Hertfordshire Junior Badminton Association

Latest News (Archived 2011 - 2012)

To view the archived news pages from previous seasons please click HERE for 2007, HERE for 2008, HERE for 2009 or HERE for 2010.

Conor Bambrick - Herts Senior County Player of the Season!

Extracted from "Senior County Teams Report 2011/12 Season"

"During the course of the season an under 17 Conor Bambrick moved gradually up the teams from being a nominated third team player to playing four first team matches and having winning results in all three teams he played in. For this excellent achievement Conor was duly named Herts Player of the Season."

Jack brings home the Silver Medal!

Jack Kimber, who won silver in the Badminton England U13 Silver Home Counties tournament in Reading

Herts U17s have Style at RIO!

The Player's View

RIO was a weekend to remember for various different reasons, whether it was the amazing badminton, the disco, the unbelievably early wake up calls or the fact that nobody could hear anything other than Philippa's bugle!

With the train leaving at an un-heard of early time of 7:20 on a Saturday morning, there were a lot of tired faces and in true David style, being the last to arrive, our trip to York started. RIO was everything and more than what we expected with some great camaraderie off court, some great team talks from team captains Hannah and Conor, and some jaw dropping badminton on court.

Matt and Cayleigh helped in some of the shouting which included 'DEEEENNNCCCHHH', 'Stop it' and 'That is naughty!' to name a few.

Hertfordshire finished 4th, which was a good result, so not only did we pick up a medal for that but we also won 2 best styled awards, one for Conor's pink shorts and the other for Hannah's hat beautifully modelled by Hugo with his own sunglasses to top it off!

All in all the trip was only possible with the help of the coaches, Pat, Chris and Geoff so a very big thank you to them otherwise we could not have so much fun at the weekend and cannot wait till next year!

The Manager's View

It was a 7am start for the U17 team travelling to York for the RIO team tournament on Saturday 21st January 2012. A train ride, a short walk to the Railway Institute and the Herts team were ready for their first match against Notts at 10.15.

The team got off to an excellent start by beating Notts 11-4 and it was straight into the next match against Surrey. Another victory for Herts, this time 9-6 and Chris had to wash his mouth out when the words 'come on Essex' slipped out by mistake. With our next match taking place on different courts we needed Philippa to help us make the decision 'shall we move all the bags over there or leave them here'. There was no rest for the team as they now faced Warwickshire who were a little too strong for us, giving Herts their first defeat with a close 9-6 result.

It was then a walk to the hotel and a well-earned 3 course roast dinner. While a lot of the players were getting themselves ready for the disco, Izzy and Libby settled down for a quiet evening in pjs in front of the tv.

The Sunday morning 7.30am wake up would have gone to plan if Geoff hadn't brought a silent alarm with him. Everyone made it to breakfast even David who had needed extra persuasion from Hugo to get out of bed.

The Herts team came out fighting against Yorkshire with Matt and Georgia taking the first mixed in an exciting 3 ends and then Conor winning the first boys singles again in 3 ends. The rest of the team, even David, were cheering them on with every point. But our final result was a 10-5 defeat and it was time to queue for chicken nuggets, chips and ice cream. The afternoon and the last match of the tournament which was against Bucks. I would like to say more but we have agreed never to talk about it!

As Hannah gave her inspired captain's speech to tell us that all had been said and there was nothing more to add, and Mark corrected Cayleigh on her use of the English language, we now had the awards ceremony. All 8 teams received medals for taking part. The winner's trophy went to Yorkshire and 2 good sportsmanship trophies were awarded to individual players. Then came the style awards where Herts achieved success, Hugo for his fur hat and pink rimmed sunglasses (worn off the court) and Conor for his shorts which were either bright pink or bright orange (worn on the court).

A short walk to York station and we were back in Stevenage at 7.30pm.

The Herts team -

Conor Bambrick (capt), Mark Sadler, Matt Widdicombe, Lyall Daniels, Hugo Weaver, David Maughan.
Hannah McLaren (capt), Georgia Pittson, Philippa English, Cayleigh Bambrick, Izzy Hatt, Libby Jennings.

Coaches - Chris Dakin and Geoff Daniels.

Final placings -

1. Yorks 2. Bucks 3.Warwicks 4. Herts 5. Lancs 6. Lothian 7. Surrey 8. Notts

BE Tournament Successes for Keya!

Congratulations to Keya Patani for her recent tournament successes.

Keya Patani won bronze in the Badminton England U13 Silver Extra tournament in West Midlands

Keya Patani won Gold in Doubles and Silver in the Singles at the Essex Badminton England U13 Silver tournament.

Keya Patani won gold in the Badminton England U13 Silver girls singles tournament at Middlesex

Keya Patani (Herts) and Freya Patel-Redfearn (Middlesex) won gold in the Badminton England U13 Silver doubles tournament at Kent

Keya Patani (Herts) and Freya Patel-Redfearn (Middlesex) won silver in the Badminton England U13 Silver doubles tournament at Hampshire

Gold Medal Success for Conor!

Congratulations to Conor Bambrick (U17) who won the gold in the mixed with his partner Jennifer Moore (CH) at the U17 Gold Tournament at Milton Keynes on the 10th/11th September 2011. He followed this up by winning gold in the doubles at the U19 Worcester Tournament on 8th October with his partner Sam Parsons (Wk).