Development of Players via the Feeder & Junior Group - sponsored by mauricerobinsonsports.co.uk & Yonex
Solihull & Shirley Badminton Club were able to celebrate when Badminton England confirmed that they will now be one of a handful of “performance centres” throughout England. The club will receive funding for 3 years to help in the identification of raw talent & the development of players. This money will also be used to benefit schools in the area & to promote singles. A performance centre programme is in the process of being set up to increase the pool of talent that the county can select from & ultimately challenge places on the World Class & Start Potential programmes. Amy Frith, Badminton Development Officer for Greater Warwickshire and Birmingham, presented newly appointed Head Coach, Mark Sellwood with a certificate to confirm the club’s newly appointed status. Mark, ranked No.17 in England for Men’s Singles, said “I’m looking forward to the challenge of developing new players & working more closely with the schools in Solihull”. Mark has already helped contribute to Langley’s success in the National Schools’ Championship. We have a number of groups where juniors have the opportunity to develop their game, receive coaching and play some games with current members of Solihull & Shirley B.C. . There are a few members of Solihull & Shirley who hold Badminton England Level Two coaching certificates who regularly turn up early on their club night and coach people who would wish to come along. The club has an appointed child protection officer and received a grant to help towards the funding of this idea. The club have now successfully become an accredited Badminton England (BE) Silver Club - the first club in Warwickshire to gain the Silver Mark award which is now called a Premier Club.
S.S.B.C. also offers assistance and support to Olton Youth club who play at Langley School on Tuesdays from 5pm-7: 30pm. This support helps maintain two teams in the Solihull Badminton League as well as a team in the Battledore Cup.