Beloved badminton volunteer Mike Harding is officially calling it a day after decades of giving back to the sporting community.
The 88-year-old has been an integral member of Kent Badminton since he first picked up a racket aged 36.
It led to a volunteering career inspired by a love of the sport, and brought to life by Kent Badminton Competitions Officer and close friend Phil Jones in the mid-2000s, with the duo going on to work together on tournaments for the next 18 years.
But with age and dwindling eyesight playing a part, Harding finally made the tough decision to step away from volunteering in March of 2025, and with it, brought to a close a long-standing partnership with badminton.
“Phil ran the tournaments and I helped with everything else, doing different things,” he said.
“They were long days, sometimes from quarter to seven in the morning until nine or ten at night.
“But my eyes got worse in the new year, and I was recommended by the optician to stop driving, so that means that I can’t get to and from the tournaments.
“Along with a few other aches and pains in the body, one thing came to another and I decided in March that that was that.”
Harding has been in the sport as a player since 1970 and only stepped away from playing Masters tournaments aged 70, instead getting involved in coaching and working generally as a volunteer.
He was keen to stay involved in the sport for as long as he could and give back to the younger players who were just beginning their own badminton journeys.
“I started actually playing when I was 36 and then from the age of 40 onwards, I played county masters or veterans as it was called then right up until I was 70,” he said.
“When I retired in 1998, I also started some coaching and I’ve been volunteering for the past 18 years or so.
“I’ve always enjoyed it. When you stop playing, you just don’t stop enjoying the sport. I just wanted to do something else.
“The volunteering is good because you get the thanks, not only from the people you’re actually working with, but also from the players.
“From the juniors to the masters to the England national players, they’re very appreciative of the amount of time you actually give and what you do, which is lovely to see.”
Harding is one of many volunteers across the country who help bring grassroots and domestic badminton tournaments to life.
It’s a role he has cherished over the years, allowing him to keep within the sport and watch athletes grow into accomplished badminton players.
He added: “Seeing all the especially the youngsters, from when they were starting to play and gradually going through, to some of them now being in their 40s and 50s is amazing.
“You see them actually improving and they really appreciate you still being there all those years.”
As Chair of Kent Badminton, Jo Newson has been front and centre to witness Harding’s dedication to the sport over the past few years.
From helping pick up shuttlecocks to late nights packing up, Harding has done it all, including volunteering for almost all of the 26 tournaments and events that Kent Badminton put on across a single year.
But it’s his joking antics and welcoming personality that Newson will miss the most.
“From a pure volunteer perspective, he’s been fantastic and then you add in his dry sense of humour as well,” she added.
“He’s always sitting by the courts and watching. When I’ve played in tournaments, he’ll make some dry little comment like ‘what happened to your backhand there Jo!’.
“He knew a lot about the sport and he knew all the players.
“Everybody just liked having a chat with him before or after going on court and he just made it a nice place to be.
“I wanted him to be recognised because he’s one of those unsung heroes. He’s never asked for anything and was just always there. We’re going to miss him a lot.”
If you’d like to volunteer for Kent Badminton, you can reach out on their website.
