Olympic Team - Junior Progression

[North]

Clearly the aim of most players in Britain is to play in the Olympics but this is under the banner of GB.

Apart from that players compete under their home nation in a limited number of tournaments each year dependant on finance available. Surely it would make sense to pick one junior international tournament each year at various age groups and enter as GB.

The players who are beginning to mix more often due to the advent of challengers would perhaps blend for the future good of British badminton.

Admittedly there would be a predominance of England players (there should be due to population and financial advantages) but a fair selection policy would include a sprinkling of Scots (mainly female) some Irish (male perhaps) and the odd Welsh player.

Long term surely this would benefit British badminton.

[Thumb]

Judging by the name I am guessing this suggestion comes from a Scot., however I do see the long term benefits.

Admittedly as mentioned in the initial proposal the nucleus of the team would be English in most instances.

Perhaps the English team for each age group could be used as a starting point and consider how it could be strengthened by introducing the other nations.

Finance would be the responsibility of each players association.

For the smaller nations who perhaps have an outstanding player in each age group but could not raise a reasonable team this would be a way in which their players could gain international experience.

The English players would benefit from the variety of play and perhaps a less insular outlook.

Training would be difficult due to geography, but perhaps the tournaments chosen could be early in the season and a joint training camp in the summer months could be arranged (again self financed by nation).