Vale Badminton Club

2010 AGM Minutes are now available for download

Hi all, just to members that the annual general meeting will take place at the Leisure centre on Tuesday, June 22 at 7pm.

All are most welcome to join in the festivities before the club night.

Hi All

It is that time of year again when I am looking for interesting sports injury cases for the Sports Med exams which are running on the 17th – 19th June in UWIC.  So, if you are injured and would like a free assessment by a selection of doctors, physios and orthopaedic surgeons, then please can you get in touch for some more information.

I need lots of patients so please can you forward this on to any sports clubs / teams that you know of, especially if you know anyone who may be injured.

The injury could be a recent problem, or an ongoing / recurrent injury.  You may be on the waiting list for an operation or even just to see a consultant.  If you have already had a diagnosis then that is good but I won’t need post op cases unless there is a specific problem that has occurred since the operation.

If you are unsure, please get back to me to discuss in more detail.

There will be a clinic prior to the exams where you can have an examination by Sports Doctors and Physios so even if your injury isn’t appropriate, you will still get to speak to a clinician.

Thanks

Yvonne

Yvonne Saker
Programme Manager
MSc Sport and Exercise Medicine
UWIC
Cyncoed Rd
Cardiff
CF23 6XD
Tel: 029 2041 6537
Fax: 029 2041 6768
Web: http://www.uwic.ac.uk/courses/sport

Just a brief reminder that the annual presentation dance is being held this coming Saturday, 15th May, at the Heath Hospital Social Club, starting at 7:30pm.

This is an important event for the league and provides valuable funds, so please try and encourage as many of your members to attend as possible. It is not a members only event so partners are welcome.

Tickets for Vale members can be collected on the door on the night. – Les

That’s right Vale fans, we are now Division 1 champions of the Cardiff District Badminton League, and boy does it feel very very good!

Initially, it seemed like a difficult mountain to climb, with 4 members of the team unsure if they could play the final match, and with a sure ‘no’ from Chris, it seemed like division 1 hopes were out the window. But with committed members from the A team (No, not Dirk Benedict), they were able to pull together, to make an attempt at Division 1 glory.

So it was our last match; against Heath A (who have now gained a respectable 3rd place), and we knew we were in for a fight – but let’s just say we were up for it too, (badminton style not the fighting kind).

The Vale team against Heath A consisted of:

• Barry ‘I hold the official CDBL record of broken Rackets’ Garnham (he even broke a racket at last night’s match)
• Martin ‘Going through a nervous breakdown’ Dix
• Darius ‘Smash Smash Smash’ Garnham
• Rob ‘One Pint and its over’ John
• Huw ‘Come join me in the shower’ John
• Dave ‘Play it safe’ Chartres

Enlisting the help of the Swansea league veterans, we made a valiant start in the title decider match, showing excitement during the matches that would put the excitement from mega-phobia to shame ;) (displaying menacing rallies, powerful smashes and consistent serves). After such exciting events, this helped take the Vale massive into a 3-0 lead, but Heath were not going to let us take the title without earning it, and they proved this, by taking some of the games to three sets.

Now, with Barry and Mart beating the 3rd pair, and bringing it to 4-0, we were relying on the fast duo of Darius and Rob to help alleviate the anxiety (mostly from me) of the night, and with a 3 setter extravaganza, Rob  John managed to achieve an ace to bring victory for the Vale to win the 2010 Division One Cardiff League Cup. The final score was 7-2, with Heath’s 2nd pairing showing class and taking two well deserved rubbers.

A MASSIVE thanks to Vale Men’s A for their continued effort throughout the season, it was a tough ride but we managed to hold our own and show division one what we are made of. A big thanks to the rest of the Vale members for their support and playing up when needed, which proved to be a huge asset to the team.

Mart.

LADIES SECURE THEIR FIRST VICTORY OF THE SEASON!

It may have been a long time coming but it was well worth the wait as the ladies hopefully secured their place in Division 1 for next year (some of us ‘oldies’ are still not convinced this is a good thing).

Having recently lost 5-4 to Arches at their venue we needed to secure a victory by a greater margin – this we did with a 6-3 win!

Normal service was resumed for Jord and Jayne as they took their three, followed a close second by Al and Sarah taking their 3 also. Sandra (who seems to change partners every game) and Chris were unlucky not to have secure a win.

One more ladies game to complete the season – watch this space as we are now on a roll…

An interesting night for the Vale. We had lost away to Nomads only to have them award us a default win. So there was a lot to prove at the home rematch.
I’m sure they won’t mind if I point out Nomads are an odd team to play.

One of them looks like other people’s badminton bores the life out of him (to be fair it probably does as his version is much quicker…). Another one looked like he’d got lost on the way to a Men’s Health calendar shoot and one of the remaining ones made Nige’ look like sportsman of the year. All of which made for a damn entertaining night!

Rob John has officially left us minions to take his rightful place with the Vale elite. Step in Allan ‘scarface’ Evans to partner Matt. Nathan and Byron looked worried, as Nathan’s leg is still heavily strapped up, but who needs to move when you can hit it that hard? Not Nathan, the Vale 1st pair taking all three with some great play.

Matt ‘one drop too many’ Obaid and the even meaner looking Allan E took a vital game against the 3rds.

Our 2nds crashed and burned against a tricky 2nd pairing but looked well in control in the decider against the Nomad’s 1st pair. It looked like nothing but a spectacular fold could take the win away from them… Enter Glyn ‘origami’ Morris just when the visiting team needed him!

So there it was 4 each with one to go. Nige’ and Glyn destroyed the 3rds in game one. Then switched ends to the dodgy end, where good badders takes a back seat to your knowledge of ‘The Force’. Oh dear, 1-1. Switching ends with Vale up 11-2 it looked easy but, of course, by switching ends the Vale once again found themselves down in the Stevie Wonder corner. The Nomads brought it back to a two point deficit before the Vale knocked it up a gear and brought home the win 21-18.

A great night’s badders and a really good win from a gutsy Vale performance. Well done all!!

Hello all clubs,

The finals of the Kerslake and Grant Williams Cup’s are being played this coming Sunday, 11th April. Starting at 13:00, at St Cenydd Comprehensive School in Caerphilly.

It would be nice to see some support from not only the participating clubs but, the wider players within the CDBL. Everyone is welcome.

We hope you will help support this event and make it more special for those participating.

Memorable Dates:-

1)    Annual CDBL Presentation and Dance will be held on 15th May, in the Heath Hospital Social Club, 19:30 start. Tickets for this event will be available for collection, with payment, from Les MacNeil or on the door, on the night. Note that ALL clubs have a prescibed number of tickets allocated based on their number of teams in the CDBL. So please use these and order others from Les.

It would be very nice to make this the same success as the Moderates event and Quiz have been so far this season. Last years event was particularly poorly supported. These events provide vital funds for the support and costs in running the CDBL.

2)  AGM of CDBL will be held at Heath Hospital, Presidents Room on 26th May at 19:30. Club representation will be required.

With the rest of the club enjoying a (well deserved??) long Easter break the ladies took to the courts at the sauna that is the Jubilee Hall at the National Sports Centre.

Again we were only able to field two pairs but the result was still very close.

Al & Sarah managed to take all three of their games despite Sarah carrying a calf injury (she managed to keep this well hidden from the opposition). Sandra & Jayne (playing together for the first time) went close in all of their games but unfortunately only managed to win one.

Hence the final result a 5-4 defeat.  With Arches having lost all their previous games the return leg at home in a couple of weeks could well be the decider as to who remains in the division!  Lets hope we can field three pairs.

Al

You may be aware that Wales take part in the Masters Tri-Nation in Dublin each year (30th April – 2nd May) against Scotland and Ireland.

The age categories are over 40,45,50,55,60,65. The format for each category is singles, men’s/ladies double and mixed for each section. You don’t have to play in each event!

We have around 30 players currently going, the standard is very good and as an event it is played in a competitive but friendly manner. We also have a travelling support with us of around 10-15 people. The WBU provide us with Welsh tracksuits for the event. There is a dinner on the Saturday night for all players. Competitive rates have been negotiated at the Hilton hotel where most players stay. The competition is held at Baldoyle Badminton Centre, which is a first class venue.

We are short of players ladies and men in some of the sections. Could you pass this onto to your respective club players and ask them to contact me if they are interested in playing for their country.

Thanks
Fraser (07710569946)