badminton England