The four winners of the 2025 National Volunteer and Coach Awards, along with six English Badminton Award recipients, were presented with their accolades on Semi-Finals day at the YONEX All England Open Championships in Birmingham on Saturday 15th March.
We were excited to announce a change to the National Volunteer & Coach Awards for 2025. This year, there were four Awards which were open for nominations.
· Geoff Rofe Young Leader of the Year Award
· Grassroots Coach of the Year Award
· Committee Member of the Year Award
· Technical Official of the Year Award
The Committee Member of the Year Award and Technical Official of the Year Award were brand new for 2025 and replaced the existing Volunteer of the Year Award to allow us to recognise more volunteers in the badminton community for their hard work. We aim to further celebrate more voluntary roles in the future.
The Geoff Rofe Young Leader of the Year Award replaced the existing Geoff Rofe Young Volunteer of the Year Award. The only change was the name of this Award, the criteria remained the same as previous years.
These awards are presented annually to recognise the phenomenal work of our voluntary and coaching workforce. The awards are for those who have stood out in demonstrating passion, commitment and dedication to badminton in the last twelve months and who have had a positive impact and influence on others’ experience within the sport.
The winner of the 2025 Geoff Rofe Young Leader of the Year Award was Oliver Swales.
Oliver was part of the Badminton England Young Leader Academy in 2023 and began volunteering at Thornaby Badminton Club in Yorkshire where he has been a player since the age of nine. Oliver now volunteers for four hours each week at Thornaby Badminton Club sessions, helping out with coaching younger children and acting as a Manager for team competitions. He is a sports leader at his school and also a fabulous advocate for the after school badminton club.
In 2024, Oliver received a milestone certificate for logging 100 hours of volunteering and also obtained his Foundation Coaching Award. He helps out at various local tournaments as well as being part of the Badminton England National Youth Voice Forum in the role of Communications Officer.
“Oliver’s passionate professionalism in helping others play better, increasing their enjoyment and interest in badminton and helping badminton to retain young players is selfless. He is an absolute star!”
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The 2025 Grassroots Coach of the Year Award was presented to Abu Siddique.
Abu is the Head Coach at Ocean Badminton Academy in South Shields, County Durham. In the last 12 months, Abu has volunteered at the club providing free coaching to 6–15-year olds for six hours each week. Abu has won the heart and the trust of the locals as he is always fair and creates a fun, safe and inclusive environment for all players attending the sessions.
To date, Abu’s club has 73 registered juniors, of which 21 are girls – often it is a challenge to engage young Muslim girls in sport – and he has recently launched a ‘No Strings’ session aimed at over-60s which has a turnout of 12-15 players each week.
Abu has helped three juniors and two adults to complete their Foundation Coaching Award and they are now assisting him in the weekly sessions.
He is also a national board member of two BME badminton organisations, Independent Badminton Federation UK and Friends Cup Badminton Association UK. Abu has organised, sponsored and volunteered to run six badminton tournaments across the North region for these organisations, promoting grassroots badminton for all.
“Abu has helped two junior girls with building their confidence. When Abu was approached by their parents looking for a solution to some psychological issues their families had been dealing with, he offered to help the girls via badminton, using team-building exercises, involving them in decision-making, making them feel calm and working towards a goal. He brought them out of their comfort zone and pushed them past the boundary which has impacted their lives positively. Abu created an environment where laughter is just as important as lunges!”
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The first new award for 2025, the Committee Member of the Year Award, was won by Felicity Preston.
Over the last 12 months, Felicity has taken on the role of Chair of the Badminton England National Youth Voice Forum, leading and advocating for the group and being the main point of contact between the Forum and Badminton England.
She has attended the Club & Coach Conference and the International Women’s Day event at the National Badminton Centre as well as leading on various projects during 2024 and helping with the restructure of the National Youth Voice in early 2025.
At the age of only 19, Felicity has approached this role with maturity, confidence and amazing leadership skills. She is friendly, fair and always willing to listen to the other members of the Youth Forum and balances this role exceptionally well with her university studies and being an active badminton player herself.
“It’s been a joy to work with Felicity over the last year! She’s been so helpful and responsive, and she has a great skill of engaging her peers and motivating all the members of the National Youth Voice Forum!”
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The first recipient of the other brand new award, the Technical Official of the Year Award, was Amanda Balaam.
Amanda is the Honorary Secretary of the Badminton Umpires Association of England. In her role as Secretary, Amanda arranges all meetings for the Association, is responsible for producing and circulating Minutes of these meetings and annually produces a report detailing all aspects of the Association’s activities during the year.
As the Badminton Umpires Association of England main point of contact, Amanda has been involved in meetings with Badminton England to improve systems and processes, continuously monitoring any problems with the Umpires Association database.
As an umpire, Amanda has officiated at a total of 18 events in 2024 travelling a total of 3,460 miles to achieve this. This year, she has umpired 95 matches and service judged 62 matches, a total of 157 duties and these included officiating in a total of 18 finals!
“Amanda’s outstanding attribute is the sheer amount of time she devotes to this volunteer role. Her fellow Officers are constantly amazed at the amount of work she achieves in addition to her full time employment in the NHS. She is active virtually every day on our behalf!”
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Along with the four National Volunteer & Coach Awards, seven English Badminton Awards for long standing exceptional service to badminton in England, were also presented in 2025.
The English Badminton Awards for 2025 were presented to:
Liz Bateman
Liz has been a beacon in the development of grassroots badminton in Hertfordshire over the last three decades. Liz coached at Gadebridge Badminton Club where she encouraged other volunteers to undertake their coaching qualifications and well as helping numerous coaches and starter clubs apply for funding.
Liz also looks after the Junior Aylesbury League which is growing in strength and numbers each season and she is an integral part of the South West Herts Badminton League where she has recently taken over as Chair.
Simon Gilhooly
Simon has been a member of Stanway Badminton Club in Essex since 2007, taking on various admin roles such as Treasurer, Team Captain and Secretary. In 2009, Simon took over the running of the junior section of the club which has now grown to over 80 juniors and has a waiting list.
In 2010, Simon joined the committee of the Colchester & East Essex Federation and was key to influencing the Federation to become affiliated. He is Chair and Treasurer of Essex County Badminton Association and has also held the roles of League Secretary, Match Secretary and a regular Tournament Volunteer over the last 10 years.
Jane Humphreys
Jane joined the Badminton Umpires Association of England in November 1988, and by 1996, she had become a Badminton World Federation Accredited Umpire and reached the highest international level, BWF Certificated Umpire, in 2005. Jane has officiated at so many events including Commonwealth Games, World Championships and the Olympics and has also found time to become qualified as a assessor and tutor, passing her experience on to others.
Jane has been a member of the National Committee of the Badminton Umpires Association of England 30 years and held a number of roles including Training Secretary, Honorary Secretary, Vice President and President.
In addition to her involvement in umpiring, Jane has been a member of the Board of Badminton England and has been a member of Badminton England disciplinary panels.
Dave Martin
Dave joined the Badminton Umpires Association of England in 1994, rising through the ranks and achieving the highest level within English umpiring and was awarded Badminton Europe Certificated umpire status in 2009.
Dave joined the National Committee of the Badminton Umpires Association of England in 2002, and fulfilled a number of roles such as Regional Secretary and Chair.
Dave is both a regional and national assessor and, as well as umpiring, Dave has been a Badminton England Referee for many years.
Christine Rickwood
Christine and her late husband set up Cambridgeshire Schools Badminton and Cambridgeshire County Juniors in 1975. Christine was the Chair of Cambridgeshire Badminton for a number of year, took a team to ICT every year during the 1980s & 1990s and also ran many after school clubs throughout the county which fed into the CSBA and County Teams.
Christine was still actively coaching until a couple of years ago, and still attends the three yearly Fun Tournaments which are delivered in the county.
Without Christine, Cambridgeshire Badminton would be looking very different today.
Penny Shears
For over 35 years, Penny has transformed the landscape of junior badminton in Bristol and Avon.
Penny has run Yate Racketeers for 35 years, she has managed the Avon Junior League for 22 years and she established Beaufort Junior Badminton Club 14 years ago, which bridges the gap between junior and adult badminton and now has over 160 members.
She also ran an annual tournament for non-county players for 15 years, ensuring everyone has the opportunity experience competitive badminton, and spent six months campaigning to save Kingsdown Sports Centre from closure, preserving a critical community facility.
Alison Thompson
Alison has been a member of Elmfield Badminton Club in Northumberland for 40 years, taking on the role of Secretary in the early 1990s, a role she still holds to this day. Alison has overseen three changes of venue during her time as Secretary as well as sorting out facility bookings, shuttles & the organisation of eight teams each year.
Alison has also been part of the Northumberland Badminton Association Management Committee since 1993, her main role being League Secretary, but she is also a Senior County selector, helps to organise the end of season Presentation Evening, helps out at various tournaments and also takes time off work each year to help out with the Under 18 ICT team.
Congratulations to all the award winners, as well as all the nominees and runners-up.
Badminton England are so proud of every single individual who makes badminton happen and these awards are intended to applaud those who have gone above and beyond in their roles.
Learn more about the National Volunteer & Coach Awards here & find out about the English Badminton Award here.
