Aspire Badminton Club
Badminton is an easy game to play for beginners, through to experts, and is an inclusive sport. Our club maintains that by enabling those with and without disabilities to play together. At Aspire Badminton Club we have the capability to support anyone who wants to try out badminton and can provide sports wheelchairs too.
We have experience coaching and welcome players who are Wheelchair Users, those with Autism, Aspergers Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Dyspraxia, ADHD, Epilepsy, Deaf or hard of hearing, Visual Impairment and other conditions.
Our players range from 17 years old upwards and are of mixed ability.
If you haven't played for a while or haven't been playing long take advantage of our free coaching to get you up to speed. Please contact us rather than turning up at the centre, so that we can ensure we have a coach there to help you.
Session times:
Fridays (4 courts) 8-10pm
External Organisations:
We also work with outside groups, such as Forever Active, to provide badminton as and when they would like a session or groups of sessions.
Our players range from 6 - 18 years old and are of mixed ability. We try to accommodate each child into the appropriate session for their needs. All our sessions are coached.
Session (term-time):
Mondays (4 courts)
Older / more experienced: 6pm
Fridays (4 courts)
Younger / beginners: 6pm
Older / more experienced: 7pm
Saturdays (4 courts)
Younger / beginners: 1pm, 3pm
Older / more experienced: 2pm, 4pm
Tournaments:
The Club supports all junior players from Year 4 upwards who wish to take part in local tournaments. We can also support those who want to play in National tournaments too.
Duke of Edinburgh:
Many of the children at our club take part in the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) awards. We record their progress, assess them and sign off their logbook. We also have limited space for volunteers to help out at the club.
We support adult wheelchair players within our adult session on Fridays from 8-10pm. For inexperienced badminton players or juniors please contact our head coach first.
Our coach has been running wheelchair badminton since 2007 and have had players (Gobi Ranganathan pictured here) play both nationally and internationally.
Tournaments:
There are two categories of wheelchair badminton for playing in tournaments, dependent on various factors. However, all players will play in the same type of wheelchair which can be borrowed from the Club.
An introductory video from the BWF (Badminton World Federation) provides a good insight into para-badminton. The rules for wheelchair badminton are part of the para-badminton rules.
The tournaments are held around the country at a national level, as well as a few at county level (based around the existing wheelchair badminton clubs).
We welcome anyone with restricted growth. Dwarfs are treated as all our other players and play in an age appropriate session.
Tournaments:
The Dwarf Sports Association run tournaments in addition to the National Tournaments. An introductory video from the BWF (Badminton World Federation) provides an good insight to para-badminton. The rules for Short Stature badminton are part of the para-badminton rules.
England has four World Champions in Jack Shepherd, Oliver Clarke, Andrew Martin and Rachel Choong.
Krysten Coombs is now a bronze medalist from the Tokyo 2021 Paralympics.
We run inclusive sessions, which means that all our players play together.
Tournaments:
Players with lower limb impairments play standing in one of two categories depending on the severity of the impairment.
Players with upper limb impairment (Robert Donald, European Bronze Medalist and GB team, pictured here) play in just one category.
An introductory video from the BWF (Badminton World Federation) provides a good insight into para-badminton. The rules for those with limb impairments are part of the para-badminton rules.
Dan Bethall is now a silvermedalist from the Tokyo 2021 Paralympics.
Our sessions are inclusive, which means that all our players play together. We are able to support those who are deaf or have a hearing impairment and to a limited degree are able to provide sign language at all sessions. Our Head Coach is a qualified level one BSL signer and has been on a deaf awareness course.
To support those with hearing impairments more, we are looking to provide more training to our coaches and are in contact with UK Deaf Sport to achieve DEAFinitely Inclusive accreditation.
Tournaments:
The GB Deaf Badminton run an annual tournament. There is also a Deaflympics that run every four years, with the last tournament running in Turkey in 2017.
Our Head Coach has over fifteen years experience working with various groups, on a regular basis or ad-hoc as required, as well as running our own dedicated sessions. As an inclusive club we have players with varying disabilities, including learning difficulties, who play alongside our other players.
Tournaments:
The Special Olympics run tournaments in addition to the National Tournaments.
External Organisations:
We also work with outside groups, such as Guideposts and Special Olympics, to provide badminton as and when they would like a session or groups of sessions.
Our Head Coach has over fifteen years experience working with a number of Special Needs schools and groups. As an inclusive club, we have had players with special needs, including Autism and Aspergers Syndrome, who play alongside our other players. From time to time we may run individual sessions, depending on the person's needs.
We have or have had various people with varying degrees of disabilities that play at our club, such as diabetes, epilepsy, dyspraxia, bi-polar disorder, muscular dystrophy, heart conditions, cancer, mental health issues, and have supported players through rehabilitating after various injuries.
External Organisations:
We also work with outside groups, such as Red Balloon, to provide badminton as and when they would like a session or groups of sessions.