Felicity Preston on her role with National Youth Voice Forum

Felicity Preston feels lucky to have been brought up in badminton – but she is now on a mission to spread the word of the sport to those with no prior exposure.

The sport is a family affair for Preston, 18, who was raised by her two badminton-loving parents in Hereford – and after immediately falling in love with the sport, she went on to play at county level before immersing herself in coaching.

But with a desire to make an impact off the court as well as on it, Preston is the Chair of the National Youth Voice Forum, which brings together young people aged 13-21 to share their thoughts and ensures the voices of young people are heard.

As the spokesperson for the Forum, Preston is in regular contact with Badminton England and is eager to increase participation in the sport and inspire the next generation of shuttlers to pick up a racket.

“My personal goals are to improve the availability of badminton to young people and increase participation,” she said.

“I’ve done a lot of work looking at especially improving female participation when I was doing my A-levels. I took on an EPQ, an Extended Project Qualification, where I did a big essay on looking at how the menstrual cycle affects female participation in sport.

“I feel like I have a lot of research and experience now to back up this position that I’m in and I really want to push that personally.”

Preston, now studying at the University of Birmingham, stresses the fact that badminton means far more than competition and results, believing that there are vast social and mental benefits to be had from getting involved in the sport.

However, Preston feels badminton lacks a bridge between the social and competitive sides of the game, which can potentially put off newcomers.

“The Forum itself advises Badminton England on how they can improve the participation of young people in badminton, because we’ve got a gap between social and competitive,” Preston added.

“Badminton is such a beneficial sport in so many ways. The social connections and the people I think really make badminton everything to me.

“The Forum is really pushing mental health, because obviously and it’s very important to every generation, but it’s especially prominent in the younger generation.

“We’re really making it okay to talk about your mental health and badminton can have so many benefits for your mental health – having that kind of social interaction with other people, as well as your physical fitness and wellbeing.

“I’ve also found it’s just so great to de-stress, especially as a student with exams and everything. I kept playing badminton during both my GCSEs and my A-levels and I plan to during my degree. It’s just such a great release.”

Preston is one of many players who were introduced to the game through family but she is keen to increase the points of entry to ensure more people can fall in love with the nation’s favourite racket sport.

“I’m very lucky to have been introduced to it from such a young age,” she said. “All the skills from badminton are so transferable, so it’s beneficial to so many other sports.

“It just makes you an athlete, really – but involving other people is really important and there can be some barriers to young people, such as cost.

“Just accessing the sport is a big thing, but we’re working on it and we’re getting there.”