New coach to head up badminton performance programmes

UofESport
Authored by UofESport
Posted Monday, October 7, 2013 - 3:24pm

For the last three years, Exeter Performance Centre, based at the University of Exeter’s Sports Park, has become renowned for nurturing emerging badminton talent from across the South West.

This September, the Centre has welcomed a new Head Coach, Kelvin Edwards, to its ranks to help further expand and develop its performance programme.

A fully qualified UKCC Level 2 Badminton Coach Tutor Assessor, PE Teacher and Speed, Agility and Quickness instructor, Kelvin brings an impressive CV and a versatile skill-set to the role where he will work closely with the centre’s 46 players.

He said: “As the fastest racket sport, physiologically badminton can be one of the most challenging to train for. You need the endurance of a marathon runner, the explosion of a sprinter, superb agility and balance and also a good tactical knowledge. All these elements need to be trained – the whole package is important.”

Exeter Performance Centre follows Badminton England’s player pathway offering coaching to players at all levels. Kelvin will work closely with the South West squads and student teams, programming their coaching and preparing them for competitions.

He added: “The Performance programme at Exeter has really begun to grow, and some real quality and depth is starting to appear. My aim is to get some of our players performing in the national squads, and with the talent we have I see no reason why we can’t get there.

“I am really looking forward to the challenge of coaching here. I like the communications challenges that coaching brings. Every player learns differently, so teaching has to be adapted to each player to get the point across.

“They have a really professional set up here at the moment and there is nothing stopping a player from getting where they want to go. The whole set up, with coaching and strength and conditioning is brilliant.”

Whilst predominantly working on the performance side and overseeing the centre’s seven coaches, Kelvin will also work to develop badminton in the region and get more young people into the sport by going into local schools as part of the Badminton Inter-schools initiative.

He said: “Obesity is a big problem in the UK at the moment, but sports like badminton which are very fast and enjoyable are a great way to combat that. It is important that we don’t just teach skills for badminton, but also skills for life. Etiquette, ethics and morales are all important life skills as are commitment, effort and determination.

“Primarily Badminton has to be fun, and that is what we want to show people to get them involved. Then, once you have a strong group of people playing and enjoying it, that gives talent the real opportunity to shine.”

Badminton is a focus sport at the University of Exeter, with students and members from across the region regularly training at the centre. Kelvin will work under the University’s Director of Badminton Helen Ward who is thrilled to welcome him to the team.

She said: “To have someone with Kelvin’s experience and skill set will be a real asset to our programme here. It is always important to bring new people in to help build and develop the programme and I look forward to working with Kelvin and hearing his new ideas for the future.”

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