Melanie Vickery, Head Coach of the North Wiltshire Badminton Project has passed her UKCC Level 3 Head Coach Certificate in Badminton.

This is a significant achievement that demanded resilience and dedication for more than a year alongside running a small law firm, bringing up a family and the heartbreaking loss of her mother.

This qualification confirms that Mel satisfies Badminton England‘s standards for leading the development of high-level badminton players through effective coaching and the use of sports science principles. As well as being invited to attend weekend modules at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes for focused training around advanced coaching skills with elite singles and doubles players, the requirements of the course were wide-ranging and included building individual player profiles, creating and delivering an annual training plan, giving court-side tournament coaching, and delivering under scrutiny, on the spot coaching sessions to a singles performance player and a group of doubles junior players.

Melanie – alongside Wayne Epson and Jamie Sims – founded the NWBP in 2017 to provide technical and tactical support to children who aspire to play badminton at the highest levels, as well as to offer structured coaching sessions to any child looking to start their journey in the sport or to improve their game. Starting with foundation classes in Chippenham, Calne and Melksham, the project has expanded to include performance pathway sessions for young players as well as weekly junior club sessions for those seeking a more social pace. Even during Covid, Melanie continued to support her members with online physical and technical sessions and after the courts reopened, she took over the reins as NWBP’s Head Coach.

Under Melanie’s leadership, young players have achieved success in national competitions, and she was encouraged by the wider badminton community to pursue her Level 3 qualification. This accomplishment not only furthers her coach education for the benefit of NWBP players but also proves her commitment, competence and high-achieving abilities as a coach.