Bronze Shuttlemark Award: Forfar BC
Congratulations to Forfar BC who have been presented with their Bronze Shuttlemark Award by Badminton Scotland CEO, Keith Russell.
Forfar BC are the 1st club in Angus, 10th club in Midland region and 26th club in Scotland to achieve Shuttlemark Bronze Club Award.
Forfar Badminton Club was first established in October 1922 and the club celebrated its centenary with a BBQ last summer at a local bowling club, with former and current members present. The club started to play competitive badminton in the mid-1930’s as far as we can ascertain and played in the Dundee and District and the Strathmore Badminton Leagues. The club has played at different school hall venues over the years before moving to the Games Hall at the old Forfar Academy in 1965.The Forfar teams have had a number of league wins over the years in the Dundee and District, Angus and Strathmore Leagues.
A notable landmark in the club’s history was the birth of the Forfar Badminton Tournament which was started by two local men, David Farquharson and Jim Clements. in 1961. The tournament was initially restricted to local league players then opened up to players of an international standard from Glasgow, Perth, Aberdeen and other areas. The tournament ran until 1972. The tournament was restarted in a restricted way again in 1979 to players residing in the Midland Group area by the then Secretary and Treasurer, Jean and John Stevenson. The tournament attracted players including Anthony Gallagher, Billy Miller, David Joiner, Aileen Nairn, Joy Rumgay and Joanna Flockhart. The tournament ran for several years but stopped again due to changes in circumstances and personnel. The club also hosted a friendly international match at the old Lochside Leisure Centre in Forfar with support from the local council in the 1980’s.
When the old Forfar Academy closed the club moved to its current venue Forfar Community Campus in 2017.
The club currently has a senior section which meets at the Community Campus on Monday nights from 7-30 to 9-00pm and caters to adults of varying abilities. A reduction in the club membership meant the club did not enter teams in the local leagues for several years. However with an increase in numbers the club now have a gents team in the Dundee and District League. Our hope is to increase the number of league teams we have through the introduction of our junior members into the senior club and then league competition.
The club has also run a successful junior section since the mid 1980’s This section meets at the Campus on Friday nights form 6-00 to 7-30pm and is open to youngsters from age 10 upwards. This section is run by a number of enthusiastic volunteer coaches and has its own annual in-house competition.
The club has a Facebook page through which people can catch up with club news and obtain more information about the club.
The aim of Shuttlemark is to help support clubs reflect on current practice and use the programme to further identify areas that may require improvement or need to be addressed. Further to this, our aim is to ensure that junior badminton clubs in particular are safe and welcoming environments for people in the community to participate in badminton.
Well done Forfar Badminton Club, keep up the good work and we will be back to present your Silver award very soon no doubt!
The Shuttlemark programme
The aim of Shuttlemark is to help support clubs reflect on current practice and use the programme to further identify areas that may require improvement or need to be addressed. Further to this, our aim is to ensure that junior badminton clubs in particular are safe and welcoming environments for people in the community to participate in badminton.
Shuttlemark Inclusive Disability Charter (SIDC)
As more clubs open and more coaches are trained, the new SIDC will increase the accessibility and inclusivity, encouraging growing numbers of people to get involved.
Clubs who are interested in the scheme can apply if they are Shuttlemark Bronze, Silver or Gold accredited, and fulfil a set criteria to become a SIDC club, with support available to clubs from their Regional Development Officer.
Once accredited, clubs will have access to a series of rewards, including training and Continuous Professional Development (CPD), working alongside partners such as Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) to maximise best practice in disability badminton in Scotland.
For more information, please download the SIDC Information Pack here.