Academy’s men finally put the brakes on their recent slip in form with a first win of the season at home to Broadlands on Wednesday (12th Nov). A dominant performance saw them take all six points without dropping a game and should restore some much needed confidence following two disappointing losses.

The only line up change from their last fixture saw Paul making his first appearance of the season in place of Jon. Some might therefore jump to the conclusion that it was the addition of Paul that saw the upturn in the team’s fortunes. However, also making a first appearance was the new Academy Badminton team strip, and while Paul obviously brings experience and ability, the cooling effect of the new shirt’s super wickable fabric combined with the feelings of team unity created by wearing matching kit should not be underestimated.

Academy Badminton men’s league campaign kicked off this week with two matches in five days. Unfortunately it was not the start Al and the boys would have been hoping for as the lost 4-2 away to Bishop Road and followed that up with another loss by the same scoreline at home to Keynsham on Wednesday night.

While the team are obviously disappointed with the  results, Al was quick to look at the positives. Jon was making his men’s team debut and, despite also captaining Mixed 2 on Sunday, was able to contribute points in both matches alongside Matt, who has also started the campaign strongly with two very consistent performances. Mark has been carrying a wrist injury which has hindered him at times and the team have also been without Paul for both fixtures so are missing one of their strongest, most experienced players. So, while four points from a possible 12 isn’t a fantastic return it does offer a foundation on which to build over the coming months.

Academy Badminton Mixed 2 made their league debut on Sunday (26 October) away to the University of Bristol. Despite some early optimism and a number of decent performances they were immediately introduced the realities of playing matches at league level as they went down six nil.

Conditions were not as they might have hoped with the University sports hall divided in two and a 5-a-side match going on in the other half. However, these are the sort of things that playing away from home can throw up from time to time and Jon was quick to stress this wasn’t the reason for the result.

Despite the heavy loss there were some positives to take, especially in Sanjay and Jenny’s performance, as they only narrowly lost their second match having forced a decider. Unfortunately it was not to be and the team will have to look to get things back on track next time out. Jon had praise for the whole team’s effort and promised a stronger showing next time out. Hopefully with their debut nerves out of the way they will be better prepared for league play when they face Nailsea and Yatton on 14 November.