From the community – Thornaby Pavilion Club
19 December 2024
Thornaby Pavilion Club (TPC) are enjoying the fruits of their labours after ensuring more people within the community than ever can enjoy England’s favourite racket sport.
A disjointed player pathway between junior and adult clubs threatened to turn TPC on its head, with the needs of individual players also often going unfulfilled during mixed-ability sessions
That is why the club did not think twice about expanding its offering to ensure that everyone has guidance on how they can improve their game on the court, fully embracing their mantra of being an inclusive club for everyone within the community.
In the latest of our Young Gun features, we focus on 1️⃣5️⃣-year-old Kalyan Manoj – one of the country’s brightest stars who is setting his sights high as part of Badminton England’s Transition Group able to access full-time training alongside the senior squad at the NBC 😍
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) December 20, 2024
“There was a lack of competitive opportunities and initially we couldn’t meet the needs of individual players within very busy mixed ability sessions,” said the club.
“So we booked additional courts immediately after the junior session and alongside the adult club night for players ready to move up.
“We also identified a Young Leader to become a Foundation Coach, ran a singles tournament at the club venue and entered two additional teams into the Reivers League as well as a Tees Valley/Durham team into an area competition.”
Reflecting on what they’ve learnt from their work, the club added: “The transition court helped all players, junior and adult, to become more familiar and comfortable with each other.
“The court was facilitated by one of the coaching team who encouraged adult players to play with and against the younger players.
“More local opportunities made it easier to encourage players to compete and feel comfortable in a familiar environment and the creation of teams created a team spirit amongst players and helped when they were competing as individuals.
“We learnt how a whole club attitude can be creating by offering opportunities to build relationships between all ages.
“We also saw the importance of building a coaching workforce to meet the needs of our ambitions of being an inclusive club and the need to have appropriate grassroots competitions for players to develop their competitive skills.”
