I am pleased to report that all league and friendly Veterans matches were fulfilled this season, with the exception of Bucks Over 50s who were unable to field a team for our scheduled home fixture.

 

The ICC League final league placings were:

Over-45s finished 4th; Over-50s finished 3rd, the Over-60s played 4 friendlies outside the league structure.

 

The Yehlex tournament was run on a national basis for the second year and played over a weekend in January - with the Over-45s rubbing shoulders with the Elite in the Premier League at Hatfield, the Over-50s playing at Badminton England's HQ in Milton Keynes and Over-60s travelling to Bournemouth.

 

Whilst no team had a great deal of success on court, the organisation and social events at each venue were far better than the previous season.

 

Over-45s finished 6th in Premier League and will be relegated back to Div 1 Over-50s finished a creditable 4th in Division 1A out of 7 teams

 

Over-60s finished 6th in Division 1 as they struggled with several late injuries and illnesses in their squad.

 

Results of all the competitions are available on the Badminton England website or there is a copy here tonight.

 

Tony Isherwood and Mark Goodman flew the Suffolk flag at the All England Veterans Tournament held at the beginning of April and did the county proud in their battles with the Germans and Danesl

 

To round up last season's business, the SBA has awarded veterans colours for those players who have made a significant number of appearances for the County. Those selected this year are:-

Trish Armitage, Sadie Tilbrook and Brian Salway, Lesley Crack, Martin Leech, Norman Noble and Stuart Girling.

 

Looking forward to next season, Badminton England have requested entries for the ICC earlier than has been common practice, and Suffolk has decided to increase their entry to include an Over-55s team for the first time. There is definitely interest in an additional team however, the larger the squads the better - so can I put out a plea for anyone who is over-40 and may be interested in representing the County in any of the age groups to please contact Mike Tee or me or have a look on the website for more information and our contact details.

 

If there is sufficient interest to rekindle the Over-40s team, we would also be pleased to do so - or to arrange friendly matches on a similar basis to those we currently do for the Over-60s, who have played against Lincs and Norfolk for the last few seasons.

 

There will be some practise get-togethers in September/October and anyone who is close to being Over 40 or beyond is very welcome to come along to those sessions.

 

In closing, can I thank all the players who have taken part and the captains of each team for their sterling work throughout the season - Mary Hughes for the Over-60s, Pauline Tarbit for the Over 50s and Tony Isherwood for the Over-45s. Also thanks to Peter Webb, Sue Driver and Mike Tee for keeping the website, money and me (in that order) up to date and under control.

 

Sue McKinley

Chair - Veterans' Committee

Veteran Squads Annual Report - Season 2008-09

Presented at Annual General Meeting on 6th May 2009