SUSSEX SCHOOLS BADMINTON NEWSLETTER

 

ISSUE 9 - MARCH 2004

There is no need for me to do an introduction for this issue as I have started with Jo Goode's interview. I found it extremely interesting and I hope you all will as well, a big thank you to Jo for her time.

Jo Goode (nee Wright) lived in Bognor Regis and is now married to Andy Goode. They live in Hertfordshire and have 3 children. Jo was the England Ladies Team coach for the Thomas and Uber Cup World Team Championships in Slovakia in February.

I started by asking how old and where she started playing? - 9 years old and this was at Arun Leisure Centre in Bognor Regis.

Then I asked who encourage her to start playing? - I was the youngest child of 5 and so they could get out and play badminton they used to take me with them. I sometimes got to hit with them but I tried to take all the shots so they sent me to a junior badminton club instead.

Do you remember when you won your first tournament and where was it? - I think it was at Worthing and I won the doubles and was runner up in the singles, maybe under 11.

When was your first Junior and Senior Cap and where? - Junior U/14 I think in Holland and senior U/18 against Japan in Birmingham.

Would you encourage your children to follow in your footsteps? - Yes if that is what they wanted to do. I have had a great time socially, achievements and competing.

How did you feel when you won the bronze medal? Was it the highlight of your career? - Up and down. We'd just lost the gold/silver match so I was disappointed and when we won the bronze I was relieved more than overjoyed. However now I can look back and see it as my best achievement.

Did you prefer team events to individual? - I prefer individual but team events can be good fun.

What are your memories of junior badminton? Do you remember the ICT? - Junior badminton was great. I can't believe my mum took me all over the country almost every weekend. The ICT was one of the best.

Do you still play? - I havn't done since the Commonwealth Games in 2002 but I may play County occasionally.

What are the most important areas a player needs if they want to become a professional player? - They need to be strong mentally, both for the training and the important times in a match. They also need to be skilful.

How do you see the future of English badminton? - Everything is different to when I grew up so only time will tell. Everyone did it their own way and there seemed to be quite individual players. We had good County tournaments and a relaxed, fun juniors. These days it seems to have gone down the training camp, Asia style route which is fine but there is more pressure on kids with school work as well. I think it will take a few more different ways of doing things before they get it right.

A big thank you to Franky Wiyanta for the Sussex Schools website where these results come from. Take a look for up to date information at www.ssba.co.uk

THE NATIONALS UNDER-13 (LUTON REGIONAL SPORTS CENTRE 20-21 MARCH 2004)Jack Thomson, Robert Tring, and Dominic Wiyanta competed in the National Championship. Claire Bracuti, Charlie Buirski, Tom Fenner, Oliver Lambert, Kate Stephens, Jack Thomson, and Dominic Wiyanta represented Sussex in the National Challenge. Jack Thomson reached the quarter final in the Boys Singles, Claire Bracuti and Kate Stephens won Bronze in the Girls Doubles. Oliver Lambert and Dominic Wiyanta also reached the semi-finals of the Boys Doubles and won their Bronze medals.

It wasn't a case of 'did the earth move for you' but the 'wind blew' at this tournament. The wind blew off the squash roof and deposited it over a number of cars in the car-park. Parents impressed their children by hot-footing it to the car park to move their cars, they were surprised that their parents could run that fast, but faced with a roof on your car one would wouldn't one?! I gather that the insurance companies are claiming an 'act of god' and are reluctant to pay out, the things we do for badminton eh?

THE NATIONALS UNDER-17 (The University of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, 6-7 March 2004)Dean George, Luke Jones, Josh Miles, and Kirsten Read competed in the National Championship, whilst Sarah Boyce represented Sussex in the National Challenges. Dean George and his partner Andy Ellis (Yorkshire) won the title of the National Under-17 Doubles Champion. Dean also reached the Semi Final in Singles losing to Tom Dunlop (Greater Manchester).

Philip Fenner won Bronze in the Under-11 Boys Singles. 

Philip Fenner and Adam Stephens won Bronze in the Under-11 Boys Doubles.

Jack Thomson (and Tom Stanford of Buckinghamshire) won Gold in the Under-11 Boys Doubles.

Tom Fenner won Bronze medal in the Under-13 Boys (Grade 3) Singles.  

Evan Gill and William Harrington won Gold in the Under-13 Boys Alternative Doubles. 

Kate Stephens won Silver in the Under-13 Girls (Grade 4) Singles.

Kate Stephens and Bryony Morris won Silver in the Under-13 Girls Alternative Doubles.

Claire Bracuti (and Nicola Hughes of Berkshire) won Bronze in the Under-13 Girls Alternative Doubles.

BAofE JC WEST UNDER-13 and UNDER-11 (Stratford Leisure Centre, Stroud, 17-18 January 2004)Tom Fenner, Philip Fenner, Robert Tring, Dominic Wiyanta, and Michael Wooldridge represented Sussex in the Under-13. Philip Fenner also competed in the Under-11 as well as Jack Thomson. Jack Thomson won Bronze medal in the Boys Singles, and Gold in the Boys Doubles with his partner Tom Stanford (Buckinghamshire) after beating Philip Fenner (and his scratch partner Jason Lai of Cambridgeshire) in the final, who has to settle for a Silver.

A total of 19 Boys and 4 Girls represented Sussex. Claire Bracuti won Bronze Medal and Kate Stephens won Silver Medal in the Girls Grade 3&4 Singles. Evan Gill and William Harrington won Silver Medals in the Boys Alternate Doubles.

A total of 11 Boys and 7 Girls represented Sussex. Luke Thomson won the Silver medal in the Boys Grade 2 Singles, and Sam Lock won Silver in the Boys Grade 3 Singles.Robert Fenner won Bronze medal in the Boys Grade 4 Singles. 

In the Girls section, Felicity Porter won her Bronze medal in the Girls Grade 2 Singles. In the Main Girls Doubles, Bronwyn Powell and Kimberley George won their Silver Medals. Becky Laffan, and her partner Phillipa Rogers (Cheshire), won Bronze.

Dean George won Gold in the Boys Singles, as well as the Boys Doubles with his partner Andy Ellis (Yorkshire). Kirsten Read, Luke Jones and Josh Miles also competed.

Lauren Holness, Kevin Gill, and William Hilton-Jackson competed in this tournament. Lauren Holness won Gold Medal in the Girls Grade 4 Singles. 

Shopping before a tournament is twice as long as a normal shopping trip, and as we seem to be at a tournament somewhere every weekend it’s a once a week job. Its twice as long because the packages are examined for nutrition content - namely - how much carbohydrate does it contain? A carbohydrate intake within 10 minutes of playing is necessary to replace the muscle lost during a game. You also have to guess whether offspring will also actually eat the 'its very good for you' item. Having got one who gets stomach cramps if he eats a hot meal during a tournament and bread and another who doesn't like alot, I welcome June and July.

The content has to be high in carbohydrate and low in fat, ideally 5 parts carbohydrate to one part fat - take your calculator. The sugars should be natural for example jam - jam sandwiches are ideal - very yummy if you have a three year old playing but not if they are 14 and 17 years old. Strawberries, grapes, raisins and bananas are ideal, maltloaf, tortillas, chapitis, breadsticks and bread, cereal bars especially the ones that are designed for yuppies who don't have time for breakfast, spurters and winders can provide the sugar hit but chocolate does not because your energy levels are lower after a short while of eating it because your body uses up energy to digest it.

Breakfast is a must, I know we have see it all before but it really is the most important meal of the day. We had a nutrition talk for parents at the beginning of a training weekend and I do remember the nutritionist saying that a fry-up wasn't that bad for you - or was it in my dreams?! Anyway breakfast can provide you with 25-30% of your daily nutrient intake, cereals including muesli, porridge (do you remember porridge - I loved it when I was a child) with fruit or golden syrup, thick sliced toast, bagels, crumpets, and muffins, baked beans, scrambled egg, banana and honey sandwiches (Dean's favourite - I don't think), pancakes and even left over pizza!

As Dean and Kim can't eat a lot during a tournament I plan our dinners before a tournament around a high carbohydrate diet, pasta, rice and potatoes, these foods are starchy foods and realise energy slowly. I am very mindful of placing a high emphasis on eating with children. I have never insisted that they eat everything on their plate, however you can put in place a tournament eating programme without raising suspicion.

Congratulations to Mid Sussex who are winners of both U-14 and U-17 age groups.

We have a vacancy for a Match Secretary next season, if you are interested in this post please contact Chris Byerley on 01903 233330.

This years team is as follows:-

We have had little gremlins in our e-mail account and cannot access it at the moment, it appears that someone has tried guessing our password and after a few incorrect attempts hotmail has frozen the account, which is right to do but hassle for us, so if you have any news or views please ring me on 01273 388876 or write to 4, Jubilee Road, Portslade, Sussex, BN41 1SU.