A lot of time has been spent pulling together information and plans for submission to the Irish Sports Council for funding to run Badminton High Performance in 2011. This has happened from the beginning of December until now, and we should know the outcome by the end of January.

It is recognised that due to many factors, the money we have to spend on HP will be tighter than for some time. Thus we will have to be more clever and efficient with the way money is spent.

We are over halfway through the 2010/11 season and without taking away from the rest of this season, it is essential that we improve in the following areas for 2011/12.

• Better communication between BI, Coaches, Players, Parents. It is vital that by June everyone knows where they fit into High Performance and how they can progress.
• Joined up planning between the 4 provinces so that ideas are shared, communication is better and everyone is working for the same goal.
• Re-establish U15, U17 and Senior Irish squads with season long training programmes for players within. We should have the best quality coaches involved with these squads for 2011/12. Ensure each age group has a Irish Representative goal to aim for.
• Especially important is the age group 17 to 23. Much thought needs to be given to keeping these players motivated and in the competitive game. There are many ideas in this area but action speaks louder. Work in progress.
• Update selection criteria and appeals system for selectors and players in all squads for 2011/12.
• Provide more guidance for all players in the form of HP planning direction. This may take the form of sample training programmes on our website that players/parents/coaches can tap into in order to plan their own season independently.
• Encourage a culture of players and coaches helping themselves in planning/ training/ competition, but in order to do that it is important BI provide everyone with access to the knowledge and tools to do the job.
• Consult with Irish Sports Council to build a professional HP Programme for 2012-16. We need to plan more long-term than in the past in order that young players can see a pathway forward for them. The level of detail that is required for a 2012-16 plan is way beyond that which was required from BI in the past, however we now have the expertise to make it work.
• Tap into expertise from other badminton nations or from outside on lots of relevant topics, and make this available to everyone.
• Investigate alternative areas of funding for High Performance/ Tournaments.

We hope to have much of the above in place before June 2011, well in advance of the 2011/12 season.

You will be able to keep up to date on the developments through the BI website.

Michael Watt

January 2011

 High_Performance_January_2011.pdf