FOR more than 20 years Crediton has had a club anyone can join that can result in a more positive outlook on life, give a person more confidence while having a lot of fun, that stretches the body and the mind.

The club is Queens Badminton Club, Queens BC, getting its name because it is based at QE, using the big sports hall on the Western Road site and Lords Meadow Leisure Centre for both adults and juniors.

One of its 12-year-old members rose to number one in the country, there are members who have become England players, a Welsh champion, a 17 times England champion in wheelchair badminton among its many successes.

The club has been run by Nick Masson and his superb committee for the past 20 years, ever since it was formally formed from the existing school club.

Nick lives in Yeoford, was Devon Male Coach of the Year in 2004, is chairman of the East Devon Junior Badminton League, chairman of Exeter Performance Centre and managing director of business growth agency Bigwave Growth, based in Exeter.

He says badminton is a very fast racket game, the fastest racket sport in the world which means developing players who have great physical skills as well as lightening quick reactions while controlling their emotions. Not a bad skill for life!

He says it is likened to chess at 200 miles an hour. “There is the physical skill as well as the mental skill, put the two together and see how it goes.”

He added that while Covid stopped play yet already Queens is the biggest club in Devon in terms of number of players.

Assistant Coach is Graham Fagg who comes to Crediton from his home in Bampton several times a week.

Confidence building keep cropping up when he is talking about the sport, too.

He says: “There is the physical but it is also an extremely technical sport, you have the satisfaction of learning a physical skill and the mental aspect is so important, there is the emphasis on having a calmness of thought so that you can think clearly under pressure.

“You can see how people change which is part of the reward, sometimes your opponent can try to influence you, make you cross or whatever, you learn how to cope, it becomes water off a duck’s back. It is a bit like life.

“We are teaching players to be aware of what they are feeling. You do it once, you know you can do it again.

“Badminton can give people confidence to control reactions to a situation, you can think calmly under pressure and win the day whether a point in a match or going to your first interview for a job.”

Queens meets every week at QE Sports Hall on Fridays from 6pm - 9pm and Lords Meadow Leisure Centre on Saturdays from 9.30am - 11am for juniors with various options for adults apart from a fortnight in the summer and for a Christmas break.l To know more contact: Nick Masson on 07590 564 009.

Sue Read