The Shuttle Feed July 2017 No. 14 Upcoming Events 8 th 15 th of July C. P. Maddern Trophy and Under 19 Australasian Championships, Adelaide 8 th 23 rd of July School Holidays 14 th of July NWBA Invitational Entries Close 29 th and 30 th of July NWBA Invitational, Burnie 16 th of August Tasmanian Championships Entries Close 26 th and 27 th of August Tasmanian Championships, Hobart Message from the President Welcome to Southern Tasmanian Badminton Association s Newsletter. ABC Radio Last Saturday I was invited to participate in an interview on ABC Grandstand, the main point of the interview was to increase the awareness for the need for more coaches. In the near future we will be conducting a coaches course, and encourage all those who would like to assist in the development of junior players, to consider putting their names forward. Further details will be available on our website. Fill Ins Throughout this roster, there have been numerous fill ins required throughout all divisions. When players require a fill in it is preferred if teams use someone from the bye team in their roster, then use the fill in list on line or players not currently playing. Some points to remember are that it s usual for the player to still pay at least the court hire component. Players should be of an equal standard or lower, and certainly not a higher ranked player. There should be therefore no reason teams should not pay their court fees. The Canteen has been instructed that all teams are required to pay the correct amount, unless approved by the President, or Secretary. Sponsorship It is with great delight that I can announce that Vicky Zhang has set up a scholarship to assist junior players, please refer to Vicky s article. Yours in badminton. Robert Brockman, President
ZHANG BADMINTON SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM I am excited to announce that, starting from 1 st July 2017, the Zhang Badminton Scholarship will be officially up and running. A couple of weeks ago, on the way back from the City of Launceston tournament, I was told how costly it can be for one to travel to the junior national tournament, and how it may affect the junior players and their families decision to nominate for the tournament. I have always been passionate about junior development, and I thought I have just found something I can do to help. So here it is. The Zhang Badminton Scholarship program is funded by me, a proud STBA member. It aims to provide financial assistance to STBA junior players in areas such as travelling cost for attending inter/intra-state tournaments, purchasing much needed gear, etc. Each year, there will be 2 rounds of scholarship application. The successful applicant will receive up to $1,000 as scholarship for each round. The 1 st round will open for application in August and the 2 nd round in February each year. I would like to thank the STBA for their support in setting up this Scholarship program. More details of the application process will soon be published on the STBA website, so watch this space. FROM THE COMMITTEE The STBA committee met last week and items of note include: 1. A meeting on the flooring and possible Council funding was re-scheduled (by Council) to the 5th July. 2. Commentary and feedback on the LED lights (court 8 if you've somehow missed them!) was collected prior to and during last week with the response being roundly positive. Some of the feedback included good visibility from players using the courts, umpiring with the lines being easier to call, and that the games/players were easier to see and more enjoyable from a spectator s perspective. Other comments have questioned whether the shuttle is 'darker' when it travels above the new lights than the old, and the potential for glare. The intent now is to replace the remaining lights, and test some 'glare protectors' to determine the best playing conditions, with raising the height of the lights also an option. 3. An electronic payment method is being setup by the committee to allow easier payment of fees and registrations by card at the hall. 4. Baskets will be made available around the hall to 'collect' used shuttles, which can then be reused for coaching or other purposes. Currently a fair number of shuttles that could be re-used are thrown away after games. We hope this will provide some benefits to coaches and players. 5. A shoe cleaning brush has been installed near the noticeboard/table in the area just past the canteen and before the Offcourt shop. With winter comes mud, so please feel free to use this to remove any dirt from outside prior to playing (or walking on the courts). 6. Roster night court fees: Teams are required to pay a $6 court fee each night per player in their Roster team in whole at the canteen. This amount is static from week to week regardless of fillins, absentees etc. The Committee suggests that a player who is going to be absent provides the $6 for their fill-in up front where possible and if the absent player can't arrange payment beforehand due to sudden circumstances, then the team is requested to make up the difference on the night (perhaps from their kitty ) for fill-ins or no-shows. The absent player may refund the amount upon their return. The costs and contribution around shuttles from fill ins or absent players is at the discretion of the teams.
STBA Invitational Tournament The STBA Invitational Tournament was played on the 17 th and 18 th of June. It was great to see many STBA members were competing in the event, as well as players from around the state. Congratulations to all those players who won events. Full results and more photos are available from the STBA website s homepage. We would like to thank everyone involved in making the tournament run smoothly, and especially thank Robert Brockman for his contribution as Referee and Rose Meaghan for her contribution in organising games. NWBA Invitational Tournament The NWBA Invitational Tournament will be played on the 29 th and 30 th of July at the Upper Burnie Sports Stadium. STBA players are strongly encouraged to compete in this tournament. There is a possibility of a new type of event being held at the NWBA Invitational. The event would be called the Invitational Doubles, where players would be asked to enter the event as an individual after which you would be placed with a partner as allotted by the event committee. The NWBA committee would attempt to make pairs as even as they could which would create tight, tough competition. Efforts would be made to cater for both a male event and female event. The scoring system maybe be adjusted to fit into the time frame. The event would be a simple knock out format. So as not to interfere with the NWBA Invitational Tournament, games would be held later on the Saturday afternoon. We would encourage players from C grade to Open to enter. If you plan on attending the NWBA Invitational Tournament on July 29 th and 30 th held at the Upper Burnie Sports Stadium and think you would be interested in entering the Invitational Doubles event, please contact Brent Munday on either mobile (0418202980) or email (brent.munday@education.tas.gov.au) with your intent so it can be discussed at a NWBA committee level and a final decision can be made if the event is to go ahead. The event will only go ahead if sufficient interest is registered. Entries for this tournament close online on the 14 th of July. To enter, please follow the link on the STBA website s homepage.
Roster Roundup Division 1 The ladder resembles the AFL ladder at this point, with a wide-open race to make up the final four. Only Wylie have stamped any Cartmanesque Authoritah! on the competition at this point, although being led by Thomo, Johno and Shelvo one could be forgiven for thinking they were a cricket team. It s been an interesting season with a mix of new and old players, and should continue to throw up some interesting match ups. Vinny is working hard on claiming both the clubman and comedy awards for his work in the social room after the games. It s good to see Will back from his time at sea. The challenge looks to be knocking off Wylie and bringing them back to the pack good luck all! Division 2 In Division 2 Brabyn is currently in the lead with no losses to their name. They are closely followed by Patterson, who are only one win behind. Collins, Gordon and Murray make up the middle of the ladder, all with similar results. Richie and Lord are yet to register a win, however they still have plenty of opportunity to make a late dash for the top four before finals start. Division 3 First of all, we would like to send good wishes to our dear friend and stalwart member Barry Mason, wishing him a speedy recovery. Halfway through the Roster sees Franklin, Browne and Wilmot vying for the lead with another four teams hot on their heels in this chilly season. The cold weather has frosted Geils and Sorrel who may both race to the front with a change of warm socks. Division 4 At this point in the Roster, du Cain and Weld are at the top of the ladder, separated only by percentage. Most of the other teams are not too far behind the leaders. Havelock are currently at the back of the pack, however they still have a chance to climb to the top of the ladder. We would like to wish STBA members Siobhan Duhig and Thomas Green good luck, as they will be travelling to Adelaide this month to represent Tasmania in the C. P. Maddern Trophy and compete in the Under 19 Australasian Championships.
LJ HOOKER - HOBART VETERANS BADMINTON TOURNAMENT 2017 Well, another successful veteran's tournament has come and gone. The competitors warmed up with practice shots, Voltarin gel and war stories about when rackets were made of wood and how the older we get the faster we were! Then with an estimated 1500 years of combined badminton experience on the courts it was unsurprising when there were some very hard fought matches played over the weekend. There was victory, commiserations and no sign that this was a tournament for older players...sorry...players with greater endurance. The tournament wrapped up with some excellent food, more lies about how good we used to be and then a raffle that kept on giving. So if this sounds like your idea of a good weekend then put the 2nd and 3rd of June 2018 into your diary now because we will be doing this all again next year, although fair warning, we will have improved with age even more by next year!