Victor Badminton Summer Training Camp 07

click here for a large, 3Mb version of the photo

On 8-10 August, under the watchful eye of Victor regional coach Stephen Willis and ex-England player Kelly Matthews, 20 junior players of county standard from Hertfordshire, Essex and Middlesex attended a 3 day pre-season training event at St Albans Girls School.

The event took place over 3 days, with shirts and prizes provided by Victor UK.

The sessions concentrated on footwork and movement as well as badminton specific fitness, using high-tech video analysis to help the players understand optimum movement techniques.

The event was a huge success and Stephen and Kelly are making plans for other events for both adults and juniors in the near future.

Natalie Munt and Kristian Roebuck Coaches Herts Junior Squad members - all day

The event was organised by Angela Blowers and funded by Awards for All. Approximately 14 mainly U12s in the morning, and 14 U17s in the afternoon attended demanding but enjoyable sessions by these international player-coaches.

The event was doubly successful as some 18 Herts coaches attended to observe the coaching techniques.

Chris Fisher, HSBA-HBA Young Coach of the Year!

Chris Fisher, seen here receiving the shield and medal for HSBA-HBA Young Coach of the Year, from Badminton Herts Development Committee Chairman, Dave Bartlett.  Chris coaches at Swifts and Comets JBCs, was Welwyn Hatfield Herts Youth Games Coach and Team Manager. Chris who is a final year student of University of Hertfordshire and a member of Comets seniors also coaches 1:1 - in his spare time! Other young coaches who were recognised for their efforts at the ceremony were Hao Choi, Suraj Shah and Harry Beeson - all Level 1 coaches at Comets JBC at HSV. 

Transforming John F Kennedy Into A School for the 21ST Century

a view of the new sports hall from the east

Press Release excerpt, from JFK

'Following a successful bid to the DfES for £8.2 million the Governors at JFK are extremely pleased to confirm plans to improve the facilities at the school. All existing students will benefit from new areas for sport, drama, music, art, learning support and 6^th form study.  The sports hall out of school hours will be used as a centre to develop badminton in the local area. An exciting programme of activities is currently being planned by Herts Badminton for when the new four court badminton hall opens in September 2009. '  To read the full press release click here.  

Herts U17 team finished 4th in the Inter Counties 
Tournament

Back row, left to right - Emily Westwood, Luke Donnelly, Rhian Blowers, Helena Lewczynska, Charlotte Willis, Matthew Westwood.  Middle row - Rachel Warnes, Oliver Crabb, Arjun Shah.
Front - James Reynolds. 

The ICT took place at Nottingham University from Thursday 10th April to Sunday 14th April. 41 Counties took part and Herts started out as the No 7 seeds but with a great team effort achieved a tremendous result finishing 4th behind 1.Yorks, 2.Hampshire and 3.Bucks. Well done to the whole team!
 Pat Walker

A Great Herts Youth Games was enjoyed by One and All!

Sponsored and managed by Herts Sports Partnership, 15 sports competed at  Herts Youth Games at Herts Sports Village over the weekend of 12-13th May.   All 10 Districts of Hertfordshire provided badminton teams of 3-4 boys and girls for 225 games of singles, doubles - level and mixed.

And the winners were -

North Herts!  Seen here with team manager, Phil Gray and Medal presenter Colin Jackson

The Districts' rankings were: North Herts, 1, Hertsmere 2, East Herts 3, St Albans 4, Three Rivers 5, Watford 6, Stevenage 7, Welwyn Hatfield 8, Dacorum 9, Broxbourne 10.  Colin Jackson awarded the medals for more pictures see Junior Tournaments, Trials, Results 

Dave Bartlett, Badminton Herts Development Committee

HSBA Primary Schools Team Tournament 25th Feb at Stevenage Arts & Leisure Centre

The 19 schools' teams before the start

Combined Team Event winners were as follows:

 1        Little Heath 1,   2        Wilbury 1,     3        Ladbrooke 1

 4        St Nicholas 1,  5        Wilbury 2,  6        Wilbury 3

 7         St Nicholas 2.  

See detailed results on 'Junior Tournaments, Trials, Results' page.

HSBA Tournament U11 Boys & Girls Singles & the U15 Boys & Girls Doubles, 11th Feb. - Inspirational play! 

Under 15 Girls Doubles winners Laura Bygrave/Ying Yi Tee

See results and more photos on Junior Tournaments, Trials, Results page

Thanks, to Organisers and helpers.

A New Junior Club Opens in Hemel Hempstead

Wednesday 7th Feb at Sportspace Hemel Hempstead saw the opening session of the newly developed Gadebridge Junior Badminton Club. There were 10 attendees in all (boys and girls) with ages ranging from 7 to 15. The

A huge well done to Liz Bateman and the many others for putting in lots of hard work to make the new club a possibility and we hope it goes from strength to strength. For more information on how to join Gadebridge JBC, contact organiser Liz Bateman on gadebridgebc@hotmail.com or 01442 871477.

German Visitors at U17 Squad Night

                                     click here for a large copy

An U17 squad night in February hosted several German visiting players.  Pat Walker said "we were pleased to have the opportunity for these players to join us for one evening while they were staying in Harlow."

U10- U15 Tournament at Stevenage

Under 10 boys doubles in action at a great HSBA-organised tournament at Stevenage Arts & Leisure Centre, 28th January - See results in  'Junior Tournaments, Trials Results'.

Three Rivers and Watford SSP Rackets Festival

On Thursday 18th (boys only) and 25th (girls only) January, Rackets Festivals were held at The Royal Masonic School in Rickmansworth for students in school years 7, 8 & 9. The festivals were organised by Partnership Development Manager Chris Hambleton with the help of local teachers and BDO Tom Burton. All students were given the chance to try their hand at both badminton and table tennis, with some great games being played. In all, around 70 students took part with everyone having fun. Flyers detailing local clubs were handed out to all students with

Birchwood Leisure Centre National Leisure Centres Tournament

Click here for a larger copy of the photo.

Six players took part in the Carlton National Leisure Centres tournament at Birchwood Leisure, Sunday 14th.  The winner, 3rd from left, was Chandran Pillai who beat Cecil Nwachuku 21-17 in the final.  A great time was had by all! 

Update 4March07:  the team has got  through to the Regional Round.

Four Herts Level 1 Coaches Attend the Coach Level 2 at Stevenage Arts & Lesiure Centre, starting 6th Jan.

Mehta, Hawks BC, Liz, Gadebridge BC, Tom Burton, BDO course organiser, Sangeeta, Academy JBC . Front row: Sophie, Watford and Tutor Sue Rutson 

Results of Herts Under 18, 15 and 13 Mixed, 21st December 

 U18 winners: James Reynolds and Charlotte Willis

Tinsel and festive hats were the order of the day at Hertfordshire Sports Village for the HSBA annual mixed doubles on 21st December. We didn't have any snow but there was lots of Christmas spirit around, and that wasn't just in the raffle prizes!!!! Some great badminton was played and all competitors seemed to

 U13 Plate: Dale Maddox & Anna Collis beat Oliver and Rachel Ng 21/16
 U13: Dan Regan & Georgia Pittson beat Steven George & Amy Geourge 21/16
 U15: Ryan McCarthy & Isabelle Sadler 1st, Elliott Miles Laura Bygrave 2nd
 U18: James Reynolds & Charlotte Willis beat Arjun Shan & Laura Bygrave 21/17

 U18 Plate: Ryan McCarthy & Isabelle Sadler beat George Moss & Rosie Furze 21/16

Full results as Excel spreadsheets: U13, U15, U18

Every Day Sport Campaign Starts at Howard Centre, Welwyn Garden City

Gill Bartlett and Doug Clark providing coaching - and entertainment - at the Howard Centre, 4th January;

Gill Bartlett coaching the backhand serve to some keen newbies:

thanks on the day, also, to coaches Phil Gray, Chris Fisher and Marion Conway and Herts BDO Tom Burton.

Every Day Sport Campaign promoted and assisted by Herts Sports Partnership lasts until end of February with events around the county to encourage people to be more active. As part of the Campaign nine HBA clubs have offered 'first session free' for new participants and appear in about 30,000 EDS leaflets, countywide. Click on this HSP link for more information.

Well done to Herts Top Players who got to the ASICS National Elite Grand Open finals in Bath on 6th December

Mixed doubles:

David Lindley (Notts) & Suzanne Rayappan (Herts) bt Chris Tonks (Warks) & Liza Parker (Herts) 21-18 21-19

Women's singles:

Michelle Cheung (Bucks) v Rachel Howard (Herts) 21-13 21-15

Men's singles:

Rajiv Ouseph (Middx) bt Nathan Rice (Bucks) 21-12 22-20

Women's doubles:

Mariana Agathangelou (Avon) & Gabby White (Yorks) bt Suzanne Rayappan (Herts) & Jenny Wallwork (Yorks) 22-20 21-18

Men's doubles:

Dean George (Herts) & Chris Tonks (Warks) v Robert Adcock (Notts) & Robin Middleton (Yorks) 21-19 17-21 21-19

A full report is on the BE website.  Photos as in County first team, below

Queens School Sports Partnership Inter-Schools Tournament 6th December at Watford Girls Grammar

Results

Year 8/9 girls:  1st Watford A, 2nd Watford B, 3rd Queens', 4th Bushey Hall

Year 10/11 girls: 1st Watford A, 2nd Bushey Meads (NFC), 2nd Bushey Hall, 3rd

                          Watford B 
Year 8/9 boys: 1st Habs, 2nd Hertswood, 3rd Bushey Meads, 4th Bushey Hall

                       5th Queens'

Year 10/11 boys: 1st Habs, 2nd Watford

Organiser:  Duessa Lipley, PDM, centre,

 with Habs' Adrian Herzmark (L) and Herts

 BDO Tom Burton (R)   

 Good luck to the winning teams who go through to the next round!

U15 Inter-County team challenge took place on 26th November  - and Herts won!

THE TEAM!:   Boys:  Scott Williams, James Head. Matthew McCloskey, Ryan McCarthy

 Girls:  Helena Lewesynska, Emily Westwood, Ying Yi Tee and Laura Bygrave. Team Manager and Coach Hitesh Shah, centre.

The other counties were: Bedfordshire, Northants, Norfolk, Essex and Suffolk. See next HSBA and HBA Newsletters for full reports

12 New Level 1 Coaches for Herts

Attendees (not in photo order): Stephen Foubister, Bassingbourn BC; George Moss, All Saints JBC; Rosie Furze, All Saints JBC; Teresa Furze, Much Hadham; Caroline Edwards, Rickmansworth; Yogendra Patel, Queens School; Paul Smith, Heath Hall/Cobra; Frances Dickson, Berkhamsted JBC; Philip Adams, Chiltern and Three Rivers JBC; John Bell, Bishops Stortford BC; Sophie Gregson Academy Badminton; Natalie Gregson Academy Badminton.

Tutor, Sheil Collins, (4th R).  Organiser: Tom Burton, Herts' BDO.

5 Herts Coaches Visit HQ to see top Players being Coached

Natalie and Liza

Brian, Doug, Phil and Jim

Level 2 coaches, Brian Jackson, Doug Clark, Phil Gray, Jim Robson with Coaching Co-ordinator Dave Bartlett had a very enjoyable and informative visit to BE HQ at Milton Keynes to see coaches in action with top players including several from Herts, e.g., Liza Parker, Suzanne Rayappan and Natalie Munt.  The visit was made more enjoyable by a conducted tour by Natalie, a Notational and Video Analysis presentation by Notational Analyst Hannah Behan - and a good chat over lunch! 

Great turnout and action for U11 Boys and Girls Doubles, U18 Boys and Girls Singles and Doubles, 5th Nov.  Click on 'Junior Tournaments....' to see the results

Competition for Newbies in Carlton Leisure Centres Badminton Championships

Not played in a league match before and would like to have a go?

Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre and Royston Sports Centre are holding tournaments for those 16+ and 50+ who have not played in a league match before, see Dates for Your Diary, below. 

Herts Senior County 1st Team beats Inter-County Champions, Yorkshire, 6-4 ! – on Sunday

Andy Walden, Gail Emms, Richard Doling, Suzanne Rayappan, Phil Hammond, Liza Parker, Richard Southward, Natalie Munt, Dean George, Katie Comras & Laura Cousins.

 Tracksuits Sponsored By Scotthall Watford BMW

Junior Tournament at the Rudolf Steiner School

olds with 12 participants in all. Before the finals commenced, every player had a chance at the 'One Minute Rally Challenge'. The winners were Jenny Bail and Callum Isitt with 95 successful strokes over the net.

Contestants (L-R): Jack Bunker (12 - Finalist of 11-13 Competition), Chris Povey (15 -Finalist of 14-16 Competition), Scott Evans (14), Callum Issit (14), Jenny Bail (14 - Winner of 14-16 Competition), Stephen Holyoak (13 - Winner of 11-13 Competition), Tom Newman (15), Connor Eddiford (11), Sam Gallant (15), Pierre Fouquet (12), George Hunt (14)

The two main tournament winners played some fantastic badminton to win their competitions, although everyone played well. Jenny Bail, who was also the only female contestant, beat Chris Povey 21-20 in an incredibly tight final in the 14-16 age group. Stephen Holyoak also managed to beat Jack Bunker 21-14 in the 11-13 category.

Many thanks go to all those that helped oragnise, run and come along to support the tournament, it was a great day and everyone had fun!!!

National Badminton Week 14-22nd October, Events

Herts Update: after collating the results at least 379 players took part!

HSBA U13 Boys and Girls Doubles and U15 Boys and Girls Singles was held at Stevenage Leisure Centre

There was a good entry for both tournaments - click here for full results and photos.

Robertson and Emms take gold, two silvers for Clark

NATHAN ROBERTSON and Gail Emms (Gail comes from Hitchin) are world champions.  

They made up for last year's world championship misery by winning the mixed doubles in Madrid this afternoon. But  to do so the Commonwealth gold and Olympic silver medallists had to beat their close friends Anthony Clark and Donna Kellogg and they did so 21-15, 21-12. Read more on the BADMINTON England website.

Herts Restricted Tournament

Women's Doubles winners Laura Cousins and Katie Comras  

Herts Restricted Tournament, restricted to those born in or play in clubs in Herts, provided some exciting badminton with Laura Cousins being the star performer by winning the Women's Singles, Level Doubles with partner Katie Comras and Mixed Doubles with Victor Liew. The complete write up can be found in the HBA Newsletter: for more photos click here

Tom Burton, Herts Badminton Development Officer, cuts his Cake!

Tom, who has been in post as Herts BDO for 1 year attended the HBA Committee meeting to deliver the recent Development Report and his Second Year work Programme: he was not expecting a cake but thoroughly enjoyed it and the celebration.  HBA committee members  present L-R: Tom, Angela Blowers. Vice-chairman HSBA, Malcolm Fraser Chairman HBA, Colin Walker, Treasurer and County 4th Team Manager, Lynne Parker, Tournaments, Hilary Anderson, Secretary, Gill Bartlett, Newsletter and cake maker (and Dave Bartlett photographer and Acting Coaching and Development Co-ordinator). Development Reports showing what is happening in all Districts of the county and Tom's Work Programme can be found on the Club Organisers and Coaches pages of this site. 

Very Good Entries in Herts Junior Squad Trials

For the Under 17, 15 and 13 trials this year there were good entries making it difficult for squad managers to decide on the intake .

Under 15 Trials Players: more photos

U17 Trials Players with Squad Coach-manager Tony Clark:

more photos

Under 13 and Under 11s. a few more photos 

Comets Started a Development Club, Sundays, from November 12th

Following receiving an Awards for All grant, Comets BC is starting a weekly Development Club on 7-9pm, Sunday November 12th  for beginners, social players and those returning to the sport.  It provides FREE qualified coaching with an aim to improve members skills. 

The coaches are Steve Willis and Kelly Matthews (ranked 3rd in England Singles, 2003)

See Comets website for more info and to book a place.

Gail Emms launches her own website

Gail challenges the serve at England v Germany match at Herts Sports Village 2005

There was some really great badminton at Herts Open Tournament, 2nd & 3rd September at Herts Sports Village, Hatfield, It is supported by Ashaway

Mixed doubles final

Men's singles semifinals Saturday 2nd

Women's singles finals Saturday 2nd

 This men's, women's singles, level and mixed doubles tournament is a BADMINTON England Satellite Circuit tournament open to all BE (and other nation's Governing Bodies') affiliates. 

Click here for full excel spreadsheet of results and here for a slide show of singles and doubles matches. [Note: this is a 10Mb pdf file and unsuitable for dial-up downloads.]

HBA Committee have established a Ray Learney (Memorial) Fund in honour of Ray's considerable work and interest particularly in junior development in Herts

Ray, 2nd from right, coaching 17 at HBA Level 1 course, Berkhamsted, Nov05

The RLM fund will assist young coaches in some way (depending on amount collected) ideally to assist them in attending a coach-related course.   Ray was particularly ready to help youngsters get going in coaching so we think this would be a very appropriate form of celebrating his life.

If you would like to contribute to this fund please send any donations as cheques payable to 'HBA' to The HBA Treasurer,  9 Valley Rd, Hertford, SG13 8BD.  We will publish the amount collected here but if you would like to be emailed on this please send your address to the  Coaching Co-ordinator (Acting), Dave Bartlett.