SUSSEX SCHOOLS BADMINTON NEWSLETTER

Issue 3 - January 2003

Hello - welcome to the third Sussex Schools Junior Badminton newsletter.  Happy New Year to you all (if its not too late to say!). I never thought 'doing' the bedrooms in our new home would be so time consuming!  If you have any news, results, views you would like to be included in the newsletter please write, e-mail or telephone me, 4, Jubilee Road, Portslade, Sussex BN41 1SU, 01273 388876 or george4t@hotmail.com.

A JC or an ESBA?

For those of you who are new to County and National badminton, I thought I would explain how the tournaments work through the country.  There are two 'bodies' involved in National Junior Badminton, BAofE (Badminton Association of England) and ESBA (English Schools Badminton Association). These two sections are in the process of merging, and are under the banner of the Badminton Association of England.

 A JC - Junior Challenger tournament caters for the elite players roughly ranked in the top 25.  They are held at prime venues with late starts and early finishes to enable players to perform their best badminton.  ESBA - English Schools Badminton Association, Regional tournaments cater for premier, intermediate, and standard players with a ranking point system to enable players to progress to a higher level. 

Scorers and Moppers at the Nationals

The English Nationals are to be held on Friday 31^st January, Saturday 2^nd February and Sunday February 3^rd at the Triangle Leisure Centre, Burgess Hill.  We need young players to sit right at the courtside to operate the scoring cubes as directed by the Umpires and to mop the court when requested.  This is a great chance to be very close to the action as the countries best players fight for National titles.

We need most youngsters on the Friday, for the whole day and evening up to 10.30 or a part of the day, so if you can have a day off school without disrupting your education we would be pleased to see you.

If you can help on all or any of the above days or require further info, please contact Sue or George Fraser on 01825 722984 or georgefraser@tiscali.co.uk at least two weeks before the event or as soon as possible.

The After-School Clubs have Spawned an International………by Bruce Peapell

About 10 years ago a questionnaire was sent out to every primary school in East Sussex.  Basically, it asked if the school had a hall big enough for badminton and would this school be interested in a qualified coach coming along to start an after school club.  As a result of the questionnaire we had approximately 20 replies and of those a dozen schools started clubs.  In those 10 years hundreds and hundreds of youngest have been taught to play badminton.  Many have moved onto junior and coaching squads and a good number are currently playing in our County squads.

One young lady, namely Bronwyn Powell who started at Cross-in-Hand County Primary School on the 10^th Sept 1998 has progressed all the way to the England Team.  I suggest we try to go into more schools and unearth more Bronwyns!!

Congratulations

Well done to Kimberley George who has now been selected for the World Class Start programme.  Kimberley now joins Bronwyn Powell and Luke Thompson at their cell at Burgess Hill, Wendy Adams is their World Class Start coach.

Scores on the Doors

Inter-Region League:-  UNDER 17 - Mid Sussex 49 points after 4 games played, Brighton 29 points after 4 games played, Littlehampton 20 points after 2 games, Eastbourne 14 points after 2 games, North Sussex 22 points after 4 games, Worthing 10 points after 2 games and Hastings and Rother yet to play.  UNDER 14 - Mid Sussex 54 after 4 games played, Brighton 33 points after 4 games, North Sussex 29 points after 4 games, Eastbourne 14 points after 2 games, Littlehampton 7 points after 2 games, Worthing 7 points after 2 games and Hastings and Rother yet to play.

Shires League:-  UNDER 17 - Sussex 15  Avon 5.  A good start for Sussex in the new Shires League.  UNDER 15 - Sussex 10 Hampshire 10, Sussex 11 Surrey 9 and Sussex 20 Oxfordshire 0.  Sussex currently lead in the Under 15 table.  UNDER 13 - Sussex 11 Surrey 9.

Team Challenge - Well done to our Under 13 and Under 15 teams for reaching the finals in Luton in March. (No shops for Trish and Kirsten to get lost in before the match!) after qualifying in Basingstoke in November.)   This tournament is the biggest event for these age groups in the season.  Get empty shuttle tubes, hooters and whistles ready!

Portslade Under 15 and 17 from Jo Floyd

PORTSLADE OPEN TOURNAMENT

RESULTS

10^th. November 2002

With a total entry of 36 boys and 20 girls this years open tournament was one of the best contested event for a few years. 

There was no major upsets in the boys singles with most of the seeded players getting through to the knock out stages. All games in the knock out stages were closely contended with many notable performances from the younger players in all age groups. However in the semi-finals all seeds were present and ready for some of the best badminton held at this tournament for years. 

The U17 boys singles saw the Askey brothers in another familiar grudge match, which was riveting viewing for all, David eventually beating Matthew 15/11. The other semi-final involved Andrew Thomas and Luke Jones. Luke’s previous days success at the ESBA Sussex seemed to take it toll with Andrew winning 15/7. This lead to an excellent final between David and Andrew with all spectators hanging over the balcony to witness both boys pushing themselves to their limit. David eventually showed all his dominance in this age group winning 15/9.

The U15 boys singles semi-finals were just as hotly contended with a notable performance from Alasdair Hall-Jones pushing John Nolan all the way, eventually loosing a heart breaking 17/16. The other semi-final was between Kevin Gill and an ever improving William Hilton-Jackson. In this game both players used amazing racquet skills during seemingly endless rallies, Kevin finally winning 15/9. This meant that the final was between ex doubles partners Kevin and John. John uncharacteristically started well but Kevin showed great determination to fight back and over turn recent form to win 15/8.

The U15 Girls singles went generally to form but with notable performances from three U13 girls Justine Thompson, Kimberly George and Bronwyn Powell all reaching the knock out stages. The first semi-final saw the number 1 seed Sarah Leach facing the inform Bronwyn. This proved to be one of the shocks of the tournament with Bronwyn in total control of the match winning 15/3. In the other semi-final Sarah Boyce met Kimberley George. This was a lovely match to watch with both girls using wonderful skills to out manoeuvre their opponent. Sarah won a close 17/14. The final between Sarah Boyce and Bronwyn was a very tense affair with Sarah showing total dominance to turn round half way in control. However, Bronwyn dug deep to pull the match back to within touching distance of the win. But Sarah rallied herself and ultimately won 15/12.

The U17 girls had a disappointingly low entry with five girls playing each other for the trophies. The three Sussex girls Jenni Cheeseman, Holly Bower and Leah Singleton all had hard fought matches with Leah winning and Holly Runner up.

The U17 Boys Doubles again went to seeding with the four seeds in the semi-finals. David Askey teamed up with Casey Lee as top seeds and they met the relatively new paring of Calum Walker and Josh Miles. David and Casey winning 15/8. In the other semi-final Luke Jones and Matthew Askey played Andrew Thomas and Jonathan Hancock. Luke eager to seek revenge for his singles loss upped his game and he and Matthew won 15/4. This meant that we had another Askey grudge match in the final but this time Matthew had Luke who is equally enthusiastic to get involved in the discussions, Casey rather wisely stayed out of it! This match was exciting doubles with both sides attacking and defending well. David and Casey finally won 15/10.

The U15 Boys doubles had a good mixture of U15 and U14 partnerships in the semi-finals. Top seeds John Nolan and William Hilton-Jackson beat the talented U14’s Chris Nunn and Chris Clarke 15/11. Kevin Gill pared up with Double specialist Nick Wright to beat Alasdair Hall-Jones and James Curry in another agonising 17/16 (Never mind Alasdair what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!). This lead to John and William playing Kevin and Nick in an exciting game which saw Kevin and Nick, obviously woken up by their semi-final scare, pulling out all the stops to win15/10.

The U15 Girls Doubles saw the two Sarah’s face the U13 paring of Justine Thompson and Bronwyn. Sarah Leach obviously wanting to avenge her singles loss played determinedly with Sarah Boyce to win 15/5. Beck Laffan and Kimberly George took on Natasha Corke and Helen Merrett in the other semi-final, which turned out to be a hard fought match with Becky and Kimberly winning 17/15. The final again saw some lovely skills from all concerned but the two Sarah’s demonstrated their top ranking winning 15/11.

The U17 Girls doubles consisted of one game between Leah Singleton and Jenni Cheeseman beating Lonnie Yu and Carmen Wan.

Portslade Under 11 and Under 13 Tournament by Terry Bagwell

A very well supported tournament with 202 games played on the day.  A big thank you to David and Matthew Askey for their help on the day.  There was a lot of quality badminton played on the day and played in good spirit and sportsmanship.

Results:

Girls U11 Singles:- Bryony Morris - Winner. Felicity Boyce - Runner Up

Girls U11 Doubles:- Felicity Boyce and Bryony Morris - Winners.  Runners Up - Rhiannon Turner-Noakes and Marilyn Messenger

Girls U13 Singles:- Justine Thompson - Winner. Runner Up - Kate Stephens

Girls U13 Doubles:- Claire Bracuti and Elizabeth Kingham - Winners.  Runners Up - Kate Stephens and Bridget Townsend.

Boys U11 Singles:- Robert Tring - Winner. Runner Up - Dominic Wiyanta.

Boys U11 Doubles:- Winners Philip Fenner and Robert Tring.  Runners Up - Adam Stephens and Matthew Shearing.

Boys U13 Singles:- Andrew Hartridge - Winner.  Runner Up - Sean Such.

Boys U13 Doubles:- Peter Dembrey and Andrew Hartridge - Winners. Runners Up - Evan Gill and Williams Harrington.

ESBA South  Under 15 - 17^th November - by Val Gill

Singles: William Hilton-Jackson and Chris Clarke were both 2^nd in their groups.  Kevin Gill and John Nolan advanced to the quarter-finals.

Doubles William and John were only beaten in their group by the Dorset Gold Medallists.  Kevin and Nick Wright fought through to the final to be silver medallists to the Dorset pair.

Natasha Corke and Helen Merrett won one fame in their group in both singles and doubles.

As the day finished at 7.15pm there were very few supporters left to watch the final but Graeme and Val Gill cheered and encouraged our Sussex players while a handful of parents and players did like wise for Dorset.  It was an excellent final and played in good spirit.

This was the first ESBA to be played at the new centre in Winchester and the facilities are superb.

Heather Olver continues her successful season with winning the singles in the Under 19 South at Berkshire.  She was also runners up in the mixed with partner Chris Langridge (Surrey)  An excellent result considering Heather is still in the Under 17's.  She won £75.00 which will help pay Dad's petrol and her entry fee!  In the JC Under 17 at Milton Keynes in November she won the singles event by beating Helen Ward (Yorkshire).  In the JC Under 17 at High Wycombe in December she won the mixed with Raj Ouseph (Middlesex) and the doubles with Charity Barnes (Norfolk) and reached the semi's of the singles.

Dean George won his first International title in January at the Home Countries Quadrangle in Cardiff.  With partner Andy Ellis (Yorkshire) won the boys doubles final against England team mates Tom Dunlop (Greater Manchester) and Mark James (Dorset).  And the best part was….. Mum was there to watch!  My first International and Dean's first International title!

ESBA UNDER 13 SUSSEX - Helen Merrett achieved a Bronze and a Silver medal in this tournament.  She won through to the Semi-Finals in the Singles, losing to Sarah Cappelman (Hampshire) 8-15.  She and Natasha Corke were runners-up in the Doubles losing to a pair from Dorset.
 

Well done to Helen and thank you for the result.  There will be more on ESBA Sussex Under 17, 15 and 13 in the next issue.  A big thank you to those of you who help to sell raffle tickets and gave donations, we raised over £200 for our funds from the three tournaments.

Elite Squad by Jason Large

Thank you to the Team Managers for inviting selected players for Elite coaching at Brighton & Hove High School.  The first few sessions have now taken place and have been fully supported by the players.  The initial feed back is positive and sessions have been well organized, giving opportunities for young players to develop their skills alongside older 'star'  players.

Inter Primary Schools Tournament - by Bruce Peapell

This event will be held at University of Brighton in Eastbourne.  If there is anybody willing to help please contact Bruce Peapell on 01323 845299.

VACANCIES!!!!!

Sussex Junior Badminton will have a number of vacancies next season.  Our under 15, Under 17, West Sussex Under 11 team managers will be stepping down at the end of this season.  We will therefore require new managers to replace them.  Help will be given to guide the new managers at the beginning of the season, you will not be dropped in the deep end! You will need a relevant coaching award,  if you are interested please contact Chris Byerley on Worthing 01903 233330.  We also still have a vacancy for a secretary next season. 

We, the committee, meet about four times in the season.  We all have the aim for Sussex Junior Badminton to grow and flourish, we are mainly parents working towards that aim, we need more parents to help us in anyway.  You get to know what goes on!  Please ring Chris Byerley who is the Sussex Schools chairman for anymore information.  01903 233330.

Next Issue

More results, (I would like more feed back on results, even if I'm at a tournament I may not be aware of all the results please telephone me, write, or e-mail me - address at the beginning).  ICT team announcement, ESBA Sussex reports, and lots more!