New Affiliation Fees and AGM Minutes

The new affiliation fees as agreed at the AGM in May are now available.  The Fees document is available to download from the About Us page.

If you couldn't make the AGM, the minutes are also now available to download.

Battle Badminton

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Places are still available for Battle Badminton this summer.

Badminton England has opened up 10,000 free places for this brand new, innovative social badminton initiative aimed at the 1.9 million players who make up the casual badminton audience.

Places are still available for badminton players and sports fans nationwide wishing to get involved.

Battle Badminton takes social badminton to the next level, letting users find new players (aged 18+) to play and issue and accept challenges to ‘battle’ it out for pride on court  in singles or doubles matches.

Players decide how, when and where to play and can even set their own rules and scoring system, if both agree.

Battle Badminton players earn points each time they get on court. New local and national leaderboards mean players can rise through the Battle Badminton ranks. Users can also create their own leaderboards, amongst friends, in workplaces, universities, or sports teams.

There are 9 Battle Badminton ‘status’ levels to achieve. 

Sign up to Battle Badminton also includes free Club England Social annual membership (usually £5).  This provides insurance cover to play Battle Badminton matches and enjoy pay and play court time in leisure centres (but excludes club league, county competition or circuit tournament match play).

Join for FREE at www.badmintonengland.co.uk/battle

Bag4Sport Funding for Clubs

A charity called Bag4Sport may be of interest to Badminton Clubs. Basically you can get paid for recycling bags of old clothes, shoes etc.  

The organisation has a £500 grant available for clubs who have donated recycled clothes.

For more information see http://www.bag4sport.co.uk/index.html

Reminder: Cambs Badminton Association AGM

Please don't forget that the AGM of the Cambridgeshire Badminton Association is to be held at Comberton Village College on 21 May, and starting at 7.30pm.

It's really important that as many people attend the AGM as possible. There are important matters to discuss in relation to the running of the County Badminton Association, and also the way the the County competition is structured. 

If you care about badminton in Cambridge, please do try to make the effort to attend!

If you're a Facebook user, then there is an event at https://www.facebook.com/events/1419420251659249/

Cambs Juniors Give Excellent Showing at Eastern Region Tournament

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Cambs U13 Teams

Cambridgeshire Badminton fielded a good range of teams in the Eastern Region Single Sex Tournament held at the Sportsdock at the University of East London on 26th April.

The teams were:

U15: Boys A
Leo Huang & Peter Du

U15: Boys B
Cameron Harris & Murray Reid

U15: Girls
Amy Zhang & Hannah Milton

U13: Boys A
James Xu & Harry Zhao

U13: Girls A
Chanumi Gamage & Sophia Abbott

U13: Girls B
Rachel Owen & Alice Bates

It was a long and gruelling, but extremely fun day of badminton, with teams playing a match consisting of a doubles, and two singles against each of their opponents.  This took a toll on a number of players, with some Cambs players feeling cramp or injuries as the day went on.

Despite their difficulties, the overall results were extremely creditable.  The U13 boys James and Harry enjoyed commanding victories over all but one of the other teams in their competition, and the tournament came down to a thrilling match against a very strong Essex pair.  All four boys plenty excellently, but eventually James and Harry walked away with a well-deserved silver medal.

In the U13 girls tournament, Hertfordshire and Suffolk had also fielded two teams each, and had strong players.  The Cambs girls showed a real desire to win though, and the day came to an end with an exciting crunch match between the Cambs A and B teams.  Played in excellent spirits, the game eventually went to Sophia and Chanumi who beat Alice and Rachel 2-1.  This meant that Cambs A had secured the silver medals overall, and Cambs B took the bronze spot.

In the U15 tournaments, the Cambs A won 4/6 matches and came 3rd (Leo won 6/6 singles and 4/6 doubles; Peter won 2/6 singles and 4/6 doubles) and the Cambs B team unfortunately came in last position.

The U15 girls team also came 3rd, even though Amy suffered an injury part-way through and had to pull out, and Chanumi stood in for the remaining games.

Congratulations to all the players, who put on a great show.

Smash Up Activators Course: Camborne, 3rd May

Badminton England have organised a Smash Up Activator Course at Camborne Sports Centre on 3rd May from 10am to 2pm.  

Cost=£99 per candidate payable by card/cheque/invoice this fee covers: Training costs, DBS check, Safeguarding, Insurance.

Please note the following reduced fees are available:

• Candidate has a DBS from BADMINTON England – revised cost is £57.50
• Candidate has a valid safeguarding qualification – revised cost is £94.50
• Candidate has a DBS from BADMINTON England and a valid safeguarding qualification – revised cost is £42.50

SmashUp! is BADMINTON England’s perception changing, innovative youth badminton initiative, aimed at inspiring 13-16 year olds of all sporting ability to swing a racket for fun. With a modern ‘mashed up’ mix of big hitting badminton challenges, mates, music playlists and bold court branding, sociable SmashUp! sessions are ready to go in over 180 secondary schools and leisure centres across the region.

We have numerous opportunities to deliver SmashUp! in schools or leisure centres across Cambridgeshire immediately

Benefits of becoming a SmashUp! Activator:

• Paid work opportunities in local secondary schools – (weekly 1-hour sessions, paid at £15 per session)
• Access to SmashUp! branded pack and kit
• Access to discounted Adidas kit (dependent on demand)

Please note – you must be available to work at lunchtimes (12-2pm) and/or after school times and have a means of travelling to and from schools or leisure centres. Min age 17 yrs.

LIMITED SPACES AVAILABLE. If you would like to attend this training day please complete the attached booking form (course code not required) and return to coaching@badmintonengland.co.uk as soon as possible!

Cambs Ist Team End Season on Norfolk High

Preparations for the first teams final match started early with a hearty curry on the Saturday night, putting a fire in everyone's belly. It was a lovely surprise that Olga could make it along to catch up with everyone, and we all wish her a full and speedy recovery. 

With an hours less sleep, the Ist and IIIrd Cambridgeshire teams made their way North to Norfolk. Min and Paul set the team off to a positive start, both winning their singles in straight sets. Alison, despite breaking the strings in both her rackets also took the second ladies singles in straight sets. Nat played amazingly and made a great comeback from a set down to take the first ladies singles in three, giving Cambs a 4-0 lead heading into the doubles.

The men continued their winning run, and were successful in taking all four games with an extremely close point-by-point battle between the second pairs! Both of the ladies doubles pairs were out-classed by a very strong (and ex-England) Norfolk first pair, but Nat and Sara managed to pick up their second game comfortably. Alison and Lou battled out and unfortunately lost the grip on the game against the second pair in three sets.

Heading into the mixed we had secured the win, but were even more determined to make 11 games to give us the best chance of finishing second in the division. Min and Alison had a good steady game and managed to take a straight sets victory. Nat and Si gained an early win through a retired Norfolk player, disappointing as they were both playing so well. Saving the best for last, Sam and Sara took the final mixed in three sets giving the team a 12-3 victory over Norfolk.

Player of the match deservedly goes to Sam for his grit, determination and pulling the serve out for the last match of the season!

Thanks to Si for supplying the delicious sugary treats that fueled us through the games. A special thanks to Liz Salmon of the third team for sharing her totally amazing home baked cream egg brownies!

The team: Mindaugas Dabasinskas, Paul Heads, Simon Woodhouse, Sam Scharf, Natalie Taylor, Sara Cunnington (c), Alison Meijers, Louise Tarbit.

Match report by Alison Meijers.

More information about results of the Cambs I team is available on the Team Page.