Pupils across England will be smashing shuttles this autumn as part of Badminton England’s youth badminton initiative SmashUp!.
Over 1,500 secondary and middle schools across the country host weekly badminton sessions as Badminton England look to take the sport to a younger fanbase.
SmashUp! badminton sessions are fun, sociable activities with big hitting badminton challenges and innovative court games, all set to a music playlist aimed at young people.
The nationwide ‘PE Takeover Tour’ of 18 secondary and middle schools around the country will let SmashUp! ‘hijack’ the entire PE schedule for the day to inspire more pupils to take up the sport.
Julia Strong, National Game Director at Badminton England, said: “SmashUp! has proved hugely popular since its launch a few years ago, with badminton one of only a handful of sports showing increases in getting 11-15 year olds active.
“Sessions are now hosted weekly in over 1,500 schools nationwide, making it accessible to 1.1 million pupils, and we have high hopes that this autumn roadshow will encourage even more young people on court.”
Badminton England has high hopes that the tour will deliver similar results seen in 2014, when a similar activity saw some school badminton clubs see attendance increase by 40% and SmashUp! sessions register more than 30,000 players.
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