Badminton

Badminton has been a performance sport for Team Derby since 2012 and the University club’s success continues to go from strength to strength. We offer elite-level coaching and support services to enable our student athletes to train daily and develop individually and as team players.

Attracting talent

Team Derby was a founding member of the National Badminton League. We are two-time finalists and were inaugural champions (2014/15). Following this brilliant success, the badminton programme continues to attract some of England’s most talented junior players.

The women’s and men’s first teams compete at a high level in the British Universities and College Sports (BUCS), in both team and individual competitions. In 2020, our women's badminton team became Premier League champions.

Other recent achievements:

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  • Jess Allen and Abbie Smith competing in their BUCS game
  • Team Derby sports scholars playing badminton.
  • Badminton Performance Team
  • Male player going for next shot
  • Badminton Performance Team
  • Jess Allen and Ben Jarvis
  • Women's badminton player going for next shot
  • Women's Badminton players in position

Badminton support services

Our badminton scholars

Our men's and women's badminton teams include scholars such as international badminton players Abbygael Harris and Katarina Vargova and previous Commonwealth medallist Lyddia Cheah Yi Yu.

Abbygael Harris is studying Psychology BSc (Hons). She has represented Badminton England at various competitions such as the World Championships in Russia and Canada. She is an England junior international badminton player and a former English Junior National Champion and BUCS premier league winner.

Abbygael playing badminton at a competition.

Coming to the University was a great opportunity to access a wide range of support services in one place such as strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, psychology and lifestyle support. I have never had this before coming to University.

Abbygael Harris
Badminton Scholar
Lyddia holding a badminton racket at the Team Derby versus Bristol Jets Monday 7th November held at the University of Derby Sports Centre.

Managing time as a champion athlete and as a student engineer

Lyddia is a University of Derby graduate from Malaysia. She represented her country in badminton from the age of 13 to 24.

Discover Lyddia's scholarship storyDiscover Lyddia's scholarship story

Head Coach: James Boxall

James joined Team Derby as Head Coach for Badminton in 2015. He is also Head Coach at Derbyshire Performance Centre and is the GB Para-badminton Assistant Coach supporting current and future Olympians. He is a former Junior National Champion, Junior European medallist and England Senior Squad Player. James has also travelled with senior England players to top international events, worked as a national junior coach for eight years and he has worked alongside GB coaches at the National Centre in Milton Keynes.
 
To contact James, email J.Boxall@derby.ac.uk.
Sports scholar Clarence Clark sitting at a table at the Kedleston Road campus across from another student.
Sports Scholarships

The Sports Scholarship programme aims to help our talented athletes realise their sporting potential and support them through their academic studies.

Sports Centre at Kedleston Road campus on a sunny day.
Sports Centre

Memberships at the University of Derby Sports Centre are available to students, staff, graduates and the general public.

Person wearing vicon motion analysis cameras jumping over a hurdle.
Sports staff practitioners

Our staff have significant experience in performance sport – either as an athlete, coach, or practitioner - so our athletes can be assured of top quality expertise to support them in the next steps of...

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