A Lothian U-14 (2005+) team travelled to the Isle of Man to take part in the annual two-day individual and team event at the National Sports Centre in Douglas. Unfortunately, due to a holiday weekend, we were not able to field a full team, with Hannah Carlyle and Poppy Shell joining the full complement of boys in shape of Theo Johnston, Ross Macartney, Conall Thomson and Howard Cheuk.
Most of Friday was taken up as usual travelling on trains from Waverley to Heysham and the 3.5 hour ferry crossing a.k.a “card school” to Douglas harbour, where the children were met by their host families. Coaches Mahlen and Arlene enjoyed a well-earned refreshment and super fresh scampi and chips on Douglas promenade- the simple things in life!
Saturday is always a “chill” out morning which allows the Yorkshire team to fly in to the island. The weather was kind, letting us all explore a little more of Douglas and the bracing Irish Sea air. The afternoon brought the individual singles “ladder/pool” knock out events. Hannah and Poppy played some tough matches particularly against the always strong Yorkshire girls, Hannah doing well to finish in the top four pool with a semi final finish. Our four boys performed well, all reaching the quarter finals, with Theo just nudging an on-fire Ross out in a semi-final win. Theo continued his good form in the final against Yorkshire’s top boy-but unfortunately, he just could not convert his match points, losing out 22-20 in a single set shoot out.
Sunday brought the Team Event -both Lothian and Yorkshire scored wins over the Isle of Man, resulting in a “winner takes all” scenario in the afternoon. Theo got his revenge at 1st singles with a controlled, straight sets win over the Yorkshire singles winner. Conall played a wonderful tactical game to win again in three sets at 2nd singles, and Howard and Conall powered to a great win at 2nd boys’ doubles, with a great show of attacking badminton for their first Lothian “caps”. We battled well in the other rubbers, with Poppy (who is developing into a very tidy mixed player) and Howard very unlucky not to pinch the 2nd set at 2nd mixed. IOM sportingly provided us with 2 additional young players to make up our team, but with three game concessions, Lothian lost the match 7-3, with Yorkshire retaining the challenge shield.
We travelled home on the Monday and had thankfully another good crossing for the continuation of “card school”.
Another great weekend and overall experience for the juniors, who played their best in their new Lothian “hoodies”, making lots of new friends. Coaches, Mahlen Fox and Arlene Bryen were delighted with the effort on and off court over the four days, with other travellers on the Ferry complimenting the team’s behaviour. Many thanks to Roberta Cannell and her team from IOM badminton group for organising the event, to the host families for their amazing hospitality, and to IOM senior player, Simon Fletcher for entertaining Mahlen and Arlene!
Arlene Bryen
Team (L to R on Ferry shot)
Conall Thomson; Hannah Carlyle; Ross Macartney; Poppy Shell; Howard Cheuk and Theo Johnston