The Wing Badminton Club becomes second club in Scotland to achieve Gold Shuttlemark Award

On 26^th April 2021 the Wing Badminton Club achieved the Gold Award as part of Badminton Scotland’s Shuttlemark Accreditation Scheme.

Wing BC  was founded in 2012, and was the brainchild of the matriarch of the Flockhart dynasty, Joanna. As a former World Championships & Commonwealth Games medalist she was keen to give children in the local community the opportunity to excel at badminton.

In order to achieve this she enlisted the help of her daughter-in-law Kirsty (Sneddon), herself a Scottish internationalist. Kirsty became Head Coach and looked after the playing side of the club, while Joanna concentrated on the governance side. As a Grade A tournament referee Joanna’s attention to detail and professionalism meant the sustainability of the club was assured.

Kirsty was able to call on the services of her husband Bruce for help with the coaching programme. Bruce was World Ranked number 22 for singles and is a winner of 8 National Singles Championships, he appears regularly as a guest coach to encourage & inspire the children.

Wing BC offer all their older juniors the opportunity to join the Badminton Scotland coaching pathway by organising Badminton Basics courses. Players who are keen to progress further in coaching are supported in completing the Level 1 Assistant Coach Course. Once they have completed this course they are given the opportunity to volunteer at the club and be mentored by the senior coaches.

This has resulted in Joanna’s grandson, Calum, coaching at the club and ensuring the Flockhart name is at the forefront of best practice in clubs. It’s not all about the Flockhart’s though, Gordon Hoggan, a protégé of Bruce’s and a Scottish Internationalist, joined the coaching team and works with the older juniors.

As well as ex internationalists the club also has experienced grassroot coaches and this combination helps children at all stages of development. The success of the junior club led to the introduction of an adult section in 2017

The club has also signed up to the Shuttlemark Inclusive Disability Charter with two of its coaches, Kirsty and Jane, completing Disability Inclusion Training with Badminton Scotland and Disability Sport Fife.

The Shuttlemark Accreditation Scheme was introduced by Badminton Scotland in 2017  to help support clubs to develop and strengthen their infrastructure, plan for the future and in turn, increase capacity and grow.

Kirsty Flockhart, Head Coach, commented that the scheme has helped us build on our strong foundations, and our success as winners of both the Junior and Senior Midland Club Competitions will help to inspire and encourage players of all ages.

Joanna Flockhart, Club Secretary, added that the Shuttlemark Award Scheme helped to ensure that we had everything in place to provide a safe and professional environment for our players which has been even more important during the return to play after Covid19. It also gives confidence to our members,  Fife Community Use and potential funders and sponsors.

Jane Russell RDO Tayside & Fife would like to acknowledge the support of Queen Anne High School Community Use in enabling Wing BC to gain more court time and increase its offering to junior & adult players. Working in partnership with the facility providers is key to clubs being sustainable.

To find out more about the Shuttlemark Accreditation Scheme, click here.