BADMINTON England’s commitment to invest in the club network has begun. A Decade of Delivery targets us to be the best in the world in 10 years, and consequently this requires us to identify and develop our performance programmes in clubs all over the country. Our aim over the next few years is to have in excess of 2000 young people accessing such environments and provide a platform to increase competitive opportunities and raise standards in good facilities.
Following a successful bid Sport England has invested £1.8 million towards a £3.5 million programme, which will enable us to work with clubs, badminton centres and county badminton associations to establish a strong and vibrant network of forward thinking performance centre environments that are accessible and welcoming for all. The aspiration is to create a hub of badminton activity where players, coaches and volunteers can progress, reach their potential and satisfy their own ambition within the sport.
The PLAYER will be central to Performance Centre activities.
Performance Centres provide a platform to increase competitive opportunities and raise standards for all players. The structure of a Performance Centre may take on many guises: consortium of clubs, Premier Club, badminton centre, CBA. These environments will operate at local community level for badminton in clubs and schools by establishing an infrastructure in order to nurture talent, including the identification of players, coaches, volunteers and officials. To assist in achieving this structure each Performance Centre is eligible to receive £10,000 a year for three years (except for clubs or potential applicants from the South West Region).
“From Horsham Arun's perspective, the Performance Centre strategy is the most exciting initiative from BADMINTON England in decades. We've been working towards such a program for over eighteen months and this has forced us to raise the bar and our ambitions even further.”
Nick Chambers, Horsham Arun PC
Horsham Arun Performance Centre
BADMINTON England Performance Centres are integral to achieving the aim of improving the standard of players so more pressure is exerted on the top elite band. They can do this by setting new standards in their operations, with particular emphasis on:
- Identifying the right raw talent
- Implementing the right player pathway to support player development
- Involving the right coaches who:
- Set the highest standards of professionalism
- Are committed to all aspects of the coaching process (plan, do, review and evaluate)
- Support players as they move along the player pathway
- Commit to Continuous Professional Development
- Contribute positively to a mentoring system
- Availability and access to the right level of competition
For more information about the Performance Centre environment please refer to the Coaching & Mentoring Handbook. Get Adobe Reader.
If you wish to apply to become a Performance Centre please contact your Regional Development Manager or email development@badmintonengland.co.uk
