The essential information you need to know
Hello Wycombe Badminton Centre Members,

Firstly, I hope you are well and keen to return to playing badminton, albeit in a different environment to that which we left in March. The Centre is planning to reopen as of Monday, July 27th (Government announcements permitting) with some changes as to how we operate. We need you to work with us to keep everyone safe; safety for everyone at the Centre remains our top priority. The Centre has created a Covid Charter, which sets out the thinking and precautions necessary to keep everyone safe (link to Covid 19 Charter).

We would ask everyone to read Badminton England's guidance on how Badminton should be played, which can be located through this link www.badmintonengland.co.uk/return-to-play.

Perhaps the biggest change and most essential thing we need everyone to understand before they come back to the Centre is how you must enter and exit the building and the one-way system that has been implemented. This system and other key changes are set out below:

Arriving at the Centre & The One-Way System

• Please queue outside the Centre just prior to the time of your booking and wait to be invited into the building.
• Please arrive already changed into your playing kit - we ask that you change into your playing shoes at the back of your allocated court.
• You must only enter the building through the reception entrance.
• You must only exit the building through the fire escape on court 6 and up via the concrete stairs to the car park at the back of the cinema. Please note that there is no handrail up the concrete steps, so if you feel unsafe with these measures, we ask you to consider delaying your return until these access restrictions can be lifted.
• To access the toilet from the hall, you will need to leave the building via the fire escape and re-enter the building through the outside reception door.

Bookings

• We are only accepting bookings made online.
• Maximum of 6 players to a court booking.
• Players must be named at the time of booking.
• We would recommend that one player is responsible for ensuring social distancing is maintained at all times - Badminton England calls these "Covid Officers".
• Sessions may need to end 5 minutes early, so that we can escort all payers outside and safely prepare for the next bookings.

Badminton Games

• Both singles play and doubles play can take place in groups of people from different households, as long as you remain 2 metres apart as far as possible – meaning that four people from different households can play doubles.
• Players can rotate within the group but social distancing must be maintained within this group. You cannot move groups within a session.
  

Facilities

• Coaching will resume although groups can be no bigger than 5 players to one coach, provided social distancing can be controlled.
• Only the toilet by reception will be available (one person at a time) and for the time being will be unisex.
• The upstairs changing rooms, toilets, showers, the bar area and kitchen, are all closed and out of bounds.
• Strings'n'Things shop is open (10am to 7pm); please phone ahead to make an appointment on 01494 528441 - the shop will be closed outside these hours.
• Food and drinks will not be for sale. Please bring your own drinks for on court remembering that they must be in a resealable container (ie no cans allowed).
• No spectating is allowed except for parents wishing to watch children who may sit at the back of a court and must maintain social distancing.
• Racket hire is not available so please bring your own racquets - you can still buy shuttles.
• Reception will not accept cash - card and contactless payments only.
• Sanitiser will be available throughout the Centre.
• Notices and posters as well as the directional one-way system will all be on display at the Centre.

At all times the Centre will follow Government and Badminton England guidelines and we may alter or amend the operation within the Centre to constantly improve safety.

If you have any further questions please contact me through the Contacts page.

I look forward to seeing you all on your return to the Centre.

Kind regards
Alistair Jones
Centre Manager

Badminton Wycombe Performance star Dillon Chong has won a silver medal at the European Under 15 Badminton Championships held last week in  Liévin, France. Dillon, who was only the 9th seed in the Boys Singles, battled his way to the final with some outstanding badminton, beating seeded players along the way. Playing his sixth match in 3 days, he finally ran out of steam in the final, losing to Romeo Malboul of Sweden. Lila Dundas and Jason Ou were also selected to represent England at this event. Lila got through to the third round of the Girls Singles while unseeded Jason played extremely well in the Boys Doubles to reach the quarter finals, losing to the second seeds.

There was additional recognition for Badminton Wycombe when 3 of their Senior Performance players were selected to play for England in the European Team Championships at the same venue. David Jones, Abigail Holden and Freya Patel-Redfearn made their debuts for England in the same event 2 years ago and have represented England ininternational events since then.
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Excellent work from the coaching team at Wycombe Performance, George Bevan, Gary Fox and Daryl Jacobs, has led to this success.

Dillon proudly wearing his Silver Medal.

Six players from Badminton Wycombe's Performance group have been selected to represent England in the forthcoming European Championships. David Jones, Abigail Holden and Freya Patel-Redfearn have been selected for the England Senior team to compete in the European Men's and Women's Team Championships to be held in Liévin, France. This event will take place from 11th to 16th February. The same three players had represented England at this event two years ago in Russia and have had international call ups since.

An added bonus for Badminton Wycombe is that Dillon Chong, Lila Dundas and Jason Ou are representing England in the European Under 15 Championships at the same venue. Jacky Lee is a non-travelling reserve.

This huge success is due not just to the talented players but also to our outstanding group of coaches, George Bevan, Gary Fox and Daryl Jacobs, whose hard work and dedication has brought about this great result. Head Coach George said "I am delighted that the hard work of the players and coaches has resulted in this fantastic achievement".

​Well done to the players and coaches at Badminton Wycombe Performance.

Badminton Wycombe's Senior players:
​Front row from L to R: Abigail Holden, Freya Patel-Redfearn, David Jones
Back row from L to R: Daryl Jacobs, George Bevan, Gary Fox

Badminton Wycombe's Junior players:
​From L to R: Jacky Lee, Jason Ou, Lila Dundas, Dillon Chong

From 1st October 2019, Badminton Wycombe will be introducing a Daily Membership rate for all players who do not hold valid 2019-2020 annual membership: £4 for the day payable on arrival at reception.

This replaces the previous "try out on one occasion as a non-member" option. There is no limit on the number of Daily Memberships a player can purchase during a year. Daily Membership only gives access to the facilities of the Centre for that specific day and doesn't provide access to online booking. If annual membership is taken out at a later date, any amount of daily membership taken up to that point will not be refunded or be counted as part payment.

Talkback/NClude, which supports individuals with learning disabilities and/or autism, have got involved with Badminton Wycombe, to give their members the opportunity to play badminton. Alistair Jones, Centre Manager, was recently interviewed by Tony Flower to discuss this partnership.

Carrying on from these sessions, we ran a very successful demonstration day for parents, friends, support workers at Badminton Wycombe on 12th August. Pictures from the day can be seen by clicking here.

Two Wycombe boys, Rohan Smith (18) and Max Spokes (17) have made a new world record for the longest badminton match by playing for 25 hours and 34 minutes. They beat the previous record by 9 minutes. The world record attempt was staged at Wycombe Badminton Centre and began at 1.00pm on Saturday 7th July and finished just before 3.00pm on Sunday 8th July. 
Complying with the Guinness Book of Records regulations, the boys were allowed a 5 minute break every hour, and had certificated umpires from the Badminton Umpires Association of England to record the scores and times.
Asked how he managed to get through more than 25 hours on court, Rohan said that they sustained themselves with Lucozade Sport, bananas and pasta. "We are really exhaused now, but our families and friends kept us going through the night when it was getting really hard."
In the process, Rohan and Max also raised more than £1200 for Macmillan Cancer support.
Well done to both of them.

Success for our three Wycombe Performance players at the European Championships in Kazan, Russia.

The Bucks Free Press printed a follow up article and photo on their success. Please follow the link below to read the article

Badminton Wycombe is celebrating the news that three of our Wycombe performance players have been selected to represent England at the European Team Championships to be held in Kazam Russia, from February 13 to 18.

Congratulations to David Jones (19), Abigail Holden (18) and Freya Patel-Redfern (17).

This great news even made the last edition of the Bucks Free Press.  You can read the article by clicking on the button below.

Possibly the most important change at the Centre recently, as part of our continual review of our duty of care to all users of the Centre, is our investment in an AED (Automated External Defibrillator).  This life-saving piece of kit is located at reception next to the First Aid box.

In the event of an emergency, please alert a member of staff.  Instructions on how to use the AED are located on the wall in reception, as well as on the right-hand side as you enter the badminton hall.  The AED will actually talk a user through CPR and how to use the device.

Bar Serving Times
Whilst the Bar area remains open at all times that the Centre is open, the serving times have been adjusted to help in closing the Centre on time.

As of November 8, 2017 bar serving times are:

Wednesday: 7pm - 10.45pm
Thursday: 7pm - 10.45pm
Friday: 7pm - 10.45pm
Sunday: 7pm - 10.30pm

Drinking up time is 10 minutes and members are reminded to please vacate the premises by 11.20pm at the latest.

End of Sessions
We are politely asking all players to vacate courts at the end of your sessions in a prompt and timely manner.  This helps other users start on time and Centre staff clear the hall at the end of the evening.

Badminton Wycombe staff may turn the lights out on courts that are still being used after the paid-for time, as is common practice in other facilities around the country.  Sufficient lighting will always be provided to show players safely to the exit.