21 March, 2025
Barry Wilkinson’s belief in the power of badminton is infectious and it has spread deep into his local community.
The PE teacher at Workington Academy currently leads the provision at his school, where badminton is one of the most popular sports among all 1200 students, and also runs three out-of-school sessions a week at Cockermouth Badminton Club.
The club was originally set up by Wilkinson’s grandad and provided sporting salvation when he experienced a horrific injury when he was 11 years old.
Wilkinson experienced a diagonal leg break while playing football that kept him in hospital for 10 weeks and off school for nine months, leading him to discover his grandad’s love of badminton after being advised not to play contact sport for five years.
“I just followed my grandad and shadowed him as much as possible, and developed my coaching skills,” said Wilkinson.
“We were setting up another local junior club and he got me to go along with him and help coach the students and run the sessions.”
Wilkinson started a career as a car mechanic but he would soon be pulled back to badminton through another injury, and this time it would stick.
“I tore some of the ligaments in my neck doing mixed martial arts. I started playing badminton in my local club for adults and helping my grandad again,” he explained.
“From there, I could see how we needed to change things around to make the club better, and how from other sports clubs I was in, the engagement wasn’t where it could be.
“My nana took ill, she also played badminton, and she passed away pretty quickly. My grandad obviously wanted to be there for her, and just said, ‘You run it all.’”
That year Wilkinson’s commitment to badminton stepped up another level. He qualified as a level two badminton coach while undertaking teacher training in Newcastle.
It meant the father of a then two-year-old was teaching full-time before driving back on a Friday night to deliver a two-hour badminton session, while keeping sessions running over the weekend.
Wilkinson started his own business, taking badminton into schools around his area before converting that job to a full-time role as a PE teacher.
“I was coaching loads of badminton because I didn’t have a full-time PE job. All the schools in the area were dying to have me in primary schools. I was running their badminton curriculum for three or four years,” he said.
“Teachers would stay and look at what I was doing, see how engaging it was, and how much the students were getting out of it in terms of everything that sport gives you – the communication side, the fun element, and learning new skills.
“Even now, the kids are like, ‘Oh, you taught me badminton in school.’ Some of the parents message me to say, ‘Thanks very much, the kids are now playing at university’, or wherever they’ve gone onto next. So that’s really, really nice.”
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Wilkinson is now instilling that same passion among his new students at Workington Academy, having obtained the highest coaching qualification available as a level three coach.
The school runs a character curriculum, allowing students in Year 9, 10 and 11 to pick their own sports. Badminton is now the most popular sport, along with orienteering.
Wilkinson’s after-school club is also incredibly popular, attracting 40 participants a week and he has to limit it to those who do not attend his out-of-school clubs to stop numbers getting too high.
The nature of badminton allows Wilkinson to engage everyone in sport, an experience he relishes.
“Nobody ever knows what it is when I set it up. Within the first 20 minutes, I let them play and maybe teach a serve and a push so they can easily rally and serve it to each other,” he said.
“By the end of the lesson everybody’s hitting, everyone’s been successful. It’s just a delight. They’re delighted to keep the rally going.
“If you deliver any other sports to kids, they already think they’re really good at the sport, for example, football and rugby in our area.
“If I deliver badminton, it’s a level playing field. The kids that haven’t really got a sport that they play regularly, can be better than the so-called sporty kids.”
Wilkinson’s students do not just enjoy the sport, they thrive. This year, he saw a student he started coaching in Year 7 represent Cumbria U15s having started the sport at school.
It was badminton that provided Wilkinson with an outlet at the start of his life and now it is the ability to do that for others that keeps him coming back.
“For me, personally, it’s what kids get out of it,” he explained. “If I miss the session, or if it ever gets called off, I can’t stand it. I feel like I’ve let them down.
“I get the feedback, and it’s like, ‘Oh my God, all they’ve talked about is badminton, and they’ve absolutely loved the session. They’re so excited, so they can’t wait for next week.’”
