When the Covid-19 pandemic threatened the sporting ambitions of young children across the country, Jash Josson knew things had to change.
With venues and schools shut down, countless children throughout England lost out on a chance to keep active and play sport.
That is why badminton coach Josson decided to help juniors in the north west make up for lost time by running bespoke coaching sessions every Sunday at Set Sale Badminton Club.
Founded in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, the club, which is based across Sale and Trafford, has soared in popularity, with demand so high that Josson has begun to deliver back-to-back sessions.
“I started playing badminton in North Wales as a junior before moving into coaching in 2016 in Manchester and coming out of Covid when a lot of clubs stopped, I set up Set Sale for juniors in Trafford and we just went from strength to strength,” he said.
“We were quite busy to begin with. There was a lot of demand and it’s nothing like you read about kids not wanting to be in sport or active, it was completely the opposite.
“They never leave, and we have lots of people waiting so we’re trying to add more clubs and venues where we can.
“We’ve had some kids now who have now gone off to university and come back to become assistant coaches and that’s been very good.”
Josson’s tireless service have seen him emerge as a sporting hero for many of his charges but he insists that there is still work to be done.
A study by Sport England found that children in nursery when the pandemic began in 2020 ‘remain less likely to have positive attitudes towards activity and have a lower sense of opportunity’.
Badminton England have taken up the charge in encouraging more young children to choose sport, namely through No Strings Badminton (NSB), an initiative Josson has welcomed with open arms.
NSB is a national programme that offers low-cost, ‘pay and play sessions’ at venues throughout England designed to create a friendly and welcoming environment for anyone interested in trying out the sport.
Josson added: “It’s extremely important to get more children involved in badminton because and you will have seen this in other sports and education, there is a gap where children missed two years where they couldn’t get access to sport or socialise in school.
“Socialising and meeting your peers and responding to coaching and challenges is absolutely critical. Children go through so many different stages from blind excitement to being dejected to being competitive and having friendships in sport.
“Because we lost two years of new intakes and those children, it’s hard to find spaces and clubs to train these kids, especially at a performance club, because there’s a backlog and a waiting list.
“Anything we can do and what Badminton England is doing with No Strings is needed. Badminton can be a gateway to other sports so it’s absolutely critical to get kids out.
“There’s something inherent in us that enjoys activity and being social with it and getting better at it as a skill. There will always be sports children won’t enjoy but there will be ones that they do enjoy, you just have to find them.”
