North Staffs Badminton Development Group

 

Over the past few months we have established the North Staffordshire Badminton Development Group.  The group consists of members of the local badminton community and is looking to expand to include representation from the professional sector.  Any partners that may be interested in working with the group are more than welcome to contact us.

 

BADMINTON England’s whole sport plan aims to engage 70,000 new adult participants as well as 2000 junior players on a performance pathway. The two main platforms to deliver this are the development of Community Badminton Networks (CBN’s) and Performance Centres (PC’s). 

 

In March this year we have seen the arrival of the Potteries PC based in Newcastle-under-Lyme and South Stoke. This performance centre aims to increase/improve the training opportunities for local junior players as well as establishing a coach education/mentoring pathway and supporting initiatives such as Premier League 4 Sport. The PC will receive £30,000 of funding over the next 3 years to develop and set up a sustainable centre for badminton. 

 

Dominies Badminton Club receiving their clubmark certificate - 
From left to right: John Harris (DBC Chairman), Mark Sellwood, Dawn Bracegirdle (Stoke City)
& Lee Rushton (DBC Treasurer).

 

Directly linked to this PC is the North Staffs Badminton Development Group which is in its infancy but has already got representation and support from the local badminton clubs, the badminton leagues, local coaches as well as the Staffordshire County Badminton Association and Staffordshire Schools Badminton Association. The group aims to work with local partners to increase participation through a co-ordinated approach to participation programmes, recreational badminton and club/coach development while improving links between clubs and local establishments like schools & colleges. We have been in contact with the School Sport Partnerships, Local Authorities and the County Sports Partnership about supporting this group.  We are also working with Stoke City as part of the Premier League 4 Sport programme and Stoke-on-Trent City Council on the StreetGames project.  We are currently developing our action plan for the next 12 months as we look to engage as many people as possible in the fantastic sport of badminton as a sport for all.

 

Mark Sellwood
Regional Officer – Staffordshire & Shropshire

T: 01908 268400
M: 07825 981924
E: marksellwood@badmintonengland.co.uk