Badminton aims high with sportscotland investment
Monday 31 July 2006
Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair, sportscotland, today announced £377,500 to the sport of badminton in Scotland.
The BADMINTONscotland investment, of which £207,500 is from the sportscotland Lottery fund, will go towards long-term player improvement and coach development, volunteer training for major events, organisational and club development, including a new Youth Development Manager post, and the sport’s medal success strategy.
Badminton is a sport enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. The governing body’s current business plan, which runs until 2009, focuses on the importance of increased participation and membership to ensure the future health of the sport, while recognising the need to maintain a focus on events and elite athletes.
Good progress is taking place in the community club and Active Schools network, which is well underway in eight areas in Scotland (East Lothian, Glasgow, North Ayshire, Argyll and Bute, East Kilbride, Grampian, Lanarkshire and the Highlands). Ten new junior clubs have been established, with 36 primary and nine secondary schools now taking part in after-school clubs.
From a performance perspective, the Junior High Performance Group continues to deliver against its aim of producing athletes capable of gaining entry into the Scottish Institute of Sport (SIS). The programme for the junior squad covers strength and conditioning, player techniques, competition preparation, game strategy and tactics. Players also benefit from continuous evaluation by coaches, whereby all their performances, including physical fitness, technical awareness and ability, will be assessed.
Looking ahead in the sport, £15,000 of this year’s investment will be used for research to assess the developmental legacy of the Sudirman Cup, which will take place next June 10-17 in Glasgow. The governing body has an extensive development programme in place to run alongside this international event and, via this research funding, aims to establish the long-term outcome of hosting this mixed team badminton championships. Additionally, Scottish Badminton is currently working with UK Sport to ensure that London 2012 resources will be rolled out to some Scottish players.
Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair of sportscotland, said: “We are delighted to award £377,500 to BADMINTONscotland to support the key areas of their business plan, which aims to encourage people of all ages to become more active at a recreational level.
“We also hope that by investing in athletes in the Junior High Performance Group in the formative stage of their development the foundation for future success at the highest level will be established.”
Anne Smillie, Chief Executive, BADMINTONscotland, said: “The tremendous support offered by sportscotland allows us, as governing body of the sport, to maintain and enhance the variety and quality of programmes and initiatives we can make available to all standards of badminton players. It helps us to sustain our aspirations at the top level and yet to ensure that as many people as possible have access to the sport in a safe, challenging and enjoyable way.”
- Athlete Support, which is now largely administered through the governing body, supports the training and preparation programmes for elite athletes who have demonstrated the potential to win medals, or equivalent, in significant international competitions and events.
- All athletes who receive Athlete Support will be supported by the sportscotland medical scheme.
- sportscotland’s National Centre Inverclyde is to host the 2006 Yonex coaching week from August 28-September 1. The course will feature Commonwealth Games athletes Yuan Wemyss, Andrew Bowman and Craig Goddard, national high-performance coach at the Scottish Institute of Sport.
- For info on the 2007 Sudirman Cup visit: http://badmintonscotland.org.uk/sudirman07/
Identified athletes receiving Athlete Support
Susan Hughes, Glasgow G76
Andrew Bowman, Bellshill ML4
Watson Briggs, Renfrew PA4
Linda Sloan, Glasgow G46
Imogen Bankier, Glasgow G13
Emma Mason, Glasgow G11