October 27, 2022
A new national squad open to players across the country will form the pinnacle of Badminton England’s revamped performance structure.
Three performance levels of progression will be introduced – National, Futures and Development – allowing more players and coaches to benefit from world-leading support centred at the National Badminton Centre (NBC).
In what is a huge change for the organisation, subjectivity and expert knowledge will form the backbone of the new structure and will be led by Performance Director Morten Frost.
The aim from the outset will be to develop rounded athletes with the necessary skills and attributes of both an athlete and a person.
Moving away from results-based methods of selection only, players will also be invited onto the squads where selectors see potential.
This new approach will enable a broader scope of athletes to benefit from the new coaching structure, and also allow them to train within a greater talent pool of players.
These new levels of progression will focus on all five disciplines and not just doubles as previously was the case.
Performance Director, Morten Frost, said: “I am delighted to finally announce our new way forward.
“It is extremely important to me to tell the world we will have a full programme with all five disciplines.
“We will take a long-term view of this project, building the programme to have more depth and better international standing. Exciting times are ahead.”
Performance Structure Announcement
The new approach will require players invited onto the system at the Development and Futures level to have a connection to the NBC, be it on a full-time or agreed part-time basis, running parallel to pursuing their educational studies if relevant.
For those players moving into Badminton England’s top tier National Squad, which is based on solid performance and world ranking, the preferred training base of choice will always be the NBC where we are able to ensure that world-leading support on and off the court can be provided.
However, if a player chooses to train outside of the national centre whilst maintaining and developing their performance level, they will receive full tournament support and Sport Science Sport Medicine support.
Badminton England Chief Executive, Sue Storey, said:
“We are delighted to share our vision for the Performance Programme, working with the badminton community to empower players and coaches across England.
“The expert knowledge behind the team will be world-class and will enable us to attract and retain a wide range of athletes onto our programme.”
