North East Schools playing for their place at Center Parcs National Schools Badminton Finals
Youngsters from across the North East will be representing their County at the North East Regional Finals on Friday 4 March to qualify for the Center Parcs National Schools Championships Final. Bydales, High Tunstall, and Laurence Jackson will be representing the Tees Valley whilst St Leonards, Framwellgate, and Durham Johnston will be representing County Durham. Teams from Northumberland and Tyne and Wear will make up the rest of the competition. England International Lauren Smith will be attending the competition, showing her support for the ongoing development of badminton in schools. Lauren first represented England at the age of 14, and her major international achievements include winning the Ladies Doubles title at the Portuguese International in 2010.
The competition, organised by BADMINTON England and sponsored by Center Parcs, is split into four sections with categories for boys and girls in the two different age groups. Teams of four play a mixture of singles and doubles games, with each school playing each other in a round robin format. Top school on the day from each category will go onto represent the North East at the National Finals on the 2-3 April at Center Parcs - Sherwood Forest.
Key stage three winner Lucy Jones said:
"I am so pleased to have won. The tournament was really good fun and I am now looking forward to the next round. I am not thinking too far ahead at the moment but would love to make it all the way to the finals!"
Colin Whaley, Sales & Marketing Director at Center Parcs:
"Center Parcs is proud to be the main sponsor of the National Schools Championships. We are very excited to be hosting the Finals for the second time and look forward to welcoming some of the most promising young badminton players in the country to Center Parcs Sherwood Forest. Congratulations to all those who have made it to the next round and I look forward to watching some keenly contested matches on our courts in April."
The event will take place at Sport Central, Northumbria University, Newcastle from 10am-1pm KS3 Competition and from 1-4pm KS4 Competition.