The Badminton Scotland Competition Calendar keeps club members informed about the latest ranking competitions.
It’s recommended to start in junior leagues before entering higher levels, except for younger age groups (U11 and below) and perhaps older for girls. Junior leagues are based on ability, while in other competitions, players play against those of their own age.
In badminton boys and girls play separately in all age groups except in mixed doubles (usually only in the older age groups). Doubles in badminton are often written as ‘level-doubles’ which simply means two boys or two girls.
Apart from the junior leagues (ten of these each year, monthly mostly at Scotstoun) there will be approximately six competitions per age group per year. You need to plan for these in advance, submitting entries maybe a month before. It is not unusual for the better players to play up a few age groups again works best in younger age groups and with girls to get access to more competitions where the dates may suit better. To find out more about age groups see this table
As in all sports, there are of course some very good badminton players out there, competitions attract the players in the regional performance set-up and from Glasgow School of Sport so don’t expect to win first-time out! To give you an idea, the club has maybe a dozen players competing in their age groups at the club and perhaps another dozen who compete occasionally. We probably have about ten players in the top ten in Scotland of their age groups.
However you have to start somewhere, the experience of playing in competitions will help players improve. Normally you can expect four games in each discipline (singles/doubles), normally the first 3/4 in a round-robin then each position in a number of groups proceeds to A and B knock-outs with players from other groups. Competitions are similar to junior leagues with a little added formality. Costs vary but are typically around £10 per event. Players should know the rules of the sport and be confident in keeping the score. There are no umpires and coaching (especially by parents) isn’t allowed.
Entering both singles and doubles can be a long day, early start, perhaps ten matches, 3-4 hours of play requires lots of stamina and concentration as well as badminton skill – if you do well and win you are rewarded with more games against increasingly tougher opponents!
You enter tournaments by going to the Badminton Scotland events page. Check the date and click on the link for the relevant tournament. Worth noting that despite it often saying otherwise most organisers will accept email entries and bank transfers/pay on the day – just ask them – entering is not as complicated as it often looks and organisers are keen to have as many players as possible. You do have to be a member of Badminton Scotland to enter, normally if you are a club member you will be but please ask.
When asked for club – use Scotstoun Badminton Club, you may be asked for either an SC number like SC123456 or an ME number like ME123456 this is the national player id, you will get this when you join Badminton Scotland. ME numbers are mainly used by players whose first competition was in 2023 and SC numbers beforehand. This is used to identify your place on the national ranking lists.
You can also enter many tournaments online using tournament software and you will normally see the results of the competition and ranking points earned there a few days after the competition.
Finally, you may not get an immediate acknowledgement but you can expect an email a few days before the competition confirming things.
Normally a tournament, for example, boys singles would last 3-4 hours. Most start at 9-10 am although sometimes the girls start later in the day. If you are interested in entering the doubles then the club can help find a partner. If you are entering doubles both players must enter separately. You can also enter ‘partner required’ and the competition organiser will do their best to match you up.
Once you have started entering competitions, hopefully, you will start to appear in ranking lists – it’s worth checking the recorded year you were born, the group you belong to and the flag you want to see – all can be changed from the membership system
Please let us know if you enter a competition as sometimes we can organise lift-shares etc.
Our coaches or committee will be happy to advise players or parents on suitable competitions.
Last updated 13th August 23