Badminton

Badminton has been a performance sport for Team Derby since 2012 and the University club’s success continues to go from strength to strength. We offer elite-level coaching and support services to enable our student athletes to train daily and develop individually and as team players.

Team Derby Performance Badminton

The women’s and men’s first teams compete at the highest level in the British Universities and College Sports (BUCS), in both team and individual competitions - winning individual BUCS medals in each of the last 5 years of competition.

In 2024, 2 gold medals were won in the individual championships for both the mixed doubles and women's doubles. Our women's badminton team also became silver medallists in the University National Championships. Following this brilliant success the badminton programme continues to attract some of England's most talented junior players. 

Register your interest in badminton 

Abbygael playing badminton at a competition.

Coming to the University was a great opportunity to access a wide range of support services in one place such as strength and conditioning, physiotherapy, psychology and lifestyle support. I had never had this before coming to University.

Abbygael Harris
Badminton Scholar Alumni

Programme Outline

coach speaking to a badminton player

James Boxall
Head Badminton Coach

James joined Team Derby as Head Coach for Badminton in 2015. He is also Head Coach at Derbyshire Performance Centre and is the GB Para-badminton Assistant Coach supporting current and future Olympians. He is a former Junior National Champion, Junior European medallist and England Senior Squad Player

Recent achievements

female player hitting a shot

Success on the badminton court and in the court of law

A student-athlete, Kiara Henry, talks about her success at Derby University in both her law degree and exceptional performance as a badminton scholar.

Discover Kiara's Sport and Academic JourneyDiscover Kiara's Sport and Academic Journey
badminton playing hitting a clear

I am fortunate to have access to a fantastic support package which enables me to thrive and develop as a student-athlete. The culmination of support is seen throughout the BUCS season where support staff are on hand to ensure that we can always perform at our very best. I feel very privileged to be a part of Team Derby.

Abbie Smith
Badminton Scholar
Lyddia holding a badminton racket at the Team Derby versus Bristol Jets Monday 7th November held at the University of Derby Sports Centre.

Managing time as a champion athlete and as a student engineer

Lyddia is a University of Derby graduate from Malaysia. She represented her country in badminton from the age of 13 to 24.

Discover Lyddia's scholarship storyDiscover Lyddia's scholarship story
Sports scholar Clarence Clark sitting at a table at the Kedleston Road campus across from another student.
Sports Scholarships

The Sports Scholarship programme aims to help our talented athletes realise their sporting potential and support them through their academic studies.

Sports Centre at Kedleston Road campus on a sunny day.
Sports Centre

Memberships at the University of Derby Sports Centre are available to students, staff, graduates and the general public.

Person wearing vicon motion analysis cameras jumping over a hurdle.
Sports staff practitioners

Our staff have significant experience in performance sport – either as an athlete, coach, or practitioner - so our athletes can be assured of top quality expertise to support them in the next steps of...

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