Community & Leisure - News

Badminton coaches make the UKCC grade
10 November 2008

The sport of badminton in Shetland should benefit from a new group of coaches who have just qualified last weekend, after a rigorous training course delivered by the national governing body, Badminton Scotland.

Tutors Colin Atkinson and Lena Robertson of Badminton Scotland were in Shetland to assess nine candidates at the West Mainland Leisure Centre in Aith on Saturday. This followed an initial training weekend on the 18th and 19th October, when the candidates worked through the basics of teaching the sport to beginners, under the tutition of visiting coach David Forbes.

Badminton Scotland, like many sports governing bodies in recent years, have restructured their coaching schemes in line with the new United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC). This now means that there is consistency across the UK among sports coaching awards. They are also recognised as vocational qualifications, now endorsed in Scotland by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Holders of the UKCC Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Badminton have demonstrated their own playing ability and have the skills to teach the fundamentals of the game - including basic badminton strokes such as the service, clear, drop shot and smash - to individuals and small groups.

Mr. Aktinson commented - "Badminton is clearly a popular sport in Shetland and we were delighted with the standard of the coaches on this course. This is a demanding course and they have all worked hard during their training. We really hope they will make a difference to the sport locally."

Discussions also took place during the course about the possibilities for a return visit by Badminton Scotland coaches early in 2009, for some follow up workshops and junior coaching sessions.

The nine candidates who completed the award on Saturday were - Sarah Couper, Ritchie Hutchison, Josie Jamieson, Stuart Lavender, Joe Morton, James Nicolson, Ian Simpson, Linda Thomson and Alister Williamson. Stuart Sineath also successfully completed the award in Perth on 4th November; and although Stephanie Keith was playing badminton in Orkney last weekend, she hopes to take the assessment soon.

The course was jointly organised and funded by Badminton Scotland and the Sport & Leisure Service of Shetland Islands Council, with the support of Shetland Badminton Association.

ENDS

Details on the course can be found here