August 28, 2022
What started out as a favour for a friend led John Herdman to over 50 years of service with Middlesex County Badminton Association before his recent retirement.
The 74-year-old from Stanmore took up the sport at a youth group before joining Bush Grove Badminton Club.
Herdman was asked by a friend at the club to help run junior tournaments, before serving on committees and eventually becoming chairman of Middlesex for 38 years.
“I started off helping the tournament organiser and I helped out with the senior tournaments and became chairman of the senior tournament committee,” the former London Weekend Television engineer said.
“After that, when the old Middlesex chairman retired in 1983, they asked me if I would like to become chairman, foolishly I said yes!
“My biggest achievement was running a successful county. Middlesex last won the senior county competition back in the 1930s and in 2018 they won it for the first time since then.”
Herdman was recognised with a special presentation from 2017 European champion Rajiv Ouseph, one of the many players Herdman saw rise through the ranks during his term as Middlesex chairman, earlier this year.
Alongside his responsibilities at the Middlesex CBA, Herdman served as a volunteer at 37 Yonex All England Opens.
Beginning when the tournament was hosted at Wembley Arena, Herdman became a familiar face for the players as he volunteered in the transport department up until 2020.
He added: “A friend of mine at the club asked me if I would help out at the All England when it was at Wembley and I have been there ever since.
“My role there was in the transport department so I picked up a few of the top players and dropped them back off at the airport.
“Some of them you could have a good conversation with, but depending on if they won or lost, some of them were pretty quiet!”
Despite stepping back from his roles at the YAE Open and with Middlesex, he continues to work as a trustee at the National Badminton Museum in Milton Keynes.
That is just one of a variety of roles Herdman has held within the sport, as he emphasised the importance of volunteers.
He said: “I think sport needs volunteers and I had an enjoyable time volunteering. I was a national umpire for 20 odd years and a tournament referee as well.”
If you would like to get involved with volunteering, visit our Volunteer in Badminton portal
