Team Managers:

U11 Dave Marsh ( 07868 723552)

U13 Stephen Rigotti (07791 948315)

U15 Kirsty Wilcox (07966 719616)

U17 Paul Breakwell (07973 697766)

Who Are We?

Junior Badminton in Dorset is run by the Dorset County Badminton Association. The catchment area for Dorset badminton is made up of the county of Dorset, however in some special circumstances when areas border onto Dorset we do consider applications from parents for their children.

Governance

The Dorset County Committee meets quarterly throughout the year to consider and make decisions on the running of Dorset Badminton.

Objectives

we will endeavour to

• Promote badminton amongst younger players in schools, sports centres and clubs at all levels.
• Encourage all players to take responsibility for their own badminton development
• Support and promote coaching across the county, with emphasis on bringing players through local development cells into the county squad
• Provide coaching for a main squad of players, from which county teams will be selected by the relevant age group team manager/assistant manager, an appointed member of the committee and/or senior coach.
• Enter team competitions against other counties all junior age groups.
• Encourage players to gain greater experience through individual tournaments.
• Provide opportunities for older juniors to progress to senior county level.
• At the junior level the county supports players and teams from Primary School age through to Under 17.

Overall Approach

We take a ‘tiered’ approach to badminton in the county.

Level 1 – Players find opportunities at various locations and times – schools, courses, non county and tournaments, Bisi taster days, special events, clubs etc.

Level 2 – Dorset Academy held on a Saturday morning at Avonbourne School is for Beginners (Bronze) and Intermediate (Silver), the third group (Gold) runs parallel with Dorset County Squad standard. The students for the Dorset Academy are usually identified by a teacher or Development Officer or Coach who advises the individual and refers them to the group.

Level 3 – This is the main county coaching session.The coaching at this level will be quite challenging and this gives the players the opportunity to be considered to represent the county at ages from U11 to U17.

Level 4 -Elite coaching groups. Selection for these groups will be made by the age group mangers in consultation with the elite coaches. The Gold and Silver groups will consist of a maximum of eight players and the Bronze group will have a maximum of 16 players.

Trials

The trials are held annually with notice being sent to every school in Dorset From these trials selection is made for the training squads for U13, U15, U17.

Selection for the Squad

The squad for each age group will be selected by the age group managers in consultation with a committee member and the coaching secretary.

Squad Training Priorities

Squad training sessions will be used primarily to work on court / match tactics and developing shot techniques. However, these sessions are taken always by the Senior Coach unless otherwise specified. It is expected that players will have other coaching that they attend that has been arranged separately from the county.

Selection for Matches and Invitation Tournaments

Dorset County Badminton has the final say in who represents the county.

They will look primarily at the following when selecting teams:

• The frequency of attendance at county coaching. Missing more than one session without giving good reason to their squad manager reduces selection chances.
• The player’s attitude and performance in coaching sessions. If the Manager has reason to reprimand a player he may do so, and then give a warning resulting from which the players may be omitted from a match/matches or squad dependant upon the severity of the incident.
• Meeting the needs of a specific event (eg a team needs mixed pairs for an event and thus some players may be selected that are strong in those disciplines).
• Tournament results may also be considered.

Notice of Matches

The squad managers will endeavour to give two weeks notice to those players selected to represent the county.

Other Information

Fees

There will be squad fees, match fees, elite coaching fees, which will be kept to a minimum.

Any player who does not pay the appropriate fee will be excluded.

Clothing

Any player attending the full county squad is entitled to wear a county shirt. This should be worn to county sessions.

Anyone representing the county in a match is expected to wear the county strip.

Coaching Roles / Groups

Coaches and Squad Managers

The positions will be reconsidered each season and will normally be retained for a full season.Dorset will only use Badminton England registered coaches who have been CRB checked. Copies of all the relevant documents are held by our Junior Secretary.

Dorset do however, have a policy to develop coaches and provided they are minimum Level 1 / 2 badminton coach, registered and CRB checked they are welcome to come and assist in the training / development / coaching sessions on a Saturday and Sunday morning under the control of the Senior Coach and the coaching secretary.