6 November 2024
A badminton coach in Yorkshire is helping people with disabilities to realise their love for badminton as she pursues a dream career.
Mother-of-two Emma Smethurst, from Halifax, attended sensory sport training delivered by leading disability charity Sense and has subsequently run sessions at various sports days across the north of England.
Smethurst had no prior background in disability sport but her love for badminton combined with a desire to seek a new challenge led to her running sessions in the community.
“I wanted to provide an experience that’s safe and welcoming again for everybody,” said Smethurst.
“Badminton is very accessible and though we’re not playing proper badminton of 21 points over the net, we are doing different types of game-related activities to boost hand-eye coordination.
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“I tailor it depending on each person’s disability so it’s quite challenging as a coach to understand the disability and start to get to know the person, learn what their capabilities are and how can you improve them.”
Smethurst has delivered sessions for disabled people in Rotherham, Gateshead and Wakefield but for the first time this week will run sessions out of her local church hall.
“Sense were really keen for me to do it,” she said. “I’m bringing some rackets, but I’m also bringing a big Sense disability bag, with all different types of balls and pads to hit the shuttle with or hit the ball with, so it’s not just badminton rackets and shuttles.
“It was meant to be for adults, but a school has got in touch to say that they would love to come along so I’ve got 10 pupils from a special needs school attending.”
Smethurst left her previous role following the birth of her second child meaning badminton coaching is now her primary source of income.
She coaches over 100 different people each week having only begun during maternity leave for her first child in 2021, with the aim of bringing together people of all skill levels to a friendly and welcoming community.
No Strings Badminton is our well-established rebranded national adult participation programme.
Our 10 year strategy champions badminton as ‘a sport for everyone’ and we want to be sure everyone knows and fully understands that our sport is very accessible and available to all 🏸
— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) November 4, 2024
And while her foray into disability coaching has been a new challenge, it is one she has found wholly rewarding.
“It can be quite hard to hit the shuttle and gain that hand-eye coordination for anybody who’s just starting, but you can take building steps towards that,” she explained.
“If you can adapt the activity to meet the players’ needs you will see them really enjoying themselves, laughing, smiling.
“I had a blind boy that came to me as part of a sports day and I was thinking what can I do to help him?
“I put a ball in some netting and then I got him to hold it and understand where the ball was and he was hitting it with this pad, so he was using his senses of feel to hit in a similar way to badminton.
“Even somebody with such a complex need could still do something as part of that sports day, so I think it’s all down to the coach and being open, listening to the carer, listening to the participant, understanding their needs and just tweaking the activities and letting them explore, enjoy and have fun.”
Looking further ahead, Smethurst hopes to build on the brilliant work she has started and make a living from the sport she loves.
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— Badminton England (@BadmintonEnglnd) November 4, 2024
“My aim over the next couple of years is to see if I can keep building on the daytime provision, mainly because I’ve got to make it work for my lifestyle when my two children go to school,” she added.
“I want to continue this job and not have to get a different one but long-term it’s looking really positive in terms of a career.
“I just want people to come back each week and just keep badminton at the forefront of their minds.”