Head Coach
Our Head Coach has been coaching since 2003 and has run badminton for various organisations, including British Blind Sport, Special Olympics, Red Balloon, Guideposts, Oasis Academy and Leisure Direct. In addition he has also run badminton courses at mainstream schools and several special needs schools including: Lonsdale school, Greenside school, Lakeside school and Woodfield school.
He has not only coached at club level (4 - 80 year olds) and county level (under 11s), but also at national level (para-badminton). He also managed several district teams at the Herts Youth Games from 2004-8 winning 3 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze.
Our Head Coach has over eighteen years experience of coaching badminton with those who have a hearing or visual impairment, some form of disability, have learning difficulties, autism or special needs.
In 2019 Badminton England established a working group to look at the future of disability and Para Badminton in England, prior to Para Badminton becoming an Olympic Para Sport in 2020. Working in this group our Head Coach was able to help ensure that their future plans reflect the needs of players and deliver a bright future for disability badminton in England. He was also a member of Badminton England's Development and Competition board from 2017 to 2019.
For a few years pre-pandemic he was volunteering at Addenbrooke's Hospital in their amputees gym to support new and existing amputees on their road to recovery. This was an eye opener where he saw just how hard it is for people to be able to walk again, let alone play sport.
In May 2022 our Head Coach ran an Inclusive Workshop for coaches, clubs and individuals in Cambridgeshire who wanted to be able to support players better and increase participation amongst those with a range of disabilities:
Comments from those participating:
What did you enjoy about the workshop?:
• Getting hands on with some of the equipment to better understanding the challenges facing disabled players.
• Being able to try out badminton from somebody else’s outlook was a real eye opener.
What might you do different in the future?:
• I shall be more confident in coaching people with disabilities.
Who would you recommend it to?:
• To be honest, this information should be included in all coaching courses, rather than being a specialist addition.
"As a coach the session really opened my eyes to the breadth of physical challenges facing various players, and the extremely creative ways they can be overcome to make the sport accessible to everyone.
"As an assistant coach it gave me lots of ideas for supporting children with additional needs.
"As a junior helper I enjoyed the practical parts of the workshop by going in the wheelchair and playing with my opposite hand because this really made it easier to empathise and understand different needs of people to coach for badminton.
Amazingly, 43% of the British public don't know a disabled person! In addition there are very few inclusive badminton clubs, or clubs that support disabled players in this country. To help with this our Head Coach has designed and runs a bespoke Disability Awareness Course, which is a practical course aimed at raising an awareness of disability badminton, for coaches and those who work with disability groups. Within the half-day course there is also an opportunity to experience playing in a wheelchair.
If you would like to know more please contact our Head Coach