Balmforthk
26th January 2004, 12:51
This is sort of related to my previous thread about reduction in league team numbers.
In my League, the Southport and District League, we have a Junior League. At U16 level, there are 14 teams in 2 divisions. At U13 level there are 8 teams in 1 division. At U11 level, there are 8 teams in 1 division. This means they are regularly playing competitive badminton, several weekends of the season.
Apart from those who play in the League, there are many others who go to play at the Junior clubs. My own club runs a Junior club every Saturday afternoon, attracting about 70-80 juniors. Several other clubs also do the same, which means there are several hundred kids, of various standard, playing every week.
I took my daughter to play in the U13 Junior Challenger Tournament in Gateshead on Saturday. It was the first of these I have been to and I was impressed with the standard of play, and the determination and keenness of the kids. As the entrants were from several counties, this means that throughout the North of England there must be many Juniors playing regularly.
Why then, are the Senior Leagues in such a dire state with, as I have put in my other thread, team numbers reducing drastically over the last 15 years ? How do we get the kids to make the transition from Junior to Senior level ? If they do make the transition, will we see an increase in team numbers ?
Also there seems to be a large gap between those of us who are over 40, have been playing for 20 years +, are still populate the teams in the Senior Leagues, and the 20ish year olds who we now see in the League. Is this the case in other areas ?
Regards,
Kevin.
In my League, the Southport and District League, we have a Junior League. At U16 level, there are 14 teams in 2 divisions. At U13 level there are 8 teams in 1 division. At U11 level, there are 8 teams in 1 division. This means they are regularly playing competitive badminton, several weekends of the season.
Apart from those who play in the League, there are many others who go to play at the Junior clubs. My own club runs a Junior club every Saturday afternoon, attracting about 70-80 juniors. Several other clubs also do the same, which means there are several hundred kids, of various standard, playing every week.
I took my daughter to play in the U13 Junior Challenger Tournament in Gateshead on Saturday. It was the first of these I have been to and I was impressed with the standard of play, and the determination and keenness of the kids. As the entrants were from several counties, this means that throughout the North of England there must be many Juniors playing regularly.
Why then, are the Senior Leagues in such a dire state with, as I have put in my other thread, team numbers reducing drastically over the last 15 years ? How do we get the kids to make the transition from Junior to Senior level ? If they do make the transition, will we see an increase in team numbers ?
Also there seems to be a large gap between those of us who are over 40, have been playing for 20 years +, are still populate the teams in the Senior Leagues, and the 20ish year olds who we now see in the League. Is this the case in other areas ?
Regards,
Kevin.