Please click on link for our junior squad selection process and any information regarding this.

CLICK Here

IN-HOUSE TEAM EVENT with results 2nd Dec 2017 - CLICK HERE

James and Alastair looking rather pleased with themselves (and so they should be!)

Post 16th May 2017

There was Highland representation at the U11 Nationals held in Glasgow 13th May.

• Erlend Ballantine (Orkney) & Keith Bray (Lewis)
• Alasdair Gordon (Inverness) &James Brown (Lochcarron)
• Alex Thompson (Moray) partner Zu-An Chen (Glasgow)

Boys Singles:

• Erlend quarter finals
• Keith, James & Alasdair last 16
• Alex won the plate

Boys Doubles:

• Erlend/Keith semi finals
• James/Alasdair quarter finals
• Alex/Zu-An quarter finals

What a performance - well done boys.
Keep up the good work.

All results can be found on CLICK Here

Also there is new on BadmintonScotland Website mentioning Keith and Erlend - CLICK Here

(Posted 1st May 2017)

(Click link for teams and results:  CLICK Here)

Badminton Team Friendly – Stirling vs Highland

On Saturday 29th April Highland team travelled to Stirling to play a badminton team friendly with Stirling (with players from Perth and Fife) area.  There were in total 46 junior players ranging from 8 years to 16 years.  There were 6 teams over 3 age categories with a mix of 8 players per team with singles, doubles and mixed matches.

Below is the outcome per age category:

U17 Team

Shuttle Rockers –Fraser Sheriff (Captain), Grant Lewis, Finlay Sheriff, Josh McCandlish, Jamie Campbell, Aiden Brooks, Darcy Baxter, Katherine Martin

Birds of a Feather – Conan Smith (Captain), James Clark, Aaron Morrison, James MacDonald, Emma Donald, Nadia Fenton, Heather Forsyth

There were 42 matches played over 3 disciplines held in Beaconhurst High School – all games were best of 3 to 21 with setting.  Strong performances were across the board from all players and very tight setting games throughout.  The last game of the day was the decider on who won overall.  Birds of a feather narrowly pipped the Shuttle Rockers – but reviewing the results both teams were very evenly matched in some cases and the outcome could of went either way.

There was a very exciting match with Josh McCandlish and James MacDonald with Josh wining 21-16, 19-21, 22-20 which threw the boys singles event to the Shuttle Rockers winning 7-5 matches.

More exciting games in the girls singles the Birds of a feather overcoming the Shuttle Rockers securing 5 wins out of the 6 games.  Katherine Martin secured a win over Heather Forsyth in a hard fought 21-19, 7-21, 21-15.  Emma Donald and Nadia Fenton both secured there wins in 2 sets.

In the boys’ doubles matches the Shuttle Rockers secured 4 out of the 6 matches – with another tight match with Conan Smith/Aaron Morrison against Josh McCandlish/Jamie Campbell with Conan and Aaron winning 21-14, 18-21, 22-20.  There were 3 matches going all the way out of the 6 matches.

Birds of a Feather proved too strong in the girls doubles winning all 3 matches – but Heather Forsyth/Nadia Fenton had to dig deep to secure the win over Darcy Baxter/Katherine Martin  21-10, 17-21, 21-13.

The final event was mixed doubles games - there was a push for time, so some of our U15 members took on some games to complete the matches overall.  Birds of a Feather just pipped the Shuttles Rocker securing 7 matches out of the 12.  Conan Smith/Nadia Fenton won over Fraser Sheriff/Eden Cowie 18-21, 21-14, 23-21.  Our younger members Finlay Sheriff/Oliva Stronach took on James Clark/Heather Forsyth and secured a tough win 21-19, 21-16.  Another long hard fought match was with Grant Lewis/Darcy Baxter against James MacDonald/Emma Donald with Grant and Darcy winning 12-21, 21-18, 21-12.

Well done all players – the standard of play was very competitive and all players worked hard.

Our two ladies Darcy and Katherine were back to back games most of the day – outstanding performance ladies.

U15 Team

Birds the Word – Ben Kay, Josh MacNeil, Robin Purves, Adrian Buxel, Abbie Brooks, Laura Buxel (Captain), Rebecca Plank

Shuttle Whackers – Bruce McWhirter, Aiden Smith, Euan Forsyth, Angus Duffy, Eden Cowie (Captain), Ashley Donald, Olivia Stronach

There were 31 matches played over 3 disciplines played at Wallace High School over 2 courts – games were 1 games to 30 no setting. 

Overall the Shuttle Whackers proved too strong in all disciplines securing 26 matches out of the 31 matches.

Some matches seen hard fought games throughout:

Boys singles: Euan Forsyth won 30-24 over Adrian Buxel and Angus Duffy won 30-24 over Ben Kay.

Girls singles: Abbie Brook outstanding performance securing 4 out of 4 matches winning 30-29 over Eden Cowie (match of the day), 30-23 over Olivia Stronach and 30-24 over Ashley Donald.

Boys Doubles: Bruce McWhirter/Angus Duffy winning 30-26 Ben Kay/Robin Purves

Girls Doubles: Abbie Brooks/Sophie Barrie won 30-23 over Ashley Donald/Olivia Stronach and Eden Cowie/Olivia Stronach winning 30-21 over Rebecca Plank/ Sophie Barrie

Mixed Doubles: Euan Forsyth/Olivia Stronach won 30-27 over Bruce McWhirter Abbie Brooks

Very well done to all players – could not ask for any more from all players; they all dug deep and never gave up throughout all matches. 

U13 Team

The Footworkers – Adam Rodger (Captain), Archie Baxter, Alasdair Banks, Tom Kay, Samuel Brooks, Fraser Banks, Hannah Buxel, Zainab Mubeen, Hadiya Mubeen, Humera Rehman

Birdie Bashers – Callum Burge, Jamie Fraser, Cameron MacKenzie, Rory Kiln, Sophie Barrie (Captain), Elissa Hunter-Dorans, Abi Barrie

There were 42 matches played over 3 disciplines played at Wallace High School over 2 courts – games were 1 games to 30 no setting. 

Overall the Birdie Bashers proved too strong in all disciplines securing 42 matches.

Some matches seen hard fought games throughout:

Boys singles - Rory Kiln won 30-29 over Tom Kay and Cameron MacKenzie won 30-28 over Samuel Brooks.

Girls Singles – Hannah, Zainab, Hadiya and Humera went up against extremely strong opposition and secured doubles digits in some of the games – well done girls.

Doubles: Cameron Mackenzie/Rory Kiln won 30-23 over Alasdair Banks/Adam Rodger; Callum Burge/Cameron Mackenzie won 30-21 over Samual Brooks/Fraser Banks.

Again, very well done to all players – could not ask for any more from all players; they all dug deep and never gave up throughout all matches.  Keep up the hard work and training.

Overall:

The goal was to give exposure to working as a team and play against/with different players along with giving some leadership to players as being a captain.  The day was played in the right spirit by all players and should be looked upon as a development opportunity to get more competitive games against different players – there was no winners or losers; they are all winners for taking part and playing hard.

We are hoping all players enjoyed the day and went home feeling as if they played hard fought games throughout; and more importantly, want to take away the experience to their clubs to train harder.  All players are a merit to their clubs and coaches.

Thanks

Many thanks to Wallace High School and Beaconhurst High school for accommodating their halls for the event.  Also to all parents who allowed their young talented players to attend this event.

Stirling organiser Rita Yuan Gao, Highland organiser Margaret Campbell and adult helpers (all from Highland Badminton Group committee) Andrew Durrand and Gail Forsyth who ran the U17 team, Megan Campbell who co-ordinated U13-U15 games sheets and David Barrie for ensuring U13-U15 games were put on Court.  Mhari Donald escorting kids on mini-buses and help through day also.

Results

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4I-dYYykDcKYlFCMFB2YTBLbEE/view?usp=sharing

Facebook Photos:

https://www.facebook.com/badmintonacademyryg/photos/pcb.1125253377586393/1125250680919996/?type=3&theater

Report courtesy of Margaret Campbell (1^st may 2017)

posted 27th June 2016

Badminton Scotland National Junior Development Coach Julie Hogg has very kindly given some helpful exercises which can be followed throughout the summer holiday period and continued ongoing.

Link to videos - The timings, frequency and reps are all indicated on each of the IMOVIE clips:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqWMz4_SFUuXv2Fexh4i7EAOLkQJkXgQF

Feeder Squad games session 2015-16

As at 20th June 2016

There was 9 sessions completed for 2015-16 season with Dan Travers and Angela Bell giving players some excellent coaching to further progress their technical skills.  HBG would like to take this opportunity to thank these coaches for their hard work and commitment.

Also would like to take this opportunity to thank Matthew Jeorrett for his organisation of the squad sessions.  Matthew has just recently stood down from Coaching Convener position to move onto pastures new in Edinburgh and wish him all the best in his new ventures.

For season 2016-17 Andrew Durrand and Gail Forsyth has very kindly volunteered to organize.  Gail will deal with the squad registration which includes sending invites & receiving confirmations/payment.  Andrew will assist with the squad session on the chosen dates.  Please feel free to send any queries to Gail/Andrew on squad@highlandbadmintongroup.co.uk.

The last session for the Highland squad was on Saturday 18^th June 2016.  This session was all about games and gaging player improvement through some competitive play.  Hopefully all players enjoyed this and had a chance to show off all their hard work.

FEEDER Group: Girls singles winner Sophie Barrie and runner up Abbie Munro

Boys singles winner Aaron Morrison and runner up Alistair McCruden

PERFORMANCE GROUP: Girls singles winner Heather Forsyth and runner up Hannah Brook

Boys singles winner Alexander Gregson-Macleod and runner up Jack Rawlinson

2015-16 squad training session brought a wealth of talented players split into two groups:

• Feeder squad players
• Performance squad players

Many thanks to parents/helpers for bringing the juniors to these squad sessions – it is absolutely fantastic the commitment from areas where travelling distance is excessive.

HBG look forward to seeing players next season – invites will be out mid August 2016.

Well done to all players!!! 

Selection criteria - Highland tournaments Semis & above and coach referrals; plus perforamnce in national tournaments.

Margaret, HBG

Courtesy of Lifescan Scotland Feb 2015

The Highland Squad started back 26th January 2013 with coaching sessions conducted by Dan Travers.  Players are chosen from badminton clubs throughout the Highlands split into two categories - feeder squad and performance squad.  The selection is driven from performance at tournaments and coach referrel (selection review is at the new season start - August).

 Being part of the squad allows players to have the opportunity to train and play with other players of proven ability or potential.