We run training sessions at Woodlands School Sports Hall in Allestree, Derby [Map], every Saturday afternoon from September to April with the following exceptions. The U13 squad (8-12 year olds) from 2:00 to 4:00 and U15/U17 from 4:00 – 6:00. Please arrive early so that you are changed and ready to warm up before your session starts.

The Saturday session concentrates on fitness, movement, technique and tactical awareness. Skills learnt will be put in to practice with ad-hoc games during the session.

The county juniors also run sessions at Woodlands School Sports Hall on Fridays from 6.30pm – 8.30pm and Merrill college on Fridays from 7:00pm - 9:00pm with the following exceptions. All county juniors are encouraged to attend their most suitable session (based on age and ability). These sessions are designed for game play and match practice and all results are recorded in order to provide valuable information to aid team selection. This is not a coaching session although occasionally team training or fun events are organised. 

Additionally, many children attend other coaching sessions organised by independent coaches. Some of the advanced U13 players and most of the U15/U17 players also play at an adult club. 

We also run pre-county starter groups which are designed to teach badminton to children at an early age. These act as feeder sessions into the county setup and are essential in developing a healthy progression of county players. The starter session runs on a Friday between 5:30pm - 6:30pm at Woodlands School Sports Hall.

All our coaches have achieved Badminton England Level 2 coaching status and are fully CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checked.

For further information on any of the above sessions contact one of the team managers or coaches (see Contacts page).

Through the winter we play matches against other local counties on a league basis. Nearly all home matches are played at Woodlands School Sports Hall in Allestree, Derby [Map]. There are 2 main leagues that we participate in: The Shires League and the North Midway Badminton League (NMBL).

Shires League:

The shires league is organised into the following age groups: Under 11, Under 13, Under 15, and Under 17. Which age group a player can play in is dependent on when their birthday is. For example to play in the Under 13 age group your 13th birthday must be after the 31st December in that season. To allow top players to play at more than one age group the U13 and U17 play on the one day and the U15 play on a different day. Usually we play 6 or 7 county matches in the year. Most matches are played on a Sunday and last from 3-6 hours depending on the number of courts available. 

Shires League Guidelines:        Shires League Guidelines-key points.pdf

North Midway Badminton League (NMBL):

The North Midway Badminton League was created in 1998/1999 by Sue Foster, of Yorkshire, when the age groups were changed from even to odd years in the junior badminton league. All the events are run at Herringthorpe - Rotherham, which was chosen because it is easy to reach from the motorway network for all participators. Two events are staged for the primary age group, under 12s, under 14s, under 16s, and one for the under 18s. Each county team is usually 4x4 or may be 5x5, and will play 2 boys singles, 2 girls singles, 2 boys doubles, 2 girls doubles and 2 mixed against each county they are drawn against.

League Match format

The county teams comprise a minimum of 4 boys and 4 girls and each child may play up to four games best of 3 to 21 (rally point scoring). They might play one singles match, one mixed doubles match and two level doubles matches each. The standard of the various counties we play varies enormously. The top counties (eg Yorkshire) often have two teams at each age group whereas others sometimes can’t get enough players to make a team. This is due to both numbers in the county and the resources available for coaching. Team players pay a small match fee to contribute towards costs and for home matches parents provide sandwiches, crisps cakes etc. for the players and supporters.     

In addition there is a one day team challenge event where 6 or 7 counties play short matches against each other on a league basis. This is a very exciting and NOISY event and we always enjoy it – but don’t go with a headache!!  We may also organise other friendly matches and enter teams into the midway tournaments which is for U18s/U16s/u14s and primary school age groups and excludes top graded players. 

Inter Counties Tournament:

The Inter counties Tournament (ICT) is held each year during the Easter school holidays and around 40 teams from various counties in Britain and Ireland attend. Each county take 5 girls and 5 boys who will play a mixture of singles, levels and mixed doubles over a period of 4 days. The team will stay in the halls of residence on the Nottingham University Campus for the 4 days accompanied by the ICT team manager and assistant manager (adult helper of the opposite sex). Parents are very welcome to stay and help out during the day and evenings. Being close to Nottingham we usually get good support and the atmosphere can be electric at times.