21 June 2024
This summer season may very well be a memorable one for British badminton in Paris and Jon Hancock has already loved success within the French capital this 12 months.
Badminton England’s Competitions Supervisor was a part of a crew of 5 who accomplished a four-day charity run from London to the Eiffel Tower in Could.
The quintet are lengthy standing buddies from Hancock’s a few years of being concerned in badminton, along with his love affair with the game starting at a younger age.
As a participant, he progressed to county stage and later moved into his present place at Badminton England, the place he joined in 2016.
He mentioned: “I’ve at all times cherished the game. It began once I was 5 and was given a racket that wanted to be reduce down by my Dad as a result of I used to be a bit too quick.
“Fortunately they make small rackets for youngsters these days, which is a constructive development in badminton know-how.”
From enjoying on the junior membership stage, he progressed to senior county stage at Worcestershire after which on to Warwickshire at an identical time to when he joined up with Badminton England.
The job meant he was onsite delivering the competitions, so he stopped enjoying to allow the supply fairly than competing himself.
His function as Competitions Supervisor focuses on the supply of the Senior County Championships (SCC) and the pathway to develop officers, two issues he’s extremely enthusiastic about.
“Participation on the county stage has spurred me on to work on the county stage since you see how vital it’s,” he mentioned.
“I’ve seen the competitors from either side now – as a participant and an administrator, so I feel I’ve an excellent perception on tips on how to lead on it, understanding the challenges counties face and the implications of various selections.
“We’ve seen a discount within the variety of officers over time. In my function, I work to fill these gaps by way of establishing a pathway of creating referees.
“Referees are important to delivering our competitions. The officers add a number of worth to our occasions and in rising our community of referees, we’re in a position to take the game somewhat additional and make the gamers’ lives simpler.
“We’re constructing a pathway that gives some great alternatives for folks to become involved within the sport – it’s not nearly enjoying, however you may get some great experiences officiating too.”
Eight years in to his time with Badminton England, he feels the game is in an excellent place and might look to develop.
Hancock loved a five-month secondment delivering the badminton competitors for the Commonwealth Video games in 2022, a undertaking he has fond recollections of, however he’s delighted to be again at Badminton England at such a pivotal time.
“It’s completely sensible working at Badminton England, I like it,” he mentioned.
“It feels prefer it’s a time for actual development and there’s a number of positivity about Badminton England – it’s an awesome place to be.
“We’ve seen a number of new adjustments, and there’s a actual freshness to what we do. With the tasks we’re concerned in, there’s a number of pleasure and understanding that we have now a big effect on the supply and the way forward for our sport.”
Hancock praised the generosity of his Badminton England colleagues for supporting his current charity run by way of donations, and in addition for accompanying him for coaching runs when he was within the workplace.
His crew – made up of ex-players and coaches Dean George, Chris Tonks, David King and Mark Russ – raised £3000 for Parkinson’s UK and SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, with the entire occasion elevating £130,000.
They finally completed a formidable fourth out of 40 groups, one thing he says was helped by the crew being made up of ex-England gamers who proceed to take pleasure in wholesome competitors.
Looking forward to the remainder of the 12 months, Hancock is wanting ahead to placing his ft up and never doing any extra working, though he admits to dabbling in triathlon.
He’s working in direction of the brand new SCC league beginning in November, in addition to working a referee course in August forward of the brand new season, alongside spending time along with his two younger kids.
And he’ll, in fact, even be supporting the British badminton gamers on the Olympics and Paralympics.
“I’ve instructed them I’ve finished a recce in Paris,” he added. “However I’ve steered they get the prepare there fairly than run!”
