County honour (From Leigh Journal)

County honour

5:50pm Sunday 20th November 2011 in Sport

HOWE Bridge Badminton Club is going from strength to strength.

Following on from the club’s recent tournament success, two players have been selected to play at county level for Lancashire.

Emily Shepherd, aged 13, and Ryan Murphy, aged 12, are overjoyed.

“It is a great honour,” said Murphy, who attributed his success to club coaches Laura Egan and Chris Smith.

In order to meet the developing needs of the Howe Bridge players, the club has expanded its coaching programme.

This has resulted in recruiting, with the support of Wigan Sports Development, another four qualified coaches.

Smith and Egan have also undertaken additional training. Egan has successfully passed her level two coaching badges and Smith is currently undertaking the prestigious level three coaching course.

“The structure of the club has been set up so that each age group and ability group will have a coach and an assistant coach to help meet the needs of the players,” said Smith.

The coaches aim to provide a community based club for all people, irrespective of age or ability.

The club believes that the high quality of coaching will attract more players while also providing an organised, safe and fun environment for children to enjoy badminton.

Howe Bridge Badminton Club is holding a free badminton session on Saturday November 26 from 2pm to 4pm. The training and playing sessions will be available for individuals and families.

Howe Bridge Badminton Club train every Saturday at Howe Bridge Leisure Centre, Atherton, from 2pm to 4 pm. Email laura@hbbc.org.uk. for details.