Unsung Hero: Cartwright recognised for helping Eagles soar
4 October 2024
Simon Cartwright might have only picked up badminton later in life but that has not stopped the Chair of Chalfont Eagles Junior Badminton Club becoming the beating heart of the Amersham-based club.
Cartwright only took up badminton after an early life spent playing rugby came to an end through injury, but three decades later he lives and breathes the sport and all that comes with it.
The Belgian native even ensured the club’s survival when the previous committee stepped down after two decades of service.
“My son played badminton from a really young age, around seven, so I used to be a parent helper,” he explained. “It wasn’t until the previous two coaches stepped down that I took over running the club.
“It wasn’t really a big decision. The club was on the verge of folding so either I got involved or the club came to an end, so a nucleus of us – parents and volunteers – stepped in to take over.”
Despite still leading the charge in all things planning, organising and coaching almost ten years later, Cartwright credits the army of unpaid volunteers around him for their unrelenting support.
He added: “We are a club completely made up of volunteers, parents, people with full-time jobs who spend their spare time helping me to run things.
“Working with Chris [Pryor], the support coach, makes things really easy. We’ve been working together for seven years so we’ve got a steady team going. We evolve as we go and just make a good double-act.
“He’s the real technical expert so if he has an idea of how to do things I leave him in charge – whatever he says takes precedence.”
While Cartwright is a self-confessed ‘non-expert’ at the sport, he continues to play in the local league and is motivated to encourage the next generation of players to try their hand at the sport too.
He said: “I just think badminton is an extremely sociable sport. The club camaraderie and the competition side of things is great too. You can be active and meet new people from your local area.
“Even if young people aren’t coming to compete, it’s a really good activity to do.”
Part of Cartwright’s push to open up the sport to youngsters in the Amersham area extends to offering players the opportunity to become qualified coaches so they can pass on their skills to others.
He said: “We offer some of our older members the chance to complete their foundation coaching qualification and once they reach 18 we will pay them for helping us to coach.
“I think it’s great to get young people involved in that way because at 16 youngsters are starting to grow up, acquire some maturity and giving them some responsibility is a really good way to help them develop.
“They can earn some pocket money that isn’t handed to them on a plate, demonstrate they have skills to put on their CV, and help the other youngsters in the club.
Having now retired from his full-time job as a veterinary surgeon, Cartwright takes pride in witnessing first-hand the club he has kept alive and the spark he has ignited in young people enjoying the sport.
He said: “I enjoy seeing the kids progress and I love helping to keep them occupied, out of trouble. I like nurturing a sense of competition, the chance for young people to be active and sociable.
“We really do have great kids so we’re very lucky in that respect. They’re polite, respectful and keen and that all makes my job very easy.”
