Stowmarket Badminton Club

50^th Birthday Celebration by Andy Newcombe Club Chairman

Stowmarket Badminton Club celebrated a special birthday this year by commemorating the club's half century with a function at Cedars Hotel & Restaurant in Stowmarket. The earliest records show that the club was established in 1963 and originally played in the Corn Hall in Stowmarket. There were 25 members who played friendly matches against other local teams and the annual subscription was just £2.2s.6d!! As the club grew in size it joined the Ipswich and District League (IDBL) in 1965 and moved to the Grammar School, Onehouse Road, Stowmarket in 1967/8. It finally moved to its current home in the newly opened Mid Suffolk Sports Centre in 1973.

In 1972 there were 32 members today the club boasts 60 adult members and 45 junior members. The Junior Club was started in October 2006 assisted by a grant from Local Network Fund and offers badminton to local children between the ages of 7-17. It currently have four level two coaches and seven level one coaches who assist with both junior and adult coaching.

50th Celebration event held at The Cedars Hotel, Stowmarket

Saturday the 9^th November saw sixty plus past and current members attend the celebration in Stowmarket, with club memorabilia and photos on display to rekindle memories of the past fifty years.

Mary Hughes receiving award

To celebrate this achievement Mary Hughes who has been a member in excess of thirty five years was presented with a gift from the club for all her years of devotion to the club. During this time she has filled many of the committee posts including fixture secretary, honorary secretary, selector, coach and player, as well as helping out on the IDBL committee for many years.

Earlier in the day the junior section ran a fun morning for all of the children with forty juniors taking part in badminton based fun games and activities at Mid Suffolk Sports centre. The junior club is run by Janine Simonds who along with her team have established the junior section as a major part of the club which allows the juniors to mix with the adult members at clubnight and in the league teams. Janine was also presented with a gift to thank her and her team for all their efforts over the last seven years.

Junior members presenting flowers to Janine

March 2008 saw the club awarded Badminton England Premier Club status after successfully completing the Clubmark quality accreditation scheme. Julia Strong of Badminton England wrote - “The Premier Club and Clubmark standard requires commitment, dedication and hard work from both the club and its volunteers. It also demonstrates that we have got strong coaching and effective management structure in place and that we take equality and child protection issues seriously”. In 2008 we were also runner up in Suffolk Sport Club of the Year

Clubmark Award presentation

The club also runs a ladies club on a Monday night as an off shoot from the free ladies nights the club ran in 2010 and 2011. This was aimed at encouraging ladies and girls in the Stowmarket area back into badminton. Over the six week period the sessions run by the club attracted seventy six ladies back to badminton, or gave them the new experience of a fun and energetic racket sport. The Monday night session continues to offer those still playing the chance to continue to gain experience and improve their technique in a friendly, no pressure environment.

The club currently runs ten adult teams that compete in the Ipswich and District badminton league as well as the Bury and District league. Stowmarket have four mixed teams, four men's teams and two ladies teams spread across the two Suffolk leagues.

Over the years the club has produced several county players and currently boasts the Suffolk Ladies Champion Isabel Lucas in its ranks.

Izzy

Last season saw Stowmarket fill many of the places in the county second team, whilst also having representation in the county first team as well. We currently have juniors in all the county age groups and are one of the biggest junior sections in the county.

This long established club has played in most of the venues in Suffolk at some point in its history, from the defunct swimming pool at Glevering Hall to the low beams of the one court village hall at Rattlesden. The old and bold in the club can even remember attempting to play in almost complete darkness one night to finish off a fun club tournament after a power cut at the Sports centre meant darkness almost curtailed the event.

Badminton is a challenging and physically demanding sport which is widely considered the fastest of all the racket sports, with the shuttle been hit in excess of 300 mph at the top level. Stowmarket badminton club is a forward looking and thriving club but as a whole many clubs locally are struggling to keep going so please take advantage of the opportunities out there and give badminton a try at your local club.