Sessions Restart 27th August

The first sessions of season 2025/26 commence on Wednesday 27th August 2025 and in the Sports Hall at Harborough Leisure Centre.

This season runs from Wednesday 27th August 2025 to 1st July 2026 and covers 36 weeks (rather than the usual 38 weeks) over the School Autumn Terms 1 & 2, Spring Terms 3 & 4 and Summer Terms 5 & 6.

There will be no badminton session on 3rd December 2025 as Sports Hall used for NHS Blood Donor sessions. One further week (TBC) could be used for NHS Blood Donor sessions.

In addition, for this season at least one court will be made available at the adult (7pm) session for Junior Players from the 6-7pm session to attend FREE of charge to mainly play games. (At times they may be requested to share courts and to join in with adult players to play games). There will be no additional charge to attend this session. Should the demand be high, then there may be the need to allocate who can attend each week on a rotation basis.

For season 2025/26 there will be 10 monthly payments at the new rate of £25.00 per child (second child £25.00 per month and third child is free) from September 2025 to June 2026. Details of the club bank account are included in recent emails. Payment date should be 1st of each month (from September 2025 to June 2026). There will be no refund of fees paid for non-attendance at any session.

New members are provided with both a FREE club shirt & club hoodie. Existing members can also exchange FOC for a larger size if required. Membership also covers free entry to the club internal tournament, Christmas party, presentation night & meal, along with Badminton England membership.

The enrolment form for season 2025/26 should be completed, signed and returned the first session you attend. However, if you are unable to print the form then a hard copy is available the first week your child attends & should be returned the following week. Upon return of the enrolment form the player will be enrolled by the club with Badminton England.

We are looking forward to seeing you all again on Wednesday 27th August 2025.

Trophy Presentation & AGM – 2nd July

Please see the below invite to the trophy presentation, meal and AGM on Wednesday 2nd July 2025. You will also find details of the internal tournament results and agenda for the AGM, which will take place after the presentation and meal.

Harborough LC Junior Badminton Club_Presentation night invite 02-07-2025Download

Internal tournament results:

Harborough LC Junior Badminton Club_Club Tournament Event Results 2025 (Web site issue)Download

AGM Agenda:

Harborough LC Junior Badminton Club_Agenda for AGM meeting on 02-07-2025Download

Leisure Centre Indoor Sports Survey Results

A massive thank you to all those who took part in our recent survey regarding the future of the sports hall at Market Harborough Leisure Centre. We have now produced a report showing the results of the survey, which is available to view or download below.

Some key findings were:

  • Users rated the main sports hall highly, with an average rating of 8.3 out of 10 for quality.
  • Users rated the Arena poorly, with an average rating of 4.4 out of 10.
  • 94% of respondents stated there should be more capacity/availability in the future.
  • 99% of respondents said they would be concerned if the main sports hall was no longer available for indoor sport.
  • 98% of respondents said they would be concerned if there was an overall reduction in capacity/availability for indoor sport in Market Harborough.
  • 86% of respondents said they would not support any decision to use the main sports hall for other (non-sport) activities.

Although this was an informal survey, this clearly suggests that users and clubs believe the main sports hall should be retained for indoor sports and that the Arena is not a suitable alternative.

The report has been sent to all Market Harborough district councillors for review ahead of any decision being made on the future of the sports hall. We hope they will consider your views, that are reflected in the survey, alongside HDC’s own consulation. Hopefully a sensible decision will be made that really does reflect the best interests of the community and not purely commercial interests.

Market Harborough Leisure Centre Indoor Sports Survey ResultsDownload

Market Harborough Indoor Sports Survey

As you may be aware, Harborough LC Junior Badminton Club has recently been asked by Everyone Active to move our sessions from the newly refurbished sports hall at Harborough Leisure Centre into The Arena, so that the sports hall can be used for other activities.

Members of the club committee have inspected and trialed the arena and have raised a number of issues concerning it’s suitability for badminton with Everyone Active and Harborough District Council. There is also a wider concern about the reduction in overall capacity for indoor sport if the use of the existing sports hall is changed from a mixed use sports hall to something else.

As there has been very little consultation with users and clubs, we have put together a survey regarding indoor sport at Harborough Leisure Centre, with a focus on the existing sports hall and arena. Further background information is provided at the beginning of the survey.

We would be very grateful if you could complete this survey at the link below. It should take less than 5 minutes to complete and will close on 16th May.

https://tinyurl.com/mh-indoor-sports-survey

Please share this link with anyone else that uses the leisure centre for indoor sport (not just badminton) as we would like as many responses as possible.

Doubles Tournament – 16th March

The LSBA Junior Doubles Tournament takes place on Sunday 16th March 2025 at Babington Academy, Leicester.

The timings are dependent on age group as follows:

  • 9am-12pm – Primary age up to year 6.
  • 12-3pm – School years 7-9
  • 3-6pm – School years 10-12

Please return entry form to the organiser as soon as possible to avoid disappointment, as numbers for each event could be restricted due to only using 4 courts.

Full details are on the entry form below:

LSBA_Junior AmericanTournament Event Form 2025Download

Doubles Tournament 26th Jan

The Derek Meakin Memorial Junior Badminton Doubles Tournament will be held on Sunday 26th January 2025 at Babington Acedemy, Leicester.

The tournament will run at the following times for the different age groups:

  • 9am-12pm – Up to school year 6 (primary age).
  • 12-3pm – School years 7-9.
  • 3-6pm – School years 10-12.

The entry form (1 form per doubles pair) must be sent to carolespencer5525@gmail.com no later than Monday 20th January 2025. Numbers will be restricted as there are only 4 courts available, so we would suggest submitting the entry form as early as possible to avoid dissappointment.

For full details and entry form, please see below:

DEREK MEAKIN 2025Download

No Christmas Party Sessions 18th Dec

We are disappointed to have to report that Harborough Leisure Centre has unfortunately scheduled construction works in the new ‘Arena’ hall for the 18th December. This was the date of the club’s Christmas party.

Due to work on the floor in the main hall, we had already been relocated to a separate room in the Leisure Centre for our party food, with our traditional friendly and fun games of badminton due to take place in the new Arena (which has replaced the dome). We have now been informed that the Arena is not available.

Without some badminton, the club’s coaches and committee feel that the evening would lose its appeal, so we have cancelled all the three sessions (i.e. 4-5pm, 5-6pm & 6-7pm) and the party on 18th December 2024. Instead, we will look to run an event where family and friends can participate in the New Year.

Due to the cancellation, an adjustment will be made to the payment schedule at the end of the season to compensate for this lost session (and the other four lost sessions). For further information on this, please see the related email from the club.

Very best regards and season’s greetings from the coaching and committee team.