Let’s Talk Badminton

Let’s Talk Badminton saw the launch of our biggest ever consultation with the badminton community. The intention is that this will become established as an annual opportunity to listen and understand the experiences of people throughout our sport.

In 2021 this focused on the challenges relating to return to play and how Badminton England could improve experiences. Thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute to the discussion and feedback either through the surveys, focus groups or community wall. Your feedback has helped shape our support moving forward.

The consultation included:   

Copy of Lets Talk Badminton infographics 1

Our Response – what we will do as a result

The consultation provided lots of valuable feedback and we have outlined our response below within each of the key themes based on the responses we received.  

We will…

  • Provide support for the mental wellbeing of players as well as physical 
  • Support the development of more No Strings Badminton sessions in areas with the highest demand 
  • Support clubs & groups to provide a welcoming environment for players 
  • Work with delivery partners to explore providing more opportunities to play at different times and locations to meet need 
  • Work with facility management partners to explore court discounts and benefits & open up more facilities to cater for peak time demand 

We will…

  • Consult on the potential for a National Team League 
  • Explore ways of supporting leagues 
  • Explore ways to increase promotion of league playing opportunities 
  • Work with partners to develop more social competition opportunities

We will…

  • Develop a greater influence over facility experience through management 
  • Increase the opportunities available locally where there is the greatest demand 
  • Launch Equality, Diversity & Inclusion strategy, championing badminton being a sport for all 

We will…

  • Encourage schools to restart badminton sessions & support coaches to get back into schools 
  • Establish a ‘Coaching Opportunities’ platform to advertise additional opportunities to support coaches 
  • Hold regular check ins and coach webinars with coaches to understand challenges, provide support & develop skills 
  • Support volunteers with resources & guidance as they return to volunteering 

We will…

  • Recruit a Head of Marketing to lead on promotion & visibility of the sport 
  • Run a national campaign encouraging players back to badminton 
  • Utilise the opportunities around Olympics & Paralympics to promote the sport 
  • Utilise BETV to stream & promote all levels of badminton 
  • Increased promotion & celebration of grassroots badminton on Badminton England channels 

We will…

  • Continue to provide support for the badminton community to return as soon as possible 
  • Work with facility providers to prioritise the opening up of courts as soon as possible 
  • Create partnerships with school facility partners to break down barriers to accessing educational facilities 
  • Explore opportunities to have a greater influence of facilities through management & block booking 
  • Work with providers to develop opportunities to play where increased demand is evident 

We will…

  • Identify gaps in opportunities to play & work with providers to meet identified demand 
  • Support & recognise existing volunteers whilst helping to recruit new volunteers 
  • Support clubs, groups & coaches to reassure players to overcome potential anxiety 
  • Promote how badminton is a safe activity to return to 

Let’s keep the conversation going!

Let’s Talk Badminton Groups

We are really keen to keep the conversation with the badminton community going to continue to understand the challenges and opportunities whilst helping to identify where our support is best placed. To do this we will be developing some specific Let’s Talk Badminton Groups that will provide updates from Badminton England, offer support on developing you and your sessions as well as a providing a chance to discuss and feedback on challenges and needs.  It will also aim to become a local support network and a chance to share successes and best practice with others. You can click on the links below to find out more information and join these groups.

Each month our Club Webinar Series uncovers a different theme, enabling you to learn from an expert, improve your knowledge and skills, and help your club thrive. It will also develop a network of clubs that you can learn from and share ideas with.

These free webinars cater for volunteers of all experience levels and are relevant to all volunteer roles within a club setting, unless otherwise stated in the webinar description.

The online webinars (via Zoom) will be 1-2 hours depending on the theme and will be delivered by a combination of Badminton England staff and external facilitators.

Click on the links below to find out more information regarding each webinar and book your place:

You can also join our ‘Club Development’ network group on the Badminton England Resource Hub to access guidance and support as well as getting involved in the club forum to ask questions and share ideas.

Our Coach Webinar Series provides support for coaches in a variety of areas that will benefit your coach development. They also provide the opportunity to engage with Badminton England’s Coach Education team and like minded coaches. Details of our first two webinars are:

Coaching in Schools Webinar – Monday 17th January 2022, 7pm

This webinar will launch new content and resources available to coaches via the Badminton England Resource Hub to support coaches or clubs who are already or would like to work within schools. The webinar will cover the following topics in an interactive way to allow coaches to discuss and share their experiences or challenges they face:

  • The school sport landscape, language and infrastructure
  • The national curriculum and how badminton can contribute to this
  • Physical Literacy & the importance of incorporating this into delivery
  • What is the ‘primary premium’ and what does this mean for coaches looking to go into schools
  • How to target & engage schools
  • Minimum deployment standards
  • Difference between curriculum delivery and before / after school club
  • Best practice examples of different delivery models
  • Community links & transition

Book your place here! 

Coaching Young People Webinar – Monday 28th March 2020, 7pm

This webinar will launch new content and resources available to coaches via the Badminton England Resource Hub to support coaches or clubs delivering and engaging young people. The webinar will cover the following topics in an interactive way to allow coaches to discuss and share their experiences or challenges they face:

  • Delivering in different environments
  • Attributes, knowledge, qualities & skills that are important
  • Managing your session
    • Managing behaviour
    • Differentiation
    • Managing numbers
    • Ingredients for a good session
  • Understanding young people’s motivations & how to engage & retain them
  • Minimum deployment standards
  • Physical literacy – what is it and how to incorporate into your sessions
  • BE programmes – what are they and how to utilise
  • TRP / Smash Up / NSB – different audiences
  • Signposting to resources

Book your place here!

In addition, you can join our ‘Coaching’ group on the Badminton England Resource Hub to access support and guidance as well as providing a chance to speak to other coaches to ask questions and share ideas.

We want to ensure our County Associations are fully updated and informed on all the latest developments as well as providing an opportunity for them to ask questions, provide feedback or discuss specific challenges you would welcome support for. We are also keen to facilitate counties being able to talk to each other more, share ideas and work together where appropriate.

For this we have set up our County Badminton Association Group where we will upload regular updates and provide a place to talk to other counties.

With updates to the coaching pathway, support and development planned moving forward we want to ensure County Coaching Secretaries are kept informed and updated. The first session for this group will include an introduction to our new Coaching Strategy, an overview of our Coach Education Programme, and an introduction to our current Coaching Pathway & Qualifications. It will also highlight how CBAs can interact with our Coach Education Pathway and it’s learners and the opportunities it provides whilst providing an opportunity to discuss how Badminton England can better support the work CBAs do around coaching and development of coaches.

Click on the link below to register your place on the group.

CBA Coaching Coordinators (online webinar): Monday 25th October 2021 7 – 8.30pm

Coventry NSB
coaching-pathway | Badminton England

Safeguarding and welfare are hugely important areas for us as a sport so we want to ensure those in County and Club Welfare Officer roles are supported and have a network of like minded people to call upon. Our Safeguarding webinar will provide an update from Badminton England regarding this area and provide a chance to ask any questions related to safeguarding, your role and the support available from Badminton England.

Click on the link below to register your place on the group.

Safeguarding Group Webinar: Thursday 20th January 2022 7.30 – 8.30pm

With the new season and membership renewals now upon us, we wanted to make sure our memberships and those dealing with club affiliations are supported as much as possible. Our membership webinars will therefore provide an update on the membership offer for the 2021/22 season, give you a chance to ask any questions related to the season ahead and yours or your club’s affiliation and provide an update on the ongoing membership review.

Click on the link below to register your place on our membership group sessions.

Membership Update Webinar: Wednesday 27th October 2021 7.30 – 8.30pm

Membership Update Webinar: Tuesday 11th January 2022 7.30 – 8.30pm

We always want to make sure that young people have an opportunity to play and have a positive experience of badminton within school, college and university – for many it is often their first experience of our sport. Our education group webinar is therefore specifically aimed at School and Education partners such as PE Teachers, School Leadership and School Games Organisers and will provide an update from Badminton England, an overview of the opportunities and support available from Badminton England, an opportunity to discuss your needs and the challenges you face in relation to badminton activity and a chance to ask any questions related to your role and the support available from Badminton England.

Click on the link below to register your place on the group.

Education Group Webinar: Wednesday 12th January 2022 1.30 – 2.30pm

With so many playing badminton in leisure and community venues, supporting and understanding the challenges of those that operate and manage these facilities is extremely important to us. Our leisure group webinar is therefore specifically aimed at Leisure Partners such as General Managers, Sport Development Officers or Membership leads and will provide an update from Badminton England on support and opportunities available, a chance to discuss your needs and support you would welcome and a chance to ask any questions related to your role and the support available from Badminton England.

Click on the link below to register your place on the group.

Leisure Group Webinar: Thursday 2nd January 2022 2 – 3pm

Understanding the experiences and opinions of young people is extremely important to us as a sport to ensure we are providing the right opportunities for them to want to play badminton. To improve this, we will soon be launching and recruiting for our first ever National Youth Voice Forum. The forum will provide an opportunity for young people to get involved and shape the future of our sport.

More information on this will be released soon.

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