ROSSENDALE BADMINTON LEAGUE
THE Rossendale Badminton League’s first ever Ladies’ Only Badminton group at St Peter’s Community Hall in Haslingden took place last week. Organised by one of the league’s committee members, the social badminton sessions are open to ladies of all abilities, and take place every Friday from 7-9pm.
With its sprung floor, the one court badminton hall at St Peter’s is ideal for social badminton. Site supervisor, Anthony Curtis, was keen to get the sport back in the hall:
“It’s been a while since we had badminton played here. There are very few proper sprung floors left and I am very pleased to get the sport back at St Peter’s. The posts seem to have been mislaid so the race is now on to find replacements.”
Fortunately, one of Anthony’s friends has been able to construct two 5ft
1inch posts which now take pride of place once more. The group has also been donated a spare set of posts from the manager of The Adrenaline, Ross McGowan.
The Ladies’ Only Badminton group has already attracted a lot of local attention in and around Haslingden. The maximum number each week will be capped at 10 to ensure everyone gets a decent amount of games.
The Rossendale Badminton League decided to set up the club when they overheard some of the parents whose children attend the Sunday morning Rossendale Junior badminton sessions at The Adrenaline. They were talking about how difficult it was to book a court in Rossendale to play badminton.
One of the ladies who attended the first session, Valerie Parfeliuk, said: “My sister, Victoria, and I take our children to the Rossendale Junior sessions run by Nigel and Claire. We can see how much they are enjoying the exercise they are getting, coming home with sticker of the week awards which mean so much to them at their age. One of the assistant coaches said she would see about organising our own ladies’ only group. We were the first ones to sign up!
“The court was advertised in the local Haslingden forum groups on Facebook and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss,” said Chairman, Michael Crilly. “The league is providing racquets and shuttles for the group in a bid to attract more women to the sport and,
hopefully, into our Rossendale league. All of the local leagues are short of female players. Rossendale decided to be proactive and actually do something about it.”
Costing just £5 per session, with racquets and shuttles provided, this is an excellent way for ladies to both
exercise and socialise. If you would like to join the Ladies’ Only Badminton Group, please contact Claire on 07735 566073 or email claireskyuk@ hotmail.com for further details. And remember, if you have never played before it simply means you have the most potential!