Last season injuries have meant a thorough squad shake up for the new badminton year
By Katie Garner
At the end of last season, we were completely plagued by pesky long term injuries. We had players falling left, right and centre which meant keeping competitively composed was rather tricky, and also not the ideal time to be testing new partnerships.
This has also meant that the squads for this season have seen a bit of a mix up where we have drafted in some new blood to replace our injured players still on the mend. I am feeling fantastically confident with the teams that we are putting forward this year and the new players that we have involved are really great, so I’m hoping the results will reflect the enthusiasm!
Here is a run down of who will be representing Wychelm this season:
Mixed Team (playing in Division Two)
- Stuart B and Katie
- Gary and Jess
- Barry and Helen
The Dream Team Stuart and Katie ready for action!
The Mixed Team sees a couple of changes this year. Het is unfortunately still out for the count with his ligament troubles, and is not expected to roam a court until the New Year at the earliest. With this in mind, we have drafted in Gary, our resident tube driver, who was Het’s reserve last season who will now be playing with Jess. Mike F has also bowed out of the Mixed and so playing with Helen this season we have the brilliant and unstoppable Barry. The longest standing league duo of myself and Stuart will be returning once more now that Stuart is back to fitness after his Achilles heel injury. After our stint in Division One ending rather appallingly, we will be dipping back down to Division Two, which surprisingly only features four clubs this season, so not too many games to play, but hopefully we will be able to show our metal and get ourselves promoted again.
Men’s Team (playing in Division 4)
- Stuart B and Gary
- Luke and Stuart E
- Barry and Nick
Stuart E (left) and Luke: Anyone else think that the nickname ‘Little and Large’ should catch on pretty pronto?!?
Once again quite a thorough shake up here. Barry is replacing Het for the Men’s and Nick L, our beloved treasurer, will be stepping in for Binu, who is also off court currently due to a shoulder and back injury. I reckon these guys will make a fab new pairing and I’m looking forward to seeing the results that they can produce. Luke and Stuart E featured in last season’s squad and will be continuing on into the new round of matches, as will Stuart B and his partner Gary (who replaced ex-member Al halfway through last season). Again, high hopes for division promotion with this pick of the bunch.
Ladies Pairs
- Katie and Jess – playing in Division One
- Liane and Tracy – playing in Division Two
Liane at last years Christmas do with John ‘Elvis’ Tilbury
Jess and I are back for more after our second place victory last season, although we are aware that with some new pairs in our division, the competition will be a lot stiffer this time around (not that it was anywhere near easy before). Liane has a new partner this season in Tracy, an ex-Wychelm member who has re-joined this September.
Remember:
Please can everyone who is playing in matches please bear in mind the new rules regarding the score cards. Due to the difficulties last season of verifying player identity there is now a new ruling that all score cards will HAVE to be signed before being sent off. This means signed by every single player involved in the matches, with the score cards also being signed by the Captains of both teams. If any home team submits a score card that does not contain a full set of signatures, then the points will automatically be awarded to the away side. This is something we have to be very careful about, so please can all players be vigilant about this please.
Good luck everyone! Keep an eye out for new team bios coming soon!