This half term we built on the success of last year and hosted another Badminton Schools Competition at the EnergyBox at Levenshulme High School.
We had teams from Greenbank Preparatory (Cheadle Hulme), Cheetwood CP (Cheetham), St James’ (Rusholme) and St Ambrose (Chorlton). Due to an increase in popularity this year, we changed the format from 2016 Competition to make sure we could fit as much Badminton within the time frame we know schools prefer.
Teams were split into doubles partnerships and competed in x2 groups of 6, with the top 4 going through to the quarter finals. This way the knockout rounds to determine the winner would only take up a short amount of time at the ends, rather than having team get knocked out after only a few games. We briefed the teams and got them started!
As the group rounds started it was great to see the children putting loads of effort in and really getting into the competition. This was well balanced with players shaking hands at the end of every game, and with coaches and officials chipping in helping players with rules and explaining the doubles court dimensions.
As we run an LSC Schools Competition each half term it gives a chance to do the popular sports like Football and Netball, but also make room for not as popular sports like Badminton and BMX. We’ve had great feedback about this as it gives children a great chance to play sports they might not have played before in a competitive environment. It also gives the teachers and coaches the chance to rotate the children they bring as well, which it brilliant for inclusion within schools.
As the group rounds finished and the quarter finals were drawn we had x2 Greenbank teams and x2 Cheetwood teams facing each other! The children did brilliantly in playing to the best of their ability as well as remembering that they were playing against their school friends, and they all stayed friends by the end! Again making sure children were staying active we used the spare courts to set up friendlies for the teams who didn’t make it through to the knockout rounds.
The last match saw Greenbank Preparatory Yellows play Cheetwood CP Green in our Live Facebook Final!! It was great to see other teams and grown ups stay around sit down at watch the final. It was a brilliant contest with everyone watching amazed at the speed and technical ability to play drop shots, defensive shots and smashes. Cheetwood CP Greens emerged the victors with some brilliant shots, they took the gold medals and the winners shield home to proudly present to their school.
We’re back with our BMX competition in February at the National Cycling Centre, places are limited so keep your eye out for your invite! Also have a look at our website, Facebook and Twitter accounts for more information!
