Fond farewells at Junior Badminton Club

THE end of the season has seen the current club coaches Kevin Langley and Alex Fenton, who have been involved in the club for 18 and 30 years respectively, stepping back from duties.

Kevin and Alex thank all the junior players, and their parents, for the support they have given the club during their involvement. Both agree that coaching has been a pleasure over the years, seeing club members improve, not only in their badminton skills, but also in their confidence and sociability. 

Mick Newton will be heading the coaching next season. An experienced player, Mick has been coaching for 39 years, starting at Chilwell Juniors where he was, until recently, their head coach. He has left them to come to Southwell to take on the club and ensure its healthy future.

Since 2009 Mick has been a lead coach at Notts Outlaws, training junior players looking to progress their badminton to County standard. For the past five seasons he has also coached at Sunrise Junior Badminton Club in Bingham on Sunday mornings. He currently runs Essentials and No-Strings sessions, two Badminton England initiatives aimed at improving adult players wishing to progress to league standard.

Mick will be assisted by Lucia Juraskova, herself a Level 1 coach, as Club Administrator. Her two daughters started their badminton journey at SJBC and now play Junior County and at various adult clubs. Do contact her at sportcrazykids@gmail.com if you have any juniors at home who would like to take up the sport.