Badminton Eastland - Gisborne

A big shout out to Bobby Foundation for supporting our juniors in upgrading our training equipment, new rackets and shuttles. A couple of our classes yesterday got to use the ladders, cones and hurdles - new skipping ropes to come.

Our Annual Car Wash Fundraiser is planned for Saturday 20th June outside @ Kevin Hollis Glass from 12noon. This fundraiser goes towards our U13/U15/U17/U19 junior teams going away to attend the National Junior Teams Event in Palmerston North.

All are welcome, please pop down, its heaps of fun. Also we can sell baking on the day as well - so any players not able to help out on the day can also do some baking and organise to drop this off.

When you come down please bring - sponges, buckets, car cleaning gear, towels and car cleaner liquid, not all of the above but some of the above will be great. This fundraiser is a great event and brings the kids together as well. Kids can get quite wet, so bring a change of clothes - those hoses are a little hard to control sometimes!!

Spread the word closer to the time - thanks.

Exciting to have our masters team hit the courts last weekend at Waihi. Winning 1 out of the two ties. Congrats guys - Alvin Datario, Jehane Padernal, Sarah Datario, Justin Kent, Amanda Cook, Kirsty Huhu, Senthil Manickam, Ria Macmac, Alfred Macmac and Hamish Ledger.

Badminton is a fun, social sport that helps young people build confidence, fitness, teamwork, and lifelong friendships. Being involved in sport from a young age teaches valuable life skills such as commitment, resilience, communication, and sportsmanship, while also encouraging an active and healthy lifestyle.

At our association, we have a fantastic group of juniors enjoying badminton at all levels — whether they play competitively or simply for fun and friendship. It’s a welcoming environment where everyone can learn new skills, stay active, and be part of a supportive community.

If you’re interested in getting your juniors involved in badminton, please contact Geoff, our Community Coordinator, at [email protected].

Here is a picture of one of our ex-juniors Noah Wright who left to go to university and carried on playing. Looks like they had some good results from a recent league at Otago.

Our U19's played in Whanganui this weekend at the Central Regions derby, three ties later. Great effort team. Could not be prouder of you all. Thanks to our drivers... Geoff and Janos, a late one for these fellas.

We were excited to start our Secondary School Smashes League this week. Great to see so many youth having so much fun. In June we are planning our Girls and Boys Secondary School Tournament Days - keep training!

Online Umpire Course opportunity with Badminton New Zealand.

🏸 Do you have what it takes to become an umpire?

We’re offering a FREE online training course across three Thursday evenings — perfect for anyone keen to get involved in the game from a new perspective!

📆 7th, 14th & 21st May
🕕 7:00 – 9:00 PM

Take your first step toward becoming a Badminton New Zealand Accredited Umpire and be part of the action on court.

👉 Sign up now: https://badminton.org.nz/b/2PN

Bizminton is starting up on the 7th May - please register your team with [email protected]

Our 4 Week Secondary School League Smashes - Starts on the 8th May, 15th, 22nd and 29th from 2pm-4.30pm. See Poster and Entry Form below. Teams consist of 3 players which can be mixed, must be Secondary School juniors, all Tairawhiti Schools are welcome to attend, limited to 16 teams. Entries must be in by Wednesday 6th May 7pm.

Wednesday Kiwi Shots (3.30pm-4.30pm), Mid Shots (4.45pm-5.45pm) and Hot Shots (6pm-7.30pm) are starting up this Wednesday 22nd April. All welcome to attend.