How does one break into badminton from an early age – is it a sport for youngsters to participate and compete in? The national governing body for the sport in the UK does run very dedicated coaching programmes for youngsters. Their next generation programme has grasped the bull by the horns and really set about the problem of recruiting and retaining potential young players. It has programmes designed to help young players accelerate their learning of the sport and to enhance their development. These programmes are run after school and at weekend badminton sessions to include youngsters from 4 yeasrs old and upwards. Now that is a most appealing thought. A lot of well trained youngsters coming through in their activities including skills, gameplay and they also offer options for social, recreational and really high performance, award winning play opportunities.
There are many local clubs about – most will now have a junior section with qualified coaches who will work with all the younger players to teach them the most fundamental and essential skills through drills, games and matches. One can also look up the National coaching campaigns to see where the best and most fairly trained judgs happen to be. There is a national badminton website and they are the source of all information and competition. The chances to compete at the sport are excellent. Junior circuits compete throughout the UK.