The Under-17 squad completed their 2007/8 season with many successes including Under-17
Girls gold at Eastem Region single sex event and in particular the excellent progress
several players have made. We had some organisational disappointments regarding opposition
teams cancelling matches leading to extra admin time in trying to rearrange. One
friendly was not played & one Shires match was finally conceded in our favour after
several dates were offered but not possible. Another Shires match had to be cancelled
by the opposition with only 30 minutes notice before the team started their journey,
this match was eventually re arranged. The shortness of the season, with an early
Easter, was a strong factor in fixture congestion. Our Shires campaign was slightly
held back by never having our strongest team available. We finished 5th out of 8
in our league. We try to play 5 x 5 players to give more playing opportunities rather
than 4 x 4 with players preferring to play in more matches even if it means sharing
a slot & not playing 4 games in a match. Players are advised in advance of each match
the disciplines we expect them to play and we adjust the match fee pro rata to reflect
this.
lCT 2008 [fuller report available on SBA website] Link >>>
We started our ICT with a change from previous years, by travelling to Nottingham
the evening before. This proved to be a great success with players getting into the
team spirit on the journey with a meal break early on & players not being tired from
an early start, I'm sure this helped team bonding from the start. Players understood
the need for a reasonable bedtime and behaved as requested, and the relaxed morning
seemed to be a better preparation for the long 4 day event ahead. As the driver I
also felt much more at ease, as any travel problems on the way up would not affect
our match schedule.
All matches proved to be close and our final finishing position of 31st was achieved
with great competitive spirit in the final group, having missed out earlier in the
tournament on a top 20 finishing position by the slimmest of margins. Apart from
our 1st round 10-0 loss to Notts [who finished 4th] all our defeats were either 5·5
or 6-4. The team performed very well and as expected were a credit to Suffolk with
excellent badminton & behaviour on & off the court. It appears that all counties
in the bottom 2 thirds are becoming very much closer in standard, with no easy matches,
whether this is due to the new scoring system it is hard to know.
The practice of the Under-17 squad travelling around the county for training has
continued to be a success, with four venues being used St Felix School (Southwold),
Rushmere Sports Club (Ipswich), King Edward VI School (Bury St. Edmunds) and Holbrook
High School (Holbrook). Players from all 3 areas in Suffolk have made up the squad
and what has been particularly pleasing is that players who have not previously played
in county squads continue to put themselves forward for selection, with a new player
progressing so well this season they were selected for the ICT team. We need to make
sure SBA can reach all players of suitable standard & encourage them to make themselves
available for all age squad selections.
David & I would like to thank everyone who has assisted with our squad during this
season, with special thanks to Tony Isherwood, Daniel Hooper & Gary Shepard who all
gave many hours of their time. Thanks are also extended to Mark Methven & Caroline
Westley who gave up their valuable time for free to provide an excellent session
based around footwork at Bury. This session was enthusiastically enjoyed by all,
and it gave an insight into the importance of good movement, and how much top national
players work on this area.
I would also like to thank David for his unfailing enthusiasm and ability to encourage
the players to perform to higher levels.
Our summer preparation is under way with a joint Under-14/Under-16 tournament on
Sun 8th June, entry forms available on SBA website (entries closed 27th May ) and
a squad session for invited players on Sun 2200 June at Holbrook.
Lisa Jacobs,
Squad Manager
