Main club nights

You should instead:

• Join our Improvers’ Sessions or Courses to build your skills towards club levels. Please note, that these are not for players that are completely new to playing badminton.
• Attend a Badminton England No Strings session or Essentials course to learn basic techniques, rules, and improve your gameplay
• Try the beginners’ development session run locally by a coach at Highbury College on Monday nights
• Seek some one-to-one coaching, which can quickly improve your skills. You can find and contact a local coach via the Badminton England website.

Club nights involve a mix of men’s, ladies’ and mixed doubles badminton games, organised by trained SBC committee volunteers.

Our volunteer organisers have had training, including Badminton England coaching. We have also seen hundreds of different players play over the years, so are fairly good judges of ability.

At each session the designated organiser will be focussed on directing games, and handing out shuttles. Other committee members and volunteers will usually be on hand to welcome and check you in, and answer any questions you might have.

Our main priority is to give everyone a mix of games at and around their ability level, as judged by our coaches. This will include a variety games with players at your ability level, above, and below.

The number and type of games per night will vary depending on the players attending any club night.

Our players are fantastic community members, who happily mix and socialise with others, and make SBC a welcoming place to play for all to develop their game.

If you attend our club night, you are expected to mix as instructed, and to treat others with respect in accordance with the Badminton England player Code of Conduct that you signed up to upon registering at SBC.

Feedback and requests

As organisers we welcome feedback and requests for particular types of game. We’ll try to accommodate requests within reason. For example, you might request more mixed doubles games if you have a match coming up and would like some practice.

However a mixed social club night is not the environment to provide games customised to an individual – we would advise you organise your own private session if you only wish to play with specific players

Zero tolerance approach to inappropriate behaviour

We have a zero tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour at club nights. Examples of this include:

• Not engaging with games you don’t like – club organisers and coaches are more objectively able to judge your ability than you are, so please respect them and other players
• Pressuring organisers on club nights – we try to ensure all our players at the session have the best experience possible, so are balancing the needs and wishes of everyone in attendance
• Not following instructions – club nights are organised by our committee volunteers – do not invite yourself or others on court or rearrange games, equipment, lighting etc unless you’re asked to do
• Only wanting to play with certain players or friends – if you wish to only play with specific players please instead organise your own private session, rather than attending a social club night
• Aggressive or intimidating play – while we welcome competitiveness, SBC aspires to a safe and friendly club atmosphere

We’re volunteers giving up our time for free to put on sociable, competitive, and low cost badminton for others. We may ask you to leave if you do not co-operate with instructions or display anti-social behaviour towards organisers or other players at the club.

We ask players to observe some simple safety measures for the enjoyment of all players at our sessions.

Before playing

• Wear appropriate clothing and footwear for badminton, i.e. indoor court shoes and sports clothes.
• Bring your own bottle of water.
• Do not attend if you’re feeling unwell.

While playing

• Be aware of where your partner is and call shots that go between you to avoid collisions.
• Refrain from smashing directly at opponents who are at the net.
• Don’t look behind you if a shuttle has passed you to avoid being hit in the face, and be aware of your partner when passing the shuttle to the server.

Off court

• Don’t step onto or near another court while a point is in play – if you need to retrieve a shuttle wait until the point is over.
• Don’t cross courts while moving about the hall.
• Keep bags and other belongings out of the way, i.e. not blocking walkways or near courts.
• Inform the organiser of any health and safety issues like drinks spillages, issues with equipment, or if you feel unwell.

Bring yourself, a racket, sports clothes and a bottle of water. We do not rent or lend rackets to players.

Only non-marking shoes are permitted inside our sports hall – such as indoor badminton or court shoes. If your footwear is not appropriate, you will be asked to change it.

We use feather shuttles at our club nights, and they’re provided within the cost of the club night.

We generally welcome young people aged 16+ with decent badminton experience (as above) to our club nights.

You must be fairly confident playing on your own with others, mainly adults. Please bring a parent or guardian along to your first session so they can meet a committee member and see how the session is run.

We are an adult-focussed club, so aren’t suitable for younger or inexperienced juniors, or for teaching or coaching the sport. Instead you should research junior-focussed clubs or training that will better suit your needs.