First junior squad practice session for 2016-17

There was an excellent turnout for Cambridgeshire Badminton's first junior squad practice session of the season, with 17 young people playing for three hours at Burwell. This regular monthly session links coaches and senior County team members with their junior counterparts, and the children get rigorous singles, level and mixed doubles practice.

The session today at Burwell was very busy, and full of effort and laughter! Many thanks to Daniel Bates, James Wilson and Simon Parker for supervising and advising the players.

Squad practice sessions are invitation-only. However, the sessions do also provide an opportunity for players who are new to the County, who haven't been involved previously, or who have improved, to demonstrate their ability and be considered for the junior County teams. If you are a coach or a parent and you believe you have a child who is strong enough to compete, please contact badminton@bates.net to arrange for them to come to a session.

Restricted start times

All the best to everyone playing the County Restricted this weekend! See you at Swavesey Village College at 9am tomorrow for the singles, 9am on Sunday for the mixed, or if you're only playing levels, 12 for on court at 12.30 on Sunday.

Results will be on Tournament Software (https://be.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=2D0A3BAF-DE74-454D-A61F-44C69304B627) and if Committee Members aren't too sweaty, updates will appear on the Cambs Badminton Facebook page!

Restricted entries close 25 September

If you are planning to enter the Restricted tournament, don't forget the closing date is 25th September...

Get your entries in now at: https://be.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=2D0A3BAF-DE74-454D-A61F-44C69304B627

Start of season newsletter

With the start of the season rapidly approaching, a newsletter from the new County Committee was sent to the secretary of each affiliated club, asking them to pass it on to all of their members playing badminton in the County.

The message contained important information about major changes to the County Committee, and information about junior, senior and masters badminton in the County.  If you didn't get the letter then feel free to nudge your secretary to pass such information along!  In the mean time, the message is below:

Dear Club Secretary,

Please see below some updates about Cambridgeshire Badminton Association for the upcoming season.  I would be grateful if you could circulate this to your members so that they can keep up-to-date about badminton in the County.

AGM

Apologies for the delay in you receiving this information, but ahead of the new season I wanted to let you know that following the Cambridgeshire AGM this year it was agreed to raise the county affiliation fees as follows:

Senior: £2.80
Junior: £0.75
Associated Seniors: £2.00

At the AGM, the majority of the long-standing committee members stood down, after dedicating a very significant period of service.  The leaving members had served on the committee for a breathtaking combined 111+ years of work supporting the sport, and club members!

The County Committee is therefore now as follows:

Chairman/Publicity Officer: Daniel Bates
Secretary: Louise Place
Treasurer: Graham Barr
Registration Secretary: Campbell Wilson
Match Secretary/ South Cambs League Rep: Simon Parker
Tournament Secretary: Neil Place
Coaching Coordinator: James Wilson
Masters Coordinator: Nick Pratt

General Committee Members: Sahan Gamage, Ruth LeFevre, Geoff McCall, Damian Saunders.

Please remember the Association is run by volunteers and we need your support to keep Badminton going in the County. If you can help out with anything or have constructive comments please let us know.

COUNTY RESTRICTED

For those that are interested the annual County Restricted Tournament will be held on the weekend of 1st and 2nd October at Swavesey Village College:

Singles: Saturday 1st October 9am-3pm
Level and Mixed Doubles: Sunday 2nd October 9am-6pm

Anyone wishing to be considered for a County team should certainly make the effort to enter, as this is the best chance to pit your abilities against the most players from around the County. Entries will open within the next couple of weeks (announced on the website and Facebook) and will be via Tournament Software as per last year. 

We are also looking for volunteers to help with running the tournament, even if it's just for an hour or two. Please speak to myself or Neil (neilplace101@gmail.com) if you can help.
Please pass these details on to any of your club members who may be interested.  

MASTERS TEAMS

The county is also running Over 45s and Over 50s teams this year and are hoping to have an Over 40s team next year. If you are in either of these age groups (or approaching soon) and would like to get involved please contact Nick Pratt (nick.pratt68@gmail.com).

JUNIORS

We are also very excited that the County is fielding two junior teams this season, for the first time in several years.  Cambridgeshire will have an U18 and U16 team, and the teams will participate in regular squad practice sessions.  If you have juniors who you think are strong enough to try out for a team, please send in their details so that they can be invited.

COACHING

The Association has a long-standing commitment to coaching and development within the County.  If you are interested in taking your coaching badges, the County offers bursaries to help with the cost for anyone who can demonstrate they will be coaching in the area.  Please contact me for more information.

To keep up-to-date with other badminton news in the County, please do check the website at www.cambridgeshirebadminton.org and ‘like’ the Facebook page (search for “Cambs Badminton”).

Wishing you all an enjoyable and successful season!

Any comments or queries, please let me know.

Kind Regards,

Louise Place
Hon. Secretary
Cambridgeshire County Badminton

PAID Fenland Badminton Delivery - Whittlesey, March, Chatteris

The Fenland Project are looking for people to deliver some junior sessions in Whittlesey, March and Chatteris. You do not need a coaching qualification or any coaching experience as training will be provided, all you need is to be passionate about badminton and be willing to share your knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport with young players.

- Monday, 18:00-19:00 at Neale Wade Academy in March;

- Wednesday, 15:00-16:00 at Sir Harry Smith Community College in Whittlesey;

- Friday, 19:00-20:00 at Cromwell Community College in Chatteris;

Rate of pay: £15.67 per hour

If you’re interested please contact Lauren Bremner- LBremner@fenland.gov.uk to confirm your availability or ask any questions. If none of the times/days suit but you’d still like to be involved please contact Lauren as she will be able to work with you and potentially reschedule sessions to allow you to deliver.

Helpers needed at the Cambridgeshire Restricted

If you aren't playing in the Restricted on 1st/2nd October, but might be free even for a small slot to help out, we really need people to help manage shuttles, scores, and generally keep things running smoothly.

You don't need to know about running tournaments, or attend the entire event.  Just an hour or two helping out would be extremely valuable!

If you are available and keen to help, either 9am-3pm on 1st October, or 9am-6pm on 2nd October, please drop the Tournament Secretary Neil Place an email at neilplace101@googlemail.com

2016 Cambridgeshire Restricted Entries now open!

The 2016 Cambridgeshire Restricted Tournament is now on tournament software and open for entries! This year's restricted will be held on the following dates:

• Saturday 1st October, 09:00-15:00 (Singles)
• Sunday 2nd October, 09:00-18:00 (Doubles)

The tournament will be held at Swavesey Village College, Gibraltar Lane, CB24 4RS

To sign up to play, please do by clicking here.

If you have any questions or queries, please contact our Tournament Secretary, Neil Place, at NeilPlace101@GoogleMail.com

If you have already entered and received an error message when attempting to pay, you must return and complete payment now. Places will only be reserved for players that have completed payment!

There are also events pages for the singles and the doubles on Facebook.

Best of luck everyone and see you court!