How to start and run a badminton club

A badminton club needs less than any other racket club to get going. There is no clubhouse to maintain, no courts to resurface and no floodlights to pay for. You need a hall, some shuttles, a dozen people and somebody to organise them.

That same lightness is what closes badminton clubs. The hall is somebody else’s, so it can be taken away. The money is collected in cash on the night, so nobody knows if the club is paying its way. And the whole thing is often run by one person, so when they move away, the club goes with them.

The clubs that last solve those problems early. Here is how to start one, and how to run it once it is going.

How to start a badminton club, step by step#

1. Find two or three people to share the work. One to book the hall, one to look after the money, one to run the night. A club run by one person ends when they move away.
2. Book a hall for one evening a week, for two hours, in the club’s name. Two or three courts is plenty to start.
3. Count the costs. The hall for a term, plus the shuttles you expect to use.
4. Set a fee that covers those costs on a quiet night, not a busy one.
5. Open a club bank account with two signatories, and a way for members to pay online before they come.
6. Buy shuttles and a few spare rackets, so a newcomer can play without buying anything.
7. Affiliate to your national body, which brings insurance for the club and the committee.
8. Tell people. A page with the night, the time and the address, a listing in the national club search, and a free first session.

The rest of this article takes each part in more depth.

What makes a badminton club different#

Three things set a badminton club apart from a tennis or squash club, and every decision below follows from them:

• You rent the courts. Most clubs hire a sports hall, school or leisure centre by the hour. The hall booking is the club’s most valuable asset.
• Shuttles are a running cost. Balls in other sports last a match or more. A feather shuttle can last a single game, so what you spend on shuttles moves with how many people play.
• Most play is doubles. Four to a court, rotating on a peg board, with short games. The club night is the heart of the club.

Hall time: the club’s biggest decision#

Book the same evening every week, for two hours or more, in the club’s name. Never in one member’s name: if they leave, the booking leaves with them.

Size the hall to the players you expect. Four play on each court and two to four wait, so six to eight a court keeps the waiting to one game:

Courts	Players on a club night
2	12 to 16
3	18 to 24
4	24 to 32
6	36 to 48

Before you sign a block booking, check five things:

1. The ceiling. Low beams, lights or basketball hoops over the court will stop clears and lobs. Stand on the court and look up.
2. The lighting. Bright, even light that does not shine into a player’s eyes on the overhead.
3. Posts and nets. Who owns them, where they are stored, and who sets them up. Ten minutes of setting up comes out of your two hours.
4. The notice period. How much warning the hall gives before it cancels you for an exam, a fair or a sports day, and how much you must give to change.
5. The invoice. Monthly or termly, in advance, and to whom. Put it in the treasurer’s name, never the organiser’s.

A school hall is often cheaper than a leisure centre but closes in the holidays. A leisure centre is open all year but sells its best evening slots to whoever books first, and most take block bookings months ahead. Many clubs use one of each.

Shuttles: the cost that decides your fees#

After the hall, shuttles are the club’s biggest cost, and the only one that changes with how many people come.

	Feather	Plastic (nylon)
Flight	The real thing: fast off the racket, sharp drop	Slower off the racket, drops less sharply
Lasts	A game or two, less with hard hitters	Many games
Suits	Club nights for regular players, matches, league teams	Beginners, juniors, coaching, social sessions

Pick the speed for your hall. Feather shuttles come in speeds, usually marked from 75 to 79 or 1 to 5. A cold hall needs a faster shuttle, a warm one a slower shuttle. The Laws of Badminton give a test. A player hits a full underarm stroke from the back boundary line, straight down the court. A shuttle of the right speed lands between 530mm and 990mm short of the opposite back boundary line. Test a tube on your first night and buy that speed.

Count what you use. Ask the club night organiser to note how many tubes go in an evening for the first month. That number, and the hall cost, set your fees.

Make them last. Store feather shuttles somewhere that is not dry or hot, never in a car boot. Many clubs keep a tube of used shuttles that are still flying straight for warming up and for beginners.

Buy in bulk. Shuttles are cheaper by the dozen tubes, and affiliated clubs get discounts through their national body.

Badminton club fees: per session, subs or both#

Badminton clubs collect money in one of three ways:

	How it works	Suits	Goes wrong when
Pay per session	Players pay each time they come	Turn-up clubs, new clubs	Income falls on quiet nights, but the hall still costs the same
Annual or termly subs	Players pay up front for the season	Established clubs with regulars	Members who pay and stop coming feel they have wasted it
A sub and a session fee	A smaller sub, plus a small fee each time	Most clubs once they are settled	It is explained badly and feels like paying twice

Whichever you choose, work it out the same way. Add the hall for the season and the shuttles you expect to use. Divide by the number of sessions, then by the players you expect at a typical session, not a busy one. That is what each player must pay for the club to break even. Add a margin for the year the hall puts its prices up.

Collect before the night, not in a tin on the night. Cash in a tin is the money that goes missing, and nobody can see from a tin which members have stopped coming. How to collect club subs on time covers the rest, and membership categories and fees covers juniors, students and families.

Running a badminton club night#

The club night is why most members join, and the peg board is how most clubs run it. Players put a peg on the board as they arrive. When a court comes free, the front four go on. When the game ends, all four pegs go back on the end, winners and losers alike.

1. On arrivalPeg on the end of the boardIn the order people arrive, whoever they are.
2. A court comes freeThe front four go onOr the front peg picks three from the next six or seven.
3. The game endsPegs back on the endWinners and losers alike, so nobody stays on.
4. Every gameThe board turns overEveryone waits about as long as everyone else.

Three things keep a peg board fair:

• Short games. One game each time a four goes on. Games to 21 take ten to fifteen minutes in doubles. The world governing body has voted to make three games to 15 its standard scoring, and keeps games to 21 as an option clubs and leagues can still choose. At a club night, games to 15 turn the board over faster and let everyone play more people.
• Everyone back on the end. Nobody stays on because they won. That is what keeps the wait the same for everyone.
• One rule on mixing abilities, written down. Let the front peg choose three from the next six or seven, keep one court for the strongest four, or run the first hour mixed and the second by standard.

Put the rules on the wall by the board, so nobody has to ask. Who plays next: rotation systems for club nights compares the peg board with the other systems and has a rules notice to copy. Once a month, try an americano instead: everybody plays with everybody, and the night has a winner. The americano generator deals it for you, and badminton club night shows a night dealt and scored on members’ phones.

Competitions inside a badminton club#

A club night keeps members coming. Competition gives them a reason to play between club nights, and a reason to get better.

• A badminton ladder for the keen players, who can challenge each other whenever they are both free. It runs all year with no organising.
• A box league for everyone else, in level doubles and mixed. A rotating box of four players, meeting for one evening, needs no partner to enter. How to run a doubles box league or ladder compares the formats.
• Club championships once a season, in singles, level doubles and mixed, seeded from the ladder and the boxes. How to seed and draw your club championships walks through the draw.

Club competition formats sets out which format suits which occasion, with a free tool for each.

Badminton league teams#

Most adult badminton clubs enter teams in a local league, usually run by the county association. Leagues commonly play three pairs a side, each pair playing each of the other side’s pairs, in men’s, ladies’ and mixed doubles divisions. A team gives your strongest players a reason to stay, and a club with teams is easier to find.

Teams bring three jobs with them:

1. A captain for each team, who picks the pairs, arranges the fixtures and sends in the scorecard.
2. Hall time for home matches. A home fixture needs courts for an evening. Book them at the start of the season, alongside the club night.
3. A selection policy, so everybody knows how a place in the team is earned. Write it down before the first argument, not after.

Getting new members, and keeping them#

Most people find a badminton club by searching for one near them. Make sure they can find yours:

• A listing in the national club search. Affiliated clubs appear in it, and it is the first place many players look.
• A page of your own with the night, the time, the hall’s address, the cost, and what a newcomer should bring. Most club pages forget to say whether a beginner is welcome.
• Spare rackets and shuttles for anybody who comes to try it, so nobody has to buy anything first.

Keeping them is harder than finding them. Introduce every newcomer to two members on their first night, and make sure they play four or five games, not two. Ask how they found it, and invite them back by name. A newcomer who comes back for a third week is likely to stay. How to get more members for your club has an open day checklist to copy.

Juniors and safeguarding#

A junior section is how most clubs grow for the long term, and it brings responsibilities that are not optional.

Badminton England requires affiliated clubs with junior members, and affiliated clubs that compete in leagues, to adopt its children’s safeguarding policy and appoint a Club Welfare Officer. The welfare officer needs an enhanced DBS check where the club has under-18 players, and completes Badminton England’s welfare officer training, refreshed every two years. The Badminton England safeguarding pages set out the details, and the welfare officer should sit on the committee.

Run juniors at a separate time from adults where you can, with plastic shuttles and shorter games. Parents usually make the arrangements, so collect their contact details and consent when a junior joins. Safeguarding at your club covers what to keep and who may see it.

Affiliation and insurance#

In England, clubs affiliate to Badminton England. Affiliation brings insurance for the club and its committee, a listing in the national club search, discounts on shuttles and equipment, and access to the governing body’s programmes. Each player is registered as a member through the club, and a player who wants to enter national tournaments takes out a separate competitive membership. Badminton England’s membership year runs from November to the end of October, so renew before then to keep the cover running.

Clubs in Scotland and Wales affiliate to Badminton Scotland and Badminton Wales, and clubs in Northern Ireland to Badminton Ireland through its Ulster branch. Each offers similar cover. County leagues usually ask their clubs to be affiliated, so check before you enter a team.

The committee a badminton club needs#

A small club can run on four jobs, held by four different people:

Job	What it covers
Secretary	The hall booking, the affiliation, and the club’s contact with the outside world
Treasurer	Fees in, the hall and the shuttles out, and the accounts for the AGM
Club night organiser	The peg board, the shuttles and welcoming newcomers on the night
Welfare officer	Safeguarding, and the first person a junior or parent can talk to

Add a captain for each league team and somebody to run the club’s competitions as you grow. Two rules keep a club alive. No one person holds two of the jobs above for long. And every login, booking reference and bank detail is written down where the next person can find it. Club committee roles sets out each job in full, and handing over a committee job has the handover pack to copy.

A club night notice to copy#

Pin this up in the hall, put it on your club page, and send it to anybody who asks. Change the words in brackets: