Its looking like that badminton may be back this season. We are already in phase one and hopefully the roadmap will run successfully and we can all get back to playing badminton.

Step 2 will begin no earlier than 12 April and will allow indoor facilities to reopen including gyms, leisure centres and community centre for use individually or with household groups. Indoor sporting activities for children will be able to take place. Outdoor hospitality will also be able to reopen at this step.

Step 3 will start from 17 May at the earliest, at which point organised adult indoor group sports and exercise classes will be able to resume.

Step 4 will take place no earlier than 21 June and will remove all legal limits on social contact with events taking place at capacity restrictions above those in Step 3.

Currently, England is still in a national lockdown. The full guidance outlining what you can and can't do is available on the government's website.

Keep your fingers crossed and stay safe

Hi All

It has sadly come to the point where it is no longer possible to complete any league badminton this season. Therefore the 2020-21 Season has been abandoned by the committee.

Hopefully the current situation will change and we will be able to resume playing again in tile to start the 2021 -22 Season.

There will be an AGM at some point in the future so keep your eyes open for the email.

Stay safe

Mark

The SSBL Committee wants to bring to your attention the latest guidance issued by Badminton England:

https://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/news/update-to-covid-restrictions-for-tier-2-badminton-players/

The latest guidance concerns players and clubs located in areas designated as Tier 2 (high) and Tier 3 (very high) and, it seems, that club play in those designated areas will not be possible.  There are areas of South Staffs that are currently designated as having a High level of COVID-19 incidents and it important that clubs and players in these areas read the guidance and accept the restrictions in place.

Hopefully, everything will get back to normal soon.

SSBL Commitee

Hi All

There is no real good news as once again indoor sport has been hit with a ban on more than six people playing at one time which throws competitive badminton out again.

There has been the odd club night played by some but the recent spike has again thrown another spanner in the works just when it looked like there may be a chance regular club nights.

All we can do is keep safe and see what happens.

Hi All

Due to the current Covid-19 situation and the many issues it presents to playing competitive and social club badminton the SSBL will be suspended until mid January when a review of the situation will be held and a decision on how the SSBL can progress will be taken.

hopefully over the next few months venues will start to open up.

Stay safe

The national picture is very varied – this means information can be patchy in some areas, but where we have a greater understanding of the local situation, we are able to use that to get more activity started: 

• Freedom Leisure has opened some of its sites in Sussex, so we’ve been able to support coaches to get on court and begin working with young players again 
• Many of our national operator partners are working with their local authorities to get their sports halls opened as soon as possible and will share confirmed dates with us once they are available 
• Kent County Council has written to clubs using school sites to confirm there will be no hiring of school sports halls till January 2021. We are lobbying, with the support of partners such as Sport England, with the Department for Education to identify ways of opening school facilities for community use. 

Any information we have on facilities will be shared via our activity finder from the beginning of August.  

Keep safe

Mark

Badminton England have negotiated changes to allow full court singles and doubles with a few restrictions which make interesting reading. Link to site https://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/return-to-play

Both singles play and doubles play can now 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.

• You can play singles and doubles using all areas of the court, within the respective court markings – if social distancing between adjacent courts cannot be maintained, you should only use the singles court markings.

• Other than where players are from the same household or part of a support bubble, follow Government advice on staying alert and safe, and:
Playing badminton

• Stay at least two metres away from other players (including during play) as far as possible, when taking breaks and before and after play

• Do not make physical contact with other players (such as shaking hands or high fiving)

• Avoid chasing the shuttle down towards another court if other players are using it

• For doubles, consider agreeing in advance which player will take the shot if a shuttle travels to the centre of the court

Not ideal but at least we can play if somewhere is open.

Leisure centres are starting to open from this weekend. Schools may not be reviewing lettings until September at the earliest so until the situation is clearer all we can do is wait and hope for good news in the future.

Stay safe

Mark

The latest updates from Badminton England can be found on their website the link is below.

https://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/return-to-play

Guidelines for players and clubs are available so check out what they have to say on restarting badminton.

Stay safe

Mark

Due to the continuing covid-19 outbreak the committee have decided that the only fair way to end the current season is by cancelling the season completely and there will be no promotion or relegation of teams.

All clubs will start in the same leagues as this season.

The AGM at the moment is suspended as its difficult to predict when a venue will be available. As the restrictions are relaxed a suitable date and time will be arranged and circulated to clubs.

When current government advice on social distancing measures changes clubs can hopefully get back to playing badminton soon.

Until then please stay safe.

Mark Moore

Updated 01.04.20

Over the last couple of weeks there have been a number of financial measures put in place to support those affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We have been supporting our members by listening to how they have been affected, communicating what is available to them and continuing to lobby government where we continue to see ‘gaps’.  

Sport England has announced a number of packages designed to protect those involved in sport, including more money to support community sports. Outline information is available at https://www.sportengland.org/news/coronavirus-information-sector   and more detail provided below.

We continue to work closely with Sport England and Government to increase the support available to the badminton community and will update information once it is available. In particular, we are working with these parties to try and establish funding that can support the restart of play once this period is over in direct response to concerns raised by clubs and counties.

Community Emergency Fund

The Community Emergency Fund aims to deliver immediate funding to those most in need. It's specifically targeted at organisations who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but who are experiencing short term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the ongoing crisis. 

Badminton clubs and counties are eligible to apply to this fund. This £20 million fund is designed to complement other sources of funding from the government, such as funds targeted at small businesses so you should check this before applying to this fund.  

What the fund covers

The fund has been developed to help community sport and physical activity organisations meet their obligations, in particular fixed costs, which are no longer supported with revenue as a result of coronavirus. This might cover expenditure on:

• Rent
• Utility costs
• Insurances
• Facility or equipment hire
• Core staffing costs (including casual workers) that cannot be met elsewhere by other government funds or retrospective losses dating from 1 March, 2020.  

Some examples of the sort of things the Sport England fund can help with are:  

• Support a badminton club to pay for their utility bills and other costs for their facility when no activity is taking place  
• Support a local league or county association who have paid for equipment to run a competition which is now cancelled and therefore will not receive the money the players in the league would have paid. 

Who the fund cannot help

This fund cannot support:

• Local authorities, including town and parish councils
• Schools, colleges and universities
• Commercial sport and physical activity providers, e.g., private gyms
• Leisure operators
• Individuals who are either employed or self employed within the sport and physical activity sector

Any organisations or individuals who can access support through the government’s financial packages should do so in the first instance. We are continuing to lobby Sport England and Government for additional support for these groups.

What the funding can’t be used for

• Activities or costs which are already covered by other government funding, e.g., rates
• New activities or events
• Capital works
• Costs beyond the end of July 2020

Size of awards

Awards will be between £300 and £10,000.

How to apply

Details on how to apply can be found at this link https://www.sportengland.org/how-we-can-help/our-funds/community-emergency-fund  

You are strongly advised to read all the supporting information before beginning your application – in particular you will need to be able to provide information relating to:

• The work you do and the local community you serve. Priority will be given to organisations who:
• Delivers in disadvantaged areas, including areas of rural deprivation
• Work with one or more of the following groups – women and girls; disabled people; lower socio-economic groups; Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups, LGBT+, older people, or those with long term health conditions
• Are maintaining an element of self-employed workforce not covered by other funding
• Active delivery in the last 12 months and proactive work to stay in touch with participants in this period
• Financial need:
  • Expected financial impact over the next three months, including the impact of any action taken to reduce this
  • Minimum expenditure you will have to meet while activity isn’t happening
  • Any immediately available, unrestricted, funds you have in reserve – applicants will not be penalised for having reserves
• Consequences of not receiving funding and how this impacts on your ability to deliver badminton activity

What happens next

Your application will be assessed against fund criteria and Sport England aims to get back in touch within 7-10 working days of your submission.