Shires League

The Under-13 team finished 4th out of 8, with the same number of points as the 3rd placed team.  This was a good performance by the players, several of whom were experienced squad members in their final year at under-13.

Suffolk beat:

Notts 12-8

Norfolk 13-7

Cambs 15-5

Leics13-7

Lincs 14-6

Suffolk lost to:

Derbys 9-11

Herts 9-11

The following players took part in league matches:-

Claudette Reis, Becky Truscott, Betsy-Lou Chenery, Katie Clark, Megan Clark, Amee Bullett, Robyn Wardrop George Isherwood, Timothy Scott, Tommy Banham, James Clouting, Liam Websdale and Nathan Collins,

Other matches

Under 13 Team Challenge - 3rd out of 5. Beat Northants and Norfolk, lost  to Essex and Herts.  .

Under 13· Eastern Region Single Sex Event at University of East Anglia (Grade 3 / ungraded players) - 2 x boys teams and 2 x girls teams took part, Boys A team achieved 2nd place.·  .

Under 12 Eastern Region Team Tournament, hosted by Essex  - two teams of 3 boys and 3 girls took part.

Friendly matches -

Beat Cambs 12-8 and Northants 19-12 Lost to Herts 3-17

Badminton England

Squad members continued to feature in Junior Challenge Tournaments including George Isherwood (Grade 1), Tommy Banham (Grade 2), James Clouting, Tim Scott, Claudette Reis (Grade 3) and Robert Sharp.

Betsy-Lou Chenery; Georgia Cattermole and Ryan Newcombe were invited to take part in two regional Talent Identification sessions - these were the last to be held under the present arrangements.

Training

Sessions were generally well attended and a number of new players were trialled during theseason with some subsequently being invited to join the Squad. My thanks to Terry Leeks (Assistant Manager), Glen and Louise Tooke, Darryl Morgan and Janine Simonds (Coaches) for their regular attendance at training sessions, also to Mark Websdale and others for occasional help. I have been grateful for the support of staff at the training venues - due to the unavailability of Thurleston this season we trained at Woodbridge and Ipswich Schools and Great Cornard Sports Centre, and our summer sessions will take place at Ipswich School (17 May and 14 June).

Singles ladder winners were Claudette and Tommy.

Moving on . . . .

The Under 13s are saying ‘goodbye' to 15 players who will be competing for places in next year's Under-15 Squad. Although this will leave a comparatively young Under -13 Squad for 2008/09, we have several players with good match experience who are progressing well, and we have some useful pairings on which to build. We are actively recruiting players born in 1996 or later through a variety of routes including clubs, toumaments, and initiatives such as the County's 'pay and play' sessions and look forward to building the next year's squad and developing the teams.

To finish on a personal note - thank you to Tony Bristow for his hard work on behalf of junior badminton, especially in running tournaments, and to all those - parents, my helpers and other - who have given me their support.

 

Linda Sheppard

Team Manager/Coach

Under-13 Squad:  Report 2007-08

Presented at  Annual General Meeting 12th May 2008