Be inspired by badminton Olympic gold medallist

BADMINTON clubs from Thame and Wheatley are joining together to host a Badminton Extravaganza next month at Thame Leisure Centre.
The event, to be held on Sunday March 15, between 10am and 4pm, will showcase opportunities to play badminton locally and is aimed at adults and juniors at all levels – beginners, rusty racquets, players who are looking to improve their game and those who want to move towards competitive league play.

For beginners and newcomers, there will be activities and opportunities for play throughout the day so that people can get a taste of this exciting sport. For those already playing, there will be opportunities to play alongside members of the various clubs and to find a level of play that suits them, as well as tips and advice on ways to improve their game.

Badminton is the UK?s most popular racquet sport and is only second to football in the number of people playing. It?s a sport that can be enjoyed at many levels ? the basics are not difficult to master and you don?t need to be really fit to start playing, (but as your game improves so will your fitness levels!) It’s a lot of fun and can be a great way of meeting new people. We hope that this event will reflect all these aspects of the sport.

Gold medallist on hand to give advice

During the event there will be a special guest appearance by Tracey Hallam. Tracey is the 2006 Commonwealth Gold Medallist in Women’s Singles, the 2008 National Women’s Doubles Champion (with Donna Kellogg) and competed in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. She will be on hand to give tips and encouragement, and will also play in a demonstration match.

One of the organisers, Diane Eyre from Chinnor, told ThameNews.Net: “This will be a great inspiration for all of us, but especially the younger players to see how the the game is played at a high level – it’s certainly a lot faster and very tactical!”

Full details for the day are currently being finalised, but will be posted on: www.oxfordshirebadminton.co.uk and will be available from Thame Leisure Centre.

The clubs involved are Thame Shuttles BC, Thame BC, Long Crendon BC (play at TLC), The Park BC (Wheatley) and The Park Junior BC (Wheatley).

Photo: Getty Image – Courtesy of www.daylife.com