SUSSEX SCHOOLS BADMINTON NEWSLETTER

 

ISSUE 6 (online version) - SEPTEMBER 2003

Welcome and Welcome Back. My name is Teresa George and I am the Publicity Officer for Sussex Schools Badminton Association. I have 2 children, Kim who is in the Under 15 squad and Dean who is in the under 17 squad.

Welcome to all our new squad members and congratulations for being selected for our squads, it is an honour to be selected to join our squads and we are pleased that you have joined us. Welcome back to our existing members. We hope that we can improve on our very successful season last year.

If you have any news and views on Sussex badminton please let me know, we are fortunate in Sussex that Mike Donovan from the Evening Argus is very supportive of us and welcomes news of our players and teams. The 'Youth in Action' feature is every Wednesday so please let me know if you have entered a tournament and how you got on, I then can collect all the information together each week and let Mike know.

I can be contacted on 01273 388876, 4 Jubilee Road, Portslade, Sussex, BN41 1SU or e-mail me on george4t@hotmail.com.

All of our Under 13, Under 15, and Under 17 teams compete in the Shires League. Each County is grouped into different tables against Counties that are in the same geographical area. The Counties in our area this season are:- Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Berkshire, Surrey. The winners and the runner-ups of each table then go onto to the finals at the end of the season to play the other Counties that have also each the top two of their table. The finals are in (very lovely!) Leicester. Details of all Sussex fixtures for 2003-2004 season can be found at www.ssba.co.uk.

Also the Under 13s and Under 15s have a Team Challenge competition, the qualifying rounds are held in November and the finals in March. The Under 17s have the ICT (Inter County Tournament) in Nottingham at Easter, all the Counties in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland compete in this tournament over a period of four days.

The Under 11s now have their own tournaments throughout the Country.

Yes! There has been tournaments already and its only September! Dean George's season got underway in August at the Yorkshire Under 19 Tournament.

There was a big Sussex entry at the Junior Under 15 and 17 Challenger Select tournament at Luton earlier this month. Luke Thomson reached the finals of the U15 doubles with partner Nigel Tao (Hertfordshire) and the 1/4s of the mixed with Fontaine Chapman (Warwickshire). Luke Jones reached the finals of the U17 doubles with partner Paul Shelley (Warwickshire) where they were beaten by Dean and his partner Andy Ellis (Yorkshire) and Dean also reached the finals of the U17 singles. Bronwyn Powell, Kim George, and Josh Miles also represented Sussex.

Robert Tring had his first tournament of the season at Milton Keynes, he finished 19^th out of 28 in the singles.

There were four Sussex players who were selected for the International in Langenfeld Germany at the beginning of September, Dean George (Under17), Luke Thomson (Under 15), Kirsten Read (Under 17) and Heather Olver (Under 19), Heather has just left Sussex Juniors to go onto to the Seniors. Dean won the doubles with partner Andy Ellis and reached the quarters of the singles. Heather reached the quarters of the mixed and doubles, a good results considering she is a year young as was Kirsten and Luke.

Dean and Heather then went the following week to Malmo in Sweden. Heather was part of the Under 19 team who won the team event. Dean again won the doubles with Andy, and excellent result, back to back without dropping a game in two weeks, beating the top two Danish pairs and the top Swedish pair on the way This will ensure a number 1 seed in Denmark next month for the Danish Cup. Dean had to miss the presentation as the Southern players flight left Copenhagen Airport earlier than the Birmingham flight, which meant Andy was left with two bunches of flowers, I gather from his Mum that he made some young lady's day at the airport!

This has replaced ESBA (English Schools Badminton Association). I strongly recommend that all Sussex squads members join, you will receive up to date information, entry forms for tournaments around the Country and insurance cover. For further details please telephone the Schools and Youth Board Administrator at the BAofE (Badminton Ass of England) on 01908 268400.

Franky Wiyanta, our treasurer, has done an amazing job on our new website www.ssba.co.uk. For someone who has only just mastered 'copy and paste' and 'attachments' I admire Franky for producing a very professional website. Have a look for more up-to-date information on Sussex Schools.

SUSSEX TOURNAMENTS

It is expected that every Sussex Schools Squad member enter their own age group tournament, if you are unable you MUST inform your Squad Manager.

November 9^th - Under 15 and Under 17 Open at Portslade Sports Centre

November 16^th - Under 11 and Under 13 Open at Portslade Sports Centre

Please ensure you have an entry form from your Squad Manager and return the entry before the closing date.

There will be a change to the restricted tournaments at the end of the season. The age groups will change from Under11, 13, 15, 17 to Under 10, 12, (to be held on 21^st March 2004) and Under 14, 16, and 18 (to be held on 4^th April 2004). This will be in preparation for the following season.

You are also encouraged to enter the BAofE (Badminton Association of England) Junior Challenge Tournament at The Triangle in Burgess Hill. This is a good way to play against players from other Counties, this is the only way you improve as a player and is a good stepping stone into Junior Badminton through England.

The dates for the BaofE JC Tournaments are as follows:-

Sussex U17 15^th November - CLOSING DATE -15^th October

Sussex U15 3^rd January - CLOSING DATE - 1^ST December

Sussex U13 4^th January - CLOSING DATE - 1^st December

Entry forms can be obtained from Mr Tony Browne on 01903 700143, or downloaded from the website www.ssba.co.uk.

We will be running a raffle for these tournaments and would be very grateful for donations of raffle prizes. Under 17's please hand your donations to your Squad Manager and the next squad session.

PARENT REPRESENTATIVES

We require a Parent Representative for the following age groups:-

                                                                                Under 11 East and West

Under 13 and 15

If you are interested in the post please contact your Squad Manager.

We are very proud that Sussex County was one of the forerunners of Under 11 squads. We saw a need to introduce Squads for Under 11's. The Under 11's now have their own tournaments through the Country and are flourishing. We would like to thank Lorraine Collins for her hard work in West Sussex from conception and welcome Howard Wallis as her replacement in West Sussex.

We now recognized the need to bring the West and East Sussex Under 11 squads together and therefore from next September there will be one Under 11 Squad which will train at Portslade Sports Centre where all the other squads train now including the Sussex Seniors.

Dean George has his own stringing machine now, and after practicing all summer he is now ready for you. If you need restringing give Dean a call on 01273 388876.

Well it’s goodbye until the next Newsletter, don't forget any news you have please let me know, I can't include news in the newsletter unless I know about it!