The Manchester United Premier League 4 Sport scheme is helping BADMINTON England to identify new talent in the City. Although the scheme is only a year old, it has already introduced several talented young players to the sport.

Josh Flynn, aged 12, and Leyton Lang, aged 10, both took up badminton through the Premier League 4 Sport session at the Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre, Wythenshawe. Both have shown such progress and talent in a short period of time that they have gained places in the newly created Manchester Performance Centre, which brings the best players in the area together for high level coaching.

Josh only started playing badminton in February when he heard about the sessions at Woodhourse Park at his local youth club. After just a few months training he entered his first junior tournament and reached the semi finals of his age group narrowly missing out on the final. Josh is very competitive and is confident that “if he keeps training he will win the tournament next year”. Josh is very dedicated to the sport and now trains six hours a week hardly ever missing a training session. David Edgar, who coaches Josh at both the Premier League 4 Sport session and Manchester Performance Centre, believes that if he keeps with the sport, with his talent and dedication, he could be a top player in the future.

Leyton is another talented player from Woodhouse Park. Leyton heard about the Premier League 4 sport sessions at a coaching session at an after school club at his primary school the Willows in Wythenshawe. Like Josh he is very dedicated and trains every week. Josh is clear about his aims: “When I am older I want to play for England just like my favorite player Helen Davies”.

Both these players have been accepted into the new Manchester Performance Centre for talented youngsters, a fantastic achievement considering how new they are to the sport.

Manchester United’s Premier League 4 Sport session at the Energy Box in Levenshulme has also generated a number of success stories.

Reece Ogzia, aged 14 from Parrs Wood High School, is very enthusiastic and has said the “the best thing about coming to the sessions on a Friday is getting better. Before I started training with Dave I wasn’t good enough to play on the school team but now I think I am”. With his energy and discipline Reece is very easy to coach and for these reasons has also been accepted into the Manchester Performance Centre.

And it’s not just new players coming through the Premier League 4 Sport scheme. Cameron Wolfendon, aged 15, has supported coaches in the running of sessions at the Energy Box, which now attract over 30 players. When he turns 16, he is keen to take his Level 1 coaching award.

Zeki Istanbul, Premier League 4 Sport coordinator at Manchester United commented, “It’s great to see the badminton sessions attracting such large numbers of young people. The aim of the scheme is to use the brand of Manchester United to attract players who may not have thought about taking up badminton before. It’s fantastic to see talented youngsters like Josh and Leyton getting into badminton and already progressing into BADMINTON England’s performance setup. I look forward to welcoming them to Old Trafford one day as Olympic medalists."