No Badminton Tonight!

I have just been contacted by the school to say that they can't open up for us tonight (Monday 16th Dec) due to staff sickness.

We will start again in the New Year on Monday 6th January 2014. I hope everyone has a great feastive season.

Wimbledon Gold Winners from Stanway!

Having warmed up representing Stanway in the Essex League, Tanapat Pisitpong and Caroline Westley had a very successful weekend representing the county A team in the national Premier Division, with the pair taking the majority of the points won by the team.

Both continued their good form by taking titles at the Wimbledon Gold - Tanapat won yet another Women's Singles title and Caroline was victorious in the Mixed with Essex partner Joel Gayle.

Stanway School Next Week

There is a parent's event at Stanway School next week which means we can not use the sports hall on Tuesday and Thursday. Therefore;

• Tue 19th November - development squad training and senior club night is cancelled
• Thur 21st November - we have two match scheduled, these will be played at Thomas Lord Audley School

Our Monday night Pay & Play club will go ahead as normal so any members wanting some badminton can come along and join in for free. There will also be a spare court at TLA on Thursday.

Junior Club Starts 4th November

The Stanway junior club will start on Monday 2nd November, with sessions again running from 7pm - 8pm at Stanway School.

All our junior members should try to enter the starter tournament in Chelmsford on 16th November. The entry form and details can be downloaded from the Essex Badminton website - you will need to print and send a cheque to the tournament organiser.

Essex Restricted Success

Stanway players had considerable success at the 2013 Essex Restricted tournament. Ging was the star performer appearing in all three finals and taking two gold medals (singles and women's doubles with Caz Westley) but missed out on the clean sweep in the mixed final with Alex losing to Danny Plant and Lynn Swan.

Simon & Michelle also lost to Danny Plant and Lynn Swan in their mixed semi-final by a similar margin.

In Men's Doubles Alex partnered with Nick Fan of Redbridge had a tough group but came through to play a quarter-final against eventual winners Andy Frye and Daniel Finn, while Simon played with U17 junior Chris Wood to reach the same stage.

In the men's singles Simon, benefiting from being placed as 3/4 seed, won through his group but lost to young Jonathan Tang in the quarter final.

Without doubt this is the best performance by the club in this event.

Badminton for Kids in Summer Holidays

The Colchester Badminton Federation has organised three sessions of junior badminton coaching during the summer holidays. These will take place on Wednesday 14th, 21st and 28th August from 10am - 12 noon at Highwoods Sports Centre.

To book a place please go to the Federation website: http://www.colchesterbadmintonfederation.org.uk/junior_badminton.html

2013-14 Season Dates

Here are the key dates for the 2013-14 season;

• Senior Club night starts Tuesday 3rd September 7:30pm - 10pm
• Pay-2-Play sessions start Monday 9th Sept 8-10pm
• Last Pay-2-Pay session of 2013 will be on Monday 16th December
• Final Senior Club night of 2013 will be Tueday 17th December - possible Fun Competition
• Pay-2-Play restarts on Monday 6th January 2014
• Senior Club night restarts on Tuesday 7th January 2014

Junior Badminton

Our Development Squad sessions will start on Tuesday 3rd September at 6:30pm. If you were in this group last year and are still at school you are welcome to join again this year. Additional places will be available by invitation only. This group is for young players that are willing to train seriously to improve their game.

Our Junior Club will start after half-term this year due to commitments elsewhere for our coaches. The first session will be on Monday 4th November. Fees will be adjusted accordingly. This group has an age limit so anyone in Year 11 or above should look to join our Pay-2-Play session from 8pm (see above).

Annual General Meeting

The AGM will take place on Thursday 23rd May, starting 8pm at Colchester & East Essex Cricket Club. For those that have not attended before the club house is accessed from Catchpool Road; turn off Cowdray Avenue next to the Fire Station.

The bar will be open from 7:30pm.

Please turn out to support your club.

Summer Term Plans

Unfortunately due to my work commitments I will not be able to run any junior badminton this term. In addition the club has decided not to extend club nights into the summer term but we will discuss this at the AGM for next year.

Therefore the only badminton for the summer term will be Monday night, pay 2 play up to the end of May and then the Federation singles event for June and July.

Suffolk Invasion

Players from across the border dominated the 56th Colchester Open, played at the University of Essex on 23rd / 24th March 2013. In the Women's events Isobel Lucas defeated her doubles partner, Kim Gormer, in the Singles final and together the girls went on to win the Doubles. Similarly Dan Moss defeated David Poole at the semi-final stage before coming out on top of a marathon final against our own Joe Skornia.

Restoring some Essex pride Michelle and Simon won back the Mixed title, making it the third year in a row that Stanway has held the title as Craig and Ging won it last year. In the veterans events the Mixed title went to Sally Taylor and James Cesareo while Alistair Bowen and Paul Belcher from Chemlsford took the Mens.

All the match results can be found on the Tournament Software website.

Colchester Open

Entries for the Colchester Open close this week, download your entry form here.

Colchester 1* Report

Stanway Junior club members turned in some great performances in the Colchester 1* tournament last weekend. Robyn Cura was our main star picking up two medals; a silver in the Y8/9 Girls Singles and a gold with Millie Jackson in the Girls Doubles.

Oliver Tiller-Wood won his pool in the Boys Singles Y5/6 but was knocked out in the semi-final stage by Lewis Doyland of Chipmunks who went on to lose to fellow Chipmunk James Martin. Chipmunks had a good day but winners were evenly spread across the junior clubs.

Jack Swain put in our best performance in a very tough Y10/11 competition reaching the quarter-finals. While Shane Monks and Lewis Ward progressed well in the consolation event.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Essex's Latest National Champ

Congratulations to Sarah Walker of Essex on her victory in the Women's Singles at the English National Championships. Sarah, seeded three, beat Fontaine Chapman, who had earlier knocked out the favourite Liz Cann, in the final.

The Men's singles final was a repeat of last year's match with Rajiv Ouseph once again beating Carl Baxter, with England's young players disappointingly unable to upset the established order.

Full results can be seen on the BADMINTON England Tournament Software website.

Badminton On Tonight

I have spoken to the school and they have now cleared the snow from the paths and car parks so badminton is ON tonight - Jan 21st.

No Badminton Tonight

With the snow settling and plenty more forecast I am cancelling all badminton tonight to avoid any potential problem getting to and from Thomas Lord Audley.

No junior badminton.

No pay-2-play club.

Please pass on the message to anyone that may not pick up their e-mail or look at the website. See you all next week at Stanway School.

Return to Stanway School postponed!

The Stanway School need an additional two weeks to complete the refurbishment work in the sports hall, in particular the painting of the court lines.

Therefore we will be extending our stay at Thomas Lord Audley / Monkwick.

The first sessions back at Stanway School will be on the 21st / 22nd January 2013.