IMPLICATIONS OF CLOSURE OF POOLE SPORTS CENTRE

As well as using the courts, we use the car park and all the shopping facilities and when required hotel accommodation.

ACCREDIATED CLUBMARK SILVER CLUB – DORSET COUNTY BADMINTON SQUAD TRAINING IS EVERY SUNDAY AT POOLE SPORTS CENTRE. 9.00-6.00 ON ALL TEN COURTS

300 Children from Ages 7/8 to 17 years of Age 9.00-1.00

Under 21’s and Seniors U40 – 50 Adults 1.00-6.00

Over 40’s up to seventy five year’s of age 100 adults 1.00-6.00

MIXED AGE GROUP COUNTY MATCHES – EVERY SUNDAY

Children’s U13’s, U15’s, U17’s, U’21’s

Senior County Badminton Matches

Veteran’s County Badminton Matches

Visitors mainly from South West, but some further afield. All these visitor’s particularly parents shop at the “Dolphin Centre” shopping areas.

JUNIOR TOURNAMENTS

Three Dorset County Tournaments U13,U15,U17, 200 children plus parents

Two Non County Tournaments U13,U15,U17 200 school children from all over Dorset with parents

Four South West Tournaments 200 children each tournament plus parents from the South West Area. Accommodation in hotels required.

SENIOR TOURNAMENTS

Dorset Open Tournament people travel all over the country to this tournament 150 players plus families. Acommodation in hotels required.

Dorset Restricted, restricted to Dorset players. 100 players plus families

VETERANS TOURNAMENTS

First weekend in January 250 Adults plus their families. Poole and Broadstone Sports Centre used.

Accommodation required at the weekend for all competitors and officials.

BADMINTON ENGLAND PREMIER WEEKENDS

England players, selectors and officials one weekend a year for this prestigious event. Accommodation required in hotels.

MONDAY EVENINGS
We did use this evening for several of the Dorset/Poole registered clubs. Several of the clubs have gone to Rossmore and Ashdown, but have had to down size on their requirements due to lack of court availability. One club has moved over to Wareham and one to the Purbecks. Some of our coaching groups are using facilities at Canford School. Two clubs have had to disband totally due to lack of facilities.

The very successful “Play and Pay” Monday evening Club which has the “Clubmark” accreditation, has been disbanded as there are no facilities available in the Poole Area for the amount of people that participated in this club. 50/60 participants – this was a recreational players evening.

TUESDAY EVENINGS

Dorset organise a League competition which is played at the Sports Centre, every Tuesday evening utilising all the eight courts, plus we use two courts for an extra Junior Training Group.

FRIDAY EVENINGS

Individual Dorset clubs base their club at the Centre and play their matches and have their club nights on a Friday. All eight courts used, plus we use two courts for an extra Junior Training Group.

PERFORMANCE CENTRE

Dorset Development Officer has applied to Badminton England for the Poole Sports Centre to become a “Performance Badminton Centre”, which is a new “Sport England” venture backed by the Government. Poole Sports Centre is the only Centre in Dorset that meets the criteria set by Sport England. No Poole Sports Centre, No “Performance Centre” for Dorset.

If we were able to use the Poole Sports Centre as a “Performance Centre”we would like to install

THREE PROFESSIONAL COACHES TO RUN BADMINTON IN THE CENTRE. Sport England and parents would be paying for this venture.

Development Officer’s conclusions.

The three weeks when Poole Sports Centre was closed. I rang all the Poole, Bournemouth, Purbeck, East Dorset and West Dorset Sports Centre and Schools to try and accommodate our training and matches.

We were able to secure limited facilities at Carter Community School 4 courts an Wey Valley School 4 courts, Canford, Sir David English and Littledown. We were very grateful that we were able to secure these facilities.

However, in view of the facilities that were made available. In my opinion we would not be able to run successfully our County squads/training and we would cease to operate as Dorset County Badminton, which would affect the well being of hundreds and hundreds of children and Adults and Families. We do have at present 4 Children training in the England Squads. Our Senior County team is in the Premier 1^st Divison, and we have two further county senior teams. Plus an U21’s team. Our U17/U15/U13 teams all play in the South West Leagues.

We do utilise other facilities where we can for training such as Training Cells at Canford School, Talbot Heath and Avonbourne School, Bournemouth, Ashdown, Canford Heath, Rossmore.

As the Dorset Development Officer in Dorset we now have five Badminton Academy’s no other county has more than one Badminton Academy in their county, Carter Community School is your Badminton Academy in Poole this is a great achievement for them. In addition to myself we have a full time Badminton Coach introducing Badminton into all Dorset Schools. In Poole the Partnership Development Manager – Linda Dyer pays the County Sports Partnership for two days a week for badminton to be introduced into the Poole Schools. In my two years as Full time Development Officer, more than 4,000 children have now been introduced via their school curriculum to Badminton in Poole. From the schools we link into after school clubs and from the after school clubs we have Saturday clubs, such as the new link at Carter Community School. We also support the Poole Festival of Sport and from these links the children come into our Development Groups and play in our Non-County and County Tournaments at the Poole Sports Centre. In February we are hosting the first ever National Interschools County Final with 300 children. Badminton is booming and we need to secure the Poole Sports Centre Facility.

We need Poole Sports Centre as our base and our Performance Centre, there is no other facility like it in England.

 

 

Sandy Jones

Badminton Development Officer.

www.badminton-dev-dorset.homecall.co.uk