Ireland’s best convene for Banteer Badminton special birthday

Banteer Badminton Club celebrated its 50th anniversary at a get together and to mark the milestone, a Women in Sport Exhibition, featuring four of Ireland’s top female High Performance players convened on Banteer Community Centre to acknowledge a special occasion.

Badminton Ireland has launched a new programme for secondary school girls, aiming to increase participation and physical activity among teenagers with Banteer club supporting the initiative. 

Titled “BadminTEEN”, the inaugural programme began in St. Mary’s Secondary School, Mallow backed by North Cork companies EPS Group and Ashgrove Renewables prior to being rolled out in selected pilot schools across the country.

For the 50th Anniversary hosting in Banteer, international players led by Olympian Rachael Darragh, Sophia Noble, Moyà Ryan and Orla Flynn held two teenage girls Coaching Clinics  before participating in a doubles Exhibition match in addition to a Question and Answer session chaired by Banteer native Ciara O’Flynn, Community Hub Coordinator & Munster  Badminton Activation Officer.

Long serving officer Pat Buckley spoke of the club’s founding in 1974 through a committee of John and Margaret Kelly, Michael and Clare Doyle, Francis and John Tynan, Jimmy Flynn, Con O’Keeffe and Eilish Tarrant.

“Badminton began in Tarrant’s one court hall. Due to the hard work and dedication of this committee, what started as a social gathering of 20 players has now grown from strength to strength with 60 juvenile players enjoying the sport in addition to 20 adult members who play socially on Monday nights," said Pat.

With improved facilities in the Community Centre, the juvenile section went from strength to strength under the expert care of the many club leaders, coaches and committees. 

Through the dedication of the players and co-operation of parents, the club has been very prominent in their winning ways at all age groups.

Currently Banteer is fortunate to possess more than 15 qualified coaches who focus on improving the skills of younger players.

“The club has been lucky to have many players secure places on schools, county and Munster teams. 

"Each August, we host our annual Summer Camp, 2024 coach Michelle Hayes was supported by our club coaches and volunteers, their huge efforts made the camp a resounding success," said Pat.

“We would like to thank the International female players, Rachael, Spohia, Moyà  and Orla for taking the time out of their busy schedule to play in our Exhibition game, it’s a privilege for our club to be involved in Women in Sport promoted by Badminton Ireland."

Banteer Badminton is proud of past members continuing to support their much loved sport with local companies EPS Group and Ashgrove Renewables sponsoring the BadminTEEN programme indicates the sport will continue to flourish.