Wheelchair Badminton at Stoke Mandeville Stadium

Stoke Mandeville Stadium is pleased to welcome a new sporting activity to its weekly calendar of events; wheelchair badminton.

In partnership with Aylesbury’s Phoenix Badminton Club, Badminton England and the Aylesbury Community Badminton Network, Stoke Mandeville Stadium has managed to turn what started as an informal practice session into a regular and popular event, led by national badminton champion Denny Vettom.

John Leonard, a Wheelchair Badminton player said ‘Wheelchair badminton is a fast developing sport with new groups popping up all over the country. It is played in much the same way as the able-bodied game, fast, exciting and every bit as competitive, but to play the game properly it is impossible to use a regular wheelchair as they are not designed to move across the court at any speed. We are grateful for the support we have received from Badminton England and the Phoenix Club in our bid for funding two wheelchairs which will be with us in June, which will benefit our sessions indefinitely.

Ian Seabrook, Stoke Mandeville Stadium Business Development Manager commented, “Realising there was a strong demand for this sport amongst our users; we decided to give it a go. Thanks to ongoing support and funding from WheelPower, who have funded two new wheelchairs, Badminton England and our local Phoenix Badminton Club, we are pleased to be able to offer this activity which is proving to be a real hit amongst our members. These are exciting times for us at the moment. We are really pleased with the progress we have made in such a short period of time and we hope to go from strength to strength.”

Badminton England and Stoke Mandeville Stadium are planning a world record badminton attempt on Saturday 7th August to raise money for Aylesbury badminton and WheelPower. For more information please email click here.