Orkney’s badminton players have been among the county’s
most consistent performers in the island games, and despite a lack
of medal success so far, optimism appears to be high.
The squad travelling to Shetland this July will have a fresher
complexion than normal as the team get set to gamble on the pick
of Orkney’s young badminton talent.
The squad of eight, four men and four women, are looking forward
to travelling north, and although they aren’t expecting any
podium places, they are confident of recapturing the form which
saw the team reach the quarter finals in Guernsey 2003.
Weekly training and match practice will put the players in the
best possible form, but as they are well aware, they will be competing
against some strong opposition.
Team competitor and experienced island games campaigner Moira Nicolson
said that she is pleased with the way preparations are unfolding,
but said they need to be realistic.
She said: “The badminton season has just finished and we are
pleased with what we have done in terms of practice so far. It is
going really well. We had coaches up for the last island games and
we are fitting this year’s training regime into a similar style.
“Last time at the island games we got to the ladies quarter
finals. Realistically, if we were to get that far again we would
be delighted.
“The standard of competition at the games is very high so
to reach the quarter finals again would be great.
“Guernsey are certainly miles ahead of everyone and I would
imagine that Shetland would be hoping to do well also. I would say
that Shetland, Greenland, Guernsey and Jersey are top teams and
they will all be hoping to win medals.
“With the rest of the islands, it is fairly even so we will
be hoping to do as well as we can against similar types of opposition.”
Fellow competitor, Elaine Gray, — whose daughter Laura has
also made the team — is equally aware of the high standards
and believes that it has steadily been on the increase.
She said: “The standard at the island games has risen over
recent years, I have been playing in it for a while and I can see
that the standard is getting better all the time, but it is this
competition you want to play against.”
Preparation may be coming together for the team on the home front,
but the most recent inter-county clash against rivals Shetland shows
the clear divide that exists between Orkney and some of the better
island games sides.
An 11-1 routing at the hands of Shetland was a blow to the Orkney
side.
Moira continued: “We played Shetland this year in March, they
gave us a good hammering 11-1 so that is how strong a side they
are.
“Elaine and I were able to beat their ladies but, overall,
they have a good team and it will be difficult to compete with this.
“We played Caithness in inter-county matches both home and
away, we beat them at home but lost when we went down there. Last
year we went up to Shetland to compete in a mini tournament which
included some of the other islands.
“We ended up being fourth out of six, we had some good games
and basically we were relatively pleased.”
The final squad picked to go to Shetland was different to that
which was initially anticipated, after losing some of the more senior
players, they have decided to gamble on youth.
Moira explained: “We had a bit of a problem with selection,
we started off with a really strong side, but we have since lost
some players who have other commitments.
“Some had to pull out for various reasons so what we have
done since then is bring in some of our strongest young players
who are doing really well.
“Derek Manson, for example, has really improved this year
so we are pleased with who is going. It would be pretty grim to
have to pull out of the island games, especially when it’s
being hosted by our neighbours.
“The youngsters are going from strength-to-strength so it
is good that they are making such a big improvement.”
Elaine also praised the younger team members for their progress
and said that they would learn from the Shetland experience.
She said: “The games will give the younger players a lot of
good experience and it will give them a taster of the level they
could one day achieve. It is good for them to gain the experience,
they will also gain a lot from watching the players at this level.
“Hopefully, they can observe the skills of these players and
put it into practice.
“From the younger players, we have Laura Gray who has been
an under-18 champion for the past three years, and Lisa Johnston
is also an under-18 champion. Scott Chalmers and Eric Sclater have
improved a lot this season and they played very well in a doubles
event earlier on.
“From the more experienced side of things, myself and Moira
were doubles champions in Orkney again this year, we have played
at senior inter-county level for a number of years and we are experienced
at playing at a high level.
“We think the island games is brilliant, there is nothing
more demanding for us and thankfully we have great team spirit.
“In terms of competitions this is the icing on the cake. I
reached the quarter finals in Guernsey in 2003, which has been the
highlight for me, and I am really looking forward to it again.”
Team manager Calvin Reid, who will take his place in the team,
said that the senior players are working hard with the youngsters
and trying to prepare them for this international event.
He said: “We are working hard collectively at training, we
are trying to emphasise to the younger ones that it is an international
event, some of the players going may not make their international
squads but they are not far from it.
“When you’re there you can see the class. It is excellent
just being able to watch some of them, so we will hopefully learn
a lot as a team.
“This is absolutely the best competition that I’ve been
involved in, it is truly like a mini-Olympics.
“The whole atmosphere is amazing. Of course you have the opening
and closing ceremonies which is nice and we also get to meet a lot
of the other competitors as well.
" It is good to get out there and mix with the others, of
course everyone wants to win, but it is good that the whole tournament
is contested in a friendly manner.”
Although they are training regularly, a lack of competition in
Orkney means that the team will have to make a major step up in
class if they are to compete.
Moira said: “We are training on a Sunday for a couple of hours
and we are also organising matches throughout the week.
“We need better opponents to play against so we invite as
many teams as we can to play against us.”
This feeling has been echoed by Elaine who feels that Orkney’s
island restrictions make it harder to find players to compete against.
She said: “The players we are competing against is restricted
on such a small island, it costs a lot of money to go elsewhere
and play in tournaments so we need to do what we can.”
Orkney’s badminton team won’t, in all probability, win
any medals at this year’s island games, but their refreshing
attitude towards introducing young players to the event may go on
to have a lasting effect.
- The badminton squad going to Shetland is: Scott Chalmers, Elaine
Gray, Laura Gray, Lisa Johnston, Derek Manson, Moira Nicolson,
Calvin Reid and Eric Sclater.
|
