28/09/2026
🏸 MW SPORTS UTD C 4–5 PENLAN C
STANDING OVATION FOR OUR C TEAM 👏👏👏
Tonight was a little bit special.
After a couple of blue-on-blue matches against our own teams, tonight our C Team stepped onto court for their first ever league match against external opposition.
The instructions beforehand were simple:
No expectations. No pressure. Go out, enjoy yourselves and see what happens.
Well…
They very nearly won the whole thing. 🔥🏸
One single game.
That’s all that separated our brand-new C Team from victory in their first proper league outing.
And there was some seriously good badminton behind that 4–5 scoreline.
🔥 Phil & Rahi got two fantastic wins on the board, including a brilliant three-ender:
15–11 | 13–15 | 15–9
Their first external league match together, and already showing the ability to reset after losing an end, go again and finish the job. 👏
💪 Linley & Anthony also got two and one of those came against Penlan’s first pair.
Read that again…
Our C Team second pair, in their first ever external league fixture, took down the opposition’s first pair:
16–14 | 15–13
Outstanding. 👏🔥
Four games won between our first two pairs and suddenly this wasn’t simply about getting experience anymore…
We had a match on our hands. 👀
📈 Pair 3 sometimes achievement and progress isn’t shown by a ‘W’ next to your name.
Jonny & Sian didn’t manage to take an end tonight, but there was something in those scores that made me incredibly happy as their coach and team captain 🫶🏼🏸🔥💪🏼
After a chat partway through the evening, they went back onto court against Penlan’s second pair.
First end: 4–15.
Second end: 13–15.
Look at that improvement.
Listen. Adjust. Try again. Improve.
That’s exactly what these matches are for.
By the time they faced Penlan’s first pair, there was no expectation on them whatsoever. Just another chance to step onto court against stronger opposition, compete and learn.
And every one of those experiences matters.
🏆 PLAYER OF THE MATCH GOES TO PHIL
A thoroughly deserved award this evening, with some fantastic attacking badminton throughout the evening. 💥🏸
There’s definitely some venom in that attack…Although perhaps adding a jump might make it even more dangerous. 😏😂 Careful with those knees though, Phil! We are no longer 21 anymore🦵🤣
Tonight showed exactly why we created a C Team. We wanted more of our players experiencing competitive badminton.
The nerves.
The pressure.
Working things out with your partner.
Adapting when something isn’t working.
And discovering that perhaps you’re capable of a little more than you thought you were.
Tonight, six players stepped onto their home courts for their first league fixture against another club with absolutely nothing expected of them.
They walked off having taken four games and pushed the opposition all the way to 4–5.
But perhaps my favourite moment came afterwards.
The players who were still at club had been watching it unfold…
And when our C Team finished, they were met with a round of applause and a standing ovation from their own club. ❤️🖤
That’s bigger than tonight’s result.
That’s MW Sports Utd.
Three teams. One club.
Whether it’s A, B or C stepping onto court, we’re all behind each other.
So C Team: enjoy this one. Take the applause. Take the confidence. Take everything you’ve learned.
You might have narrowly lost 4–5 tonight…But considering this was match number one? I can NOT wait to see what this team looks like by the end of the season. 👀🔥
👏 MW SPORTS UTD C 👏
TRAIN | PLAY | WIN 🏸
♥️🖤🤍
P.S. Linley, even though you escaped the photo shoot on the night, remember I have a very clever team behind me that will always find a way to keep the team together, physically and virtually 😜 so before you shoot off team (this goes out to the wider UNITED team also) make sure your in the group photo shoot or next time the pose added of you, may not be so professional 🙃🤷🏼♀️
