13 August 2024
Annie Lado and Sam Jones were invited to return to the Performance Centre that helped shape their badminton journeys.
The pair appeared at an exhibition event at The Westgate Performance Centre (WPC) in Winchester, Hampshire in July and met the next crop of budding badminton stars.
Both returned to impart their skills and knowledge to the next generation of players at WPC, with the opportunity for players to spar with the young England players.
Lado and Jones, who are now part of Badminton England’s Futures and Development squads, were able to coach and hit with the groups and then took part in some exhibition matches in mixed, men’s and women’s doubles.
They invited some of the older players at WPC to join in with some of the exhibition matches.
Lado and Jones also took the opportunity to pass on some advice to the players as well as answers questions from players and parents in a Q&A session. Up to 35 young players took part in the event from all age groups who train at the performance centre.
Both enjoyed the experience and it was well received by Ollie Baczala, Westgate’s head coach, who joined in with the training and the exhibition matches.
“I had a great time returning to my old Performance Centre to give back and hopefully inspire the next generation of players,” Jones said.
“It was nice to see how the players have developed since I left two years ago, and also great to see plenty of new faces.
“It’s really important for the young players to see what badminton looks like at a high level and I’m sure that WPC will continue to produce players well into the future”.
Lado added “It was great to come back to our old club and see the next generation of players enjoying themselves. They were all really enthusiastic and showed great potential”
Charlie, a player within the performance centre, said of the event “It was a great experience playing with the former Westgate players who are now at the top level of badminton, and it was also good to see them again.
“Seeing how far they have come has really inspired me and the other young players to work even harder than we currently are”
Thanks also to Yonex UK and Babolat for the support for the pair.
