Junior Performance Programme

England Junior Performance Programme

*UPDATED* ENGLAND JUNIOR PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME – CHANGES FROM JULY 2024

Badminton England are excited to announce further planned changes to the England Junior Performance Programme, which will come into effect following the end of the current programme year.

Changes have been announced after recent recruitment in the EJPP team at the beginning of the year, which included an additional National Pathway Coach and five Age Group Coaches.

Some of the key changes proposed include the following:

• The removal of the defined programme levels of Progress, Engage and Discover. There will no longer be identified players on the EJPP for a year at a time and there will be no review process or trials taking place this year.
• The performance team are currently looking to implement a new ‘transition group’, which will include around 10-12 identified players that are committed to badminton with an aim of transitioning towards full-time training at the NBC following the end of their junior career. Identification of players for this group will be based upon consideration by a selection panel of coaches.
• Clearly defined EJPP performance behaviours (see further detail on these below) which the EJPP will align to when delivering activity to support their development and to include consideration of these within selection considerations
• International tournaments attended by the EJPP will move towards providing opportunities and exposure to players from U13 to U19 age groups.
• Training camps will be hosted by age group categories from U11 through to U19, rather than by group as currently hosted by group within the EJPP.
• Invitations to training camps and international tournaments will be via invitation from the EJPP team and will be based on factors such as performances at domestic gold tournaments, observations from National Pathway and Age Group coaches with further information on the invitation process below under the heading ‘Junior Programme Camps & International Tournaments for 2024-25’.

The rationale for the proposed changes to the EJPP include:

• Providing the ability for the EJPP to recognise and reward players for performance improvements at gold tournaments throughout the year.
• Increase inclusivity and opportunities for more players to attend EJPP camps and international tournaments, as invitation is based on observations at gold tournaments, performances and rankings.
• International tournament invitations by selection from Badminton England to non-championship events based on most recent performances and rankings will give greater opportunity to attend an international event.
• The focus on age groups at camps and tournaments will support an increase in the number of players able to access EJPP opportunities across the pathway.
• Through age group coaches and national junior coaches, the programme will have a greater understanding and knowledge of players in the junior pathway and the EJPP will have the opportunity to work with a wider group of players, coaches and parents.
• There will be an increased emphasis on the importance of junior players competing in gold circuit tournaments across the year, due to these forming a key part of selections. Non-attendance at gold tournaments could therefore impact selection for camps and international tournament opportunities.
• Changes to championship policies will include a stipulation for players to have played in a minimum percentage of their own age group gold tournaments in the required timeframe to be eligible for selection to represent England.
• Defined performance behaviours regarding culture and standards will align to all future EJPP activity to support players developing whilst at camps or tournaments.
• A greater emphasis will be placed on working directly with the network of coaches who are working with junior players through hosting of Collaboration days etc.
• More focused support to a small, identified group of junior players who are seriously considering badminton as a career, with the intention to support development of the required capabilities to transition successfully into senior full-time training.

Badminton England will continue to work through the finer details of the changes and further information and detail will be made available in May / June 2024.

JUNIOR PROGRAMME AIMS & KEY PRINCIPLES

The England Junior Performance Programme (EJPP) is reviewed each year for the purposes of ensuring it remains relevant and aligns to our new 10 year strategy and our England Senior Programme, with the following vision and purpose:

• To provide opportunities to individuals to see what they can achieve whilst providing a positive developmental experience
• To successfully support the transition of players from the Junior performance pathway

As a Junior Programme we aim to:

• Provide a system and Performance Pathway training environments that players want to be a part of
• Support an increase in strength and depth across the sport
• Support the development of a diverse workforce capable of delivering against the Player Characteristic Model within the Performance Pathway

EJP PRINCIPLES & KEY PERFORMANCE BEHAVIOURS

One of the key principles of the England Junior Programme is develop and work with individuals who are positively looking to display and develop the following key performance behaviours, with Programme activity delivered in line with supporting development and challenging individuals on these key areas:

• Professionalism
• Communication skills
• Performance focused attitude (desire to learn and improve)
• Independence / self-reliance
• A well-rounded badminton player

Please click on the link EJPP Key Performance Behaviours to read further detail around the performance behaviours we are looking for individuals to develop as they move through their junior career, which will ultimately stand them in good stead moving forwards into Senior badminton. These align to the expectations of individuals on entering the National Badminton Centre senior training environment / Senior Squad.

*NEW* JUNIOR PROGRAMME CAMPS & INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS FOR 2024-25

With Discover, Engage and Progress no longer existing following the changes that will come into effect at the end of June 2024, this means, as noted, that the process for invitation to EJPP activity (camps, training days and international tournaments) will change with the aim to create more opportunities for players to engage in EJPP activity as invitation will not be set by a static year-long programme / squad system and instead looks to be more flexible in recognising individuals for their recent form and also behaviours aligned to the EJPP Performance Behaviours.  Not being invited to one Camp / Tournament, does not mean an individual will not be invited to the next.

Please find below links to documentation that explains the new invitation process in further detail and which will apply for invitation to all EJPP Camps and International Tournaments moving forward from end of June 2024 where we will be running Camps by age group due to the removal of the Squad system. Invitations to Camps / Training days includes consideration of several factors during a defined period. For travel with the EJPP to identified international tournaments (from U13 age group up to U19), we will be considering individuals for invite that have attended the linked EJPP Camp.

Invitation Process for EJPP Camps / Training Days can be found here.

Invitation Process for EJPP International Tournaments can be found here.

Information on the events taken into consideration for U11 to U15 age group Camps / Internationals can be found here and for U17-U19 Camps / Internationals can be found here.

N.B Some flexibility in this process will be considered by the EJPP Team for upcoming Camps as we understand that the process will be taking into account domestic Gold tournaments that have already taken place earlier this year, before this full detail was announced. However, please be advised that from this point forward, in order to be considered for invite to a Camp, individuals will have to have competed in their own Age Group Gold within the period in the lead up to each Camp taking place. Those individuals to be invited by the EJPP Coaching Team to the next U17 & U19 Camp (on 29-30th June at the NBC) will receive their invite by Monday 3rd June.

We will shortly be publishing further information on updates to the England Junior Performance Programme in the next few weeks. We would like to thank you all for your patience and understanding as we now look to move things forward with the EJPP.

ENGLAND JUNIOR PERFORMANCE HUBS 

Badminton England is pleased to advise that it is supporting the initial set-up of two ‘Performance Hubs’ from September 2023 – one in the north and one in the south of the country, with the aim to expand on these over the next few years to other areas of the country to provide more access to more players (U15-U19), to train regularly together.  These Hubs, whilst not a new concept, are intent on providing the opportunity for small groups of the best junior players (EJPP and identified players) within a region to access additional high-level weekly training and match play on a regular basis, up to a maximum of twice a week.

We understand and support all the great work that is going on around the country by coaches and training environments and we wish to add to this work.  We are fully aware that there is a significant development opportunity that exists in relation to players increasing their rate of development when training regularly with players of a similar level and when weekly training hours are increased.  As a Programme, we want provide support for this increase in weekly training, with delivery of high quality and intense sessions, where players are committed and bring a great work ethic in order to reap the benefits.  We believe this is a necessity if we are to keep pace with the best players in Europe and the rest of the world.

The Performance Hub sessions will be part-funded by the Performance Programme and will be ‘invitation only’ sessions to identified players.  To note, attendance at a Hub following invitation is not mandatory and the sessions are not intended to replace weekly training and instead are aiming to provide additional weekly quality training hours where this can be fitted into player’s weekly schedules. We understand that access to these sessions will vary based on individual circumstances and such things as distance of travel which may impact a player’s ability to commit. However, we fully believe that the following principles, regularly seen to increase rate of development in athlete’s across sports, can be achieved by this initiative:

• Increase the number of quality of weekly training hours and intensity in a player’s weekly schedule to aid rate of development and levels of consistency
• Players of a similar level training / sparring together regularly increasing the rate of development as a collective group
• Regular, healthy competition / sparring between players of a similar level can link to increasing levels of motivation

We also aim for the sessions to achieve the following:

• To support players with their ongoing development and building of relationships between players and coaches
• Provide players with additional coaching perspectives
• Opportunity for the sharing of knowledge and session themes based on Coach’s experience of where the game is going internationally in the world of junior badminton and in turn, be aligned and aid development in relation to EJP themes / focus areas delivered at EJP Camp activity
• To provide variety in a player’s weekly training through training with different players

Player identification and invitation to Hub sessions are from Badminton England via nominations from National Pathway Coaches, Age Group Coaches and Hub Coaches. If you have a player who you believe may fit into any of the below Hubs, please direct your query to one of the National Pathway Coaches or Programme Manager, who will discuss this in line with current player level and capacity within the specific Hub.

The following expectations are set for all BE Hub sessions, which define what is expected from individuals in sessions and also from the session themselves and align to the EJPP performance behaviours noted above. High standards are set within sessions and expectations include professional warm up/cool down routines, hard working attitudes, good communications between players / coaches to create a collaborate environment, working as a collective to ensure each person gets the most out of all sessions and a ‘no phone’ policy for the duration of the sessions.

The below provides the session/s details for the Hubs that launched from September 2023 with invites having been sent out to identified players and with player’s contributing to the subsidised cost of these sessions:

North Performance Hub

Venue	Sheffield Girls High School, 10 Rutland Park, Sheffield S10 2PE
Day	Wednesday
Time	6-9pm
Coach/es	Jonty Russ + invited Coaches
Session start date from	6th September 2023

Surrey Performance Hub

Venue	Wimbledon Racquets & Fitness Centre, Cranbrook Road, SW19 4HD
Day	Monday / Thursdays
Time	5-7pm
Coach/es	Stuart Wardell / Toby Penty + invited Coaches
Session start date from	11th September 2023

Midlands Performance Hub

Venue	Loughborough University Badminton Centre
Day	Monday
Time	7-9pm
Coach/es	Dave Lindley & Jonty Russ + adhoc invited Coaches
Session start date from	13th November 2023

NBC Performance Hub

Venue	National Badminton Centre
Day	Tuesday & Wednesday
Time	5-7pm
Coach/es	Alex Lane, Jess Pugh & NPCs + adhoc invited Coaches
Session start date from	N/A

For further information on the Hubs you can contact Nikki Tarrant (Programme Manager) at nikkitarrant@badmintonengland.co.uk