Cynthia has been circulating a fixtures list, but if you haven’t got one yet or have misplaced it (Paul), then look at the league handbook. I haven’t done so yet, but I will be adding all of the fixtures to the club diary soon, too…

Remember, selection is continuous and changes to these line-ups will be made as the weeks go by. Nobody’s position is safe and there are opportunities for movement up as well as down and for reconfiguration of pairings, too.

The addition of one or two new faces in the club gives us much greater strength in depth in the teams this year, so I would expect the ‘C’ and the ‘B’ team in particular to be really pushing for promotion and for the ‘A’ team to be aiming to improve it’s final placing of 5th out of 10 in the second division last year, with 3rd spot being a real possibility. The strengthening in the club also gives the ‘D’ team a real opportunity to pick up some good wins and have a shot at the cup.

Good luck!

‘A’ Team

‘B’ Team

‘C’ Team

‘D’ Team

‘A’ Team

1. James Illingworth
2. Graham Hewitt
3. Dave Sowerbutts

1. Janette Sowerbutts
2. Lorraine Cross
3. Maureen Forrest

Captain: Janette Sowerbutts

‘B’ Team

1. Paul Gardner
2. Gordon Rutter
3. Matthew Derham

1. Pam Clemmet
2. Diane Williams
3. Hazel Bishop

Captain: Diane Williams

‘C’ Team

1. Stewart Clark
2. Martin Chapman
3. Brian Forrest

1. Anne Parker
2. Tanya Hughes
3. Jo Hind

Captain: Brian Forrest

The matches this week are:

W/C 26/09/2005

• ‘A’ Team – Away Bailrigg A (University, Wednesday 7.30)
• ‘B’ Team – Home Ingleton D
• ‘C’ Team – Away Brookhouse B (Victoria institute, Caton, Monday 7.00)

Good luck, let’s get off to a good start and keep it up, teams.

Selection will begin in earnest on Monday night. The stark and unfortunate truth is that we’re going to really struggle to field 3 teams, let alone 4 this season. It doesn’t take many to drop out to leave a team woefully short, and, as usual, it’s the ladies we’re hurting for. We have something like 8 listed at the moment, and they’re not all definite. That means we can’t field a ‘C’ team if it stays like that. Even with another 2 ladies, we still can’t comfortably play that 3rd team – one reserve!? This is bad. It’s particularly bad because it means that we’d only have team places for 6 gents, and we have 10-12 men wanting to play competitively.

So, what will happen? Would that mean that 4-6 gents will leave to play elsewhere, or, possibly worse, just leave and give up the game? This would be perfectly understandable to me – if you want to play matches, and there’s no place for you at a club, what does it have for you? Worse still, the evil spectre of the rotation system is likely to crop up – surely the worst of all worlds…

And if those extra players leave, and we’re left with only enough members to cover 2 teams, it’s surely only a matter of time (next year, the year after – this year?) that 1 or 2 leave for other reasons, work, family, injury, or whatever, and we’re left with only 1 team, and the process starts again, the extras leave for pastures new that can offer them a game…

Members: Bring ladies! If you are a lady and you haven’t committed to coming down, let us know asap!

Non-members: Bring ladies! Send ladies!

Are you a lady looking to play competitive badminton this season in the Lancaster and Morecambe area? Get in touch, we’ve got teams entered in divisions 2, 4 & 5. Whether we get to play those division 5 teams could be down to you.

email us. Quick!

One thing I forgot to mention in the document which went out with the minutes of the AGM (i.e. the stuff below) was the teams we have – this might have been useful considering one of the questions we ask you.

• ‘A’ Team Division 2
• ‘B’ Team Division 4
• ‘C’ Team Division 5
• ‘D’ Team Division 5

A new season is nearly upon us once more, and the selection committee are keen that it should start on a firmer footing, selection wise, than recent seasons. A meeting was held in the selection committee’s corporate boardroom (main bar, The Dog And Partridge, Bare) and an action plan drawn up. Allow me to remind you of the first in the list of selector’s duties, as mandated by the club at the AGM:

• Arrange pre-season trials to select the players, pairings and captains for each team. Allow time for pairs to practice before the start of match fixtures.

The season starts W/C 26th September. We have arranged the following dates for selection and pre-season team practice:

• Thursday 1st September. 8pm – 10pm, Lancaster And Morecambe College.
• Monday 5th September. 8pm – 10pm, Lancaster And Morecambe College.
• Monday 12th September. 8pm – 10pm, Lancaster And Morecambe College.
• Monday 19th September. 8pm – 10pm, Lancaster And Morecambe College.

On each of these dates we have 4 courts available. Of these, 2 courts will be set aside for exclusive use by the committee for selection purposes and team practice. Selector’s will be at liberty to organise, extend, cut-short, re-play and cancel games on these courts as they see fit. Co-operation of all players presenting themselves for selection is required (on any court), and co-operation of all others would be greatly appreciated.

A further request this season: We intend to operate an OPT-IN policy as regards team selection – we will only select you for a team if you explicitly tell us you wish to be selected. In the past, the assumption has been that all members are available for selection, and this has caused problems. If you do not tell us you wish to be considered for selection, you will not be selected! This does not affect your right to change your mind later – selection will be on going – but do try and help us out here…

Grievances: We believe that the selection process should allow for feedback from all areas, including the individual team members. If you have a problem with any aspect of the selection, whether it be that the team you’ve been selected for is too-high/too-low, or you don’t feel comfortable with your partner, or you’d prefer to play more mixed/doubles, whatever, come and talk to us. We can’t promise to change our decision, our primary concern is the success of the teams, but we can take any concerns into consideration. We can’t even do that if we don’t know about them.

This season, your selectors are James Illingworth, Pam Clemmet and Brian Forrest.

If you wish to be selected, you must respond with the following information before the first date shown above:

• Which team do you feel you should be playing in. (optional)
• Whether you believe your stronger game is mixed or doubles. (optional)
• Willingness/eagerness to be a team captain (or not). (optional)
• Which of the 4 nights above you will NOT be available for. We will assume attendance at all if you list none.

Email: selection (::at::) torrisholme-badminton.co.uk
Text: 07770 664909
Phone: 01524 831140
Mail: James Illingworth. 5 Hardlands Avenue, MORECAMBE. LA4 6NT.

Or contact any of the selection committee, or the club secretary, Cynthia Dickinson.

Or, for you web users, leave your details in the comments for this post!

Remember:

1. We are operating an opt-in policy. If you do not respond you will not be selected.
2. If you do not attend selection evenings, you will not be selected.
3. Having said that, selection is not set in stone at the start of the season.
4. Matches start week commencing 26th September (courts booked 7pm – 10pm, 4 courts after 8pm).
5. Club nights will be Thursday nights, 8.30pm – 10.30pm, at Salt Ayre, from 29th September.
6. We are operating an opt-in policy. If you do not respond you will not be selected.
7. www.torrisholme-badminton.co.uk