Inter County Badminton

Repolho

Just wondering, what are the different competitions at inter county level for badminton and all counties field teams at intercounty level?

bellylint

I dont think the scene is great on that front. There is a Cup of some sort, though Dublin hasnt been in it for some time. It is entering again this year, if you are attached to a dublin club your secretary would have information on this. Kildare I dont think has one either. Wicklow does, and are quite involved in it. Which county are you in?

Repolho

I'm in Cork. I've played for Cork a couple of times.

To be honest, although I've played for Cork, I don;t quite understand the system (Class 2, Class 3 etc, then also Graduate, Junior, Senior and also Grade 1, 2, 3 etc.). It all seems a mess to me. I just play when and where I'm told

It just struck me than when I go to Munster competitions all but 1 of the counties are represented but when I went to All Ireland competitions there were only a few teams there are only a handful of counties there and last year some teams that competeted in Munsters did not compete in All Irelands?

Why do all counties not compete, even at the lowest intercounty leve?

bellylint

Bit mad that, you would think if you played in regionals you would be happy to go for nationals.

Might be a case of people dont organise it, or there isnt enough interest in the county itself. Admittedly I am just guessing here.

It would be nice to see the various different leagues work there way up to a national standard.

tipper1

Repolho, I'll try explain the Inter County scene and the setup of the Munster comps, as well as i can anyway (I'm also open to correction).
This does not take into account any changes that will come in when the new National Grading System is finalised.

Munster hold seperate one day events in singles, doubles & mixed championships within 4 'Munster Grades' which are called Munster Senior 1(Top Munster Div.1 Level), Senior 2 (The better Div 1 players), Junior (Lower Div 1 and better Div 2 players) and Graduate (Div 2 & 3 players normally). They are open to anyone registered in Munster but there are some rules to be eligible for Graduate Level.
Munster also hold seperate Divisional Singles, Doubles & Mixed Comps normally Feb/March.

Munster then have a provincial Inter County Championships in Class 3,4 & 5 which are normally held before Xmas. Players would be graded each year into their Class and this would also be their class at National level. Class 3 (some Munster Senior 1 players but mainly Senior 2 level as above). Class 4 (mainly Munster Junior and better Graduate players). Class 5 which is a relatively new class, developed for Over 25yo players who have never played inter county level previously (mix of Div. 2 to 5 standard)

BI then organise the All-Ireland Inter County, Class 1-4, with the qualifying rounds in Feb and the Finals Weekend on in April. This is a great comp but has been poorly supported by some counties in recent years but the talk is that it is going to be publicised more this year and BI are hoping the increase the entries. In the last few years the only counties entering in this have been Cork, Tipp, Kerry, Waterford, Galway, Sligo, Roscommon, Meath & Wexford but in the higher Class 1 & 2 the entries are very poor. Qualifying for the finals is pretty tough.

Be interesting to see if players/clubs even knew that these comps are available.
Not sure if Leinster do anything similar.

Hope this helps and I would recommend the Senior 2, Junior & Graduate Championships.

g0g

Lots of info on this website.

3 competitions each year in Leinster:

1) Individual Championships for the best players in each (singles/doubles/mixed) category at each grade. Normally selected by winning an event in your county.

2) Inter County competition. Selection of the best players around the county put onto a squad (6-10) in each grade and play ~7-match events against other counties to find a winner.

3) Inter-League event. Best club team from each county compete i nan event similar to the above, the difference being this is just one club. The Dublin mixed cup winners normally compete in it and similar for other counties I think.