News from the Under 12s
The U12 County Championships will be held on Sunday 23rd June 2019 at Babington Academy, Strasbourg Drive, Beaumont Leys, Leicestershire, LE4 0SZ.
The event is open to any player born on or after 1st January 2008 that was born, lives or goes to school in Leicestershire and entrants do not have to be county players.
Details and the entry form can be downloaded here and must be sent to Chris Sherwin by Monday 17th June 2019.
The report for the under 12s Berkshire Margaret Tipton Event on 27th April 2019 is now available to view here:
Sunday 4th was the rearranged fixture against Cheshire previously snowed off before Xmas , a long drive for the team and parents but worth it.
The match was won easily 17-3 with mixed doubles all going easily to Leicester then all girls games dispatched quickly in two games apart from a couple. The boys proved more tricky as their first boy was a very strong experienced player who proved hard to avoid in the men’s doubles giving Cheshire 2 out of 4 in men’s and a singles win.
Onwards for the mighty mini’s!
Report by Alex Sherwin
On 21st January the U12 squad played both Warwickshire 1 & 2 teams in a double header at home at Babington. Despite the weather’s attempt to stop us on a very cold and snowy Sunday, our growing in confidence mini’s Leics team took on the second team first. A dominant home side quickly dispatched the mixed and singles, then doubles followed ending in a 17 – 3 win with great play from all our Leicestershire mini’s.
Following a break the Warwickshire first team arrived and quickly showed us the calibre of their number 1 squad. Despite some closely fought games we could not overcome the might of their established older squad and the final score was 15 – 5 to the visitors; however, it was noted by their team manager Tim that our very junior team was one to fear for next season as we have great depth in the girls and boys equally.
The team supported each other showing maturity beyond their years and for Lexi Edwards and Ollie Sewell the call up to the squad was justified with wins for them both, even in tough games.
Onwards for the mini’s to Cheshire on 4th Feb!
Report by Alex Sherwin, U12 Team Manager
The U12’s Shires Team opened up their Shires campaign with a tough start away from home and with a young side with 80% of the making their debut in the Shires League.
First up was a strong Yorkshire side in Leeds. All the kids tried as hard as they could with several matches going to 3 ends and narrowly losing. George and Matilda managed a win in the XD and both Katie and Adam managed a win in singles. The result of the match was 17-3 to an experienced Yorkshire side. The kids showed great attitude, temperament and commitment in all the games.
The next week saw them travel to Hertfordshire, who were another extremely experienced side who had great strength and depth. Unfortunately as much as the kids battled, Hertfordshire were too strong and the final result was 20-0. Undeterred, they played in the spirit of the game and never stopped fighting, once again showing great attitude.
The kids were great and were always smiling and wanting to give it their all. A very tough start but they acquitted themselves admirably and great Team Leicestershire spirit showed through. Both parents and children should be proud of the effort and attitude shown in both fixtures. Keep up the good work and that elusive win will come. Well done to all!
The team for both fixtures was Alex Vermaak, Quinn Dunkley, George Clare, Adam Yates, Jonty Norman, Sylvie Walker, Matilda Sherwin, Katie Hoult, Lola Dale and Sansha Riches.
Report by Chris Sherwin
Sunday 5th November saw Leicestershire Littlies go to Sheffield for the first leg of the Primary Midway with 90% of the team making their debut for the county team.
First up was Cheshire who Leicestershire confidently brushed aside 9-1 with high scoring wins from George “ninja” Clare and Lola Dale in XD and Lexie Edwards in singles. Next up was Warwickshire 2 and they were given similar treatment and the result was 8-2 in Leicestershire’s favour. The toughest match was next against Warwickshire 1 and Only Matilda and Katie managed a win in doubles against a very good side, therefore they suffered a 9-1 defeat. Another tough fixture was next against Yorkshire 1 but the littlies battled hard to get it to 5-4 with Lola and Bridget in doubles left. They battled but just lost to the Yorkshire pair losing the match 6-4 to Yorkshire 1. Undeterred they found themselves in the reverse position against a strong Nottinghamshire side and were 5-4 up with Matilda and Katie left to play. Matilda had tripped and aggravated her ankle after having a disagreement with a net post in the previous match. Bruised and battered Matilda went on court with Katie needing the win. Katie chased everything down and Tilda finished off lovely,with the Notts girl even accidentally hitting Tilda on the cheek with the shuttle just to add to the drama , but the Leicestershire pair came good to secure the 6-4 win. Yorkshire 2 were last and they were swiftly dispatched with notable performances by Bridget, Jonty, Lexie, Lola,Quinn, Alex and Adam who secured the final win 8-2.
With 4 wins and 2 loses a great team performance and a minimum 3rd place finish behind Warwickshire 1 (winners)and Notts (2nd)was a great result.
Yorkshire did play one of their players out of order so a stewards enquiry might mean a promotion to 2nd as we were only 3rd on points difference setting up a medal chance in the next leg.
The kids and parents were fantastic all day with great Team Leicestershire mentality shown all day. The concord leisure centre management remarked about how well behaved all the children were from all counties and asked for their thanks to be passed on. A great day all round.
The team was
Quinn Dunkley (debut)
Alex Vermaak (debut)
George Clare (debut)
Adam Yates (debut)
Jonty Norman (debut)
Matilda Sherwin
Katie Hoult (debut)
Lola Dale (debut)
Lexie Edwards (debut)
Bridget Murray (debut)
Report by Chris and Alex U12 Team Managers
A very well done to all the players who participated in the county championships this weekend. After a long season for a lot of the younger players, there were fantastic games, great achievements, huge improvements, brilliant debuts and a real sporting and supportive atmosphere.
The day started with the singles. In the boys, after some competitive group games, Mitchell Allen, William Sewell, Baptiste Broquet and Jack Weston finished top 2 in their respective groups and went on to play in the main draw semi-finals, William and Mitchell being the winners and going onto the final, both undefeated on the day. Knowing that it would be a cracking final, the boys took to the court and proved worthy of being finalists, both showing determination and grit in order to get the edge over their opponent. Well done to both boys, they both did themselves proud but William came out the eventual winner in 2 games 21-19 and 21-17.
With the girls it was a similar story, competitive games and some great badminton played with Carly Stevenson, Fallon Reid, Katie Hoult and Matilda Sherwin all playing fantastically to reach the semi-finals. Fallon and Carly won these games, once again both undefeated going into the final. The girls took to the court, both showing why they were finalists but Carly continued with her fantastic form this year, winning in 2 games 21-6 and 21-11.
The plate trophy competitions saw some excellent badminton with the finals being battled out between Gabriel Davey and Alex Vermaak and Sylvie Walker and Sansha Riches. Well done to Gabriel and Sylvie winning these games.
Next up were the level doubles. These games were played in a round robin with all players getting to play each other, some great badminton was played and partnerships of the future formed. Katie Hoult and Lola Dale, continuing with their successful season, won 3 of their 4 games and were the worthy runners-up. Carly and Fallon dominated the doubles, winning all 4 games and were therefore crowned champions. A similar story was seen in the boys, Jack Weston and Gabriel Davey winning 3 of the 4 games proving to be a solid partnership and worthy runners-up. William and Mitchell dominated their games once again without dropping one and being crowned boys doubles champions.
Well done to all the players and especially to Carly and Will who were crowned singles and level doubles champions 2017, both without dropping a game throughout the whole day.
Singles Boys:
Winner: William Sewell Runner-up: Mitchell Allen
Singles Girls
Winner: Carly Stevenson Runner-up: Fallon Reid
Singles Plate Winners: Gabriel Davey & Sylvie Walker
Singles Plate Runners-up: Alex Vermaak & Sansha Riches
Doubles Boys
Winners: William Sewell & Mitchell Allen Runners-up: Jack Weston & Gabriel Davey
Doubles Girls
Winners: Carly Stevenson & Fallon Reid Runners-up: Katie Hoult & Lola Dale
Report by Adam Sewell
