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Jordan aims high for badminton success
Jordan Hart has just returned from a challenging weekend of badminton where she successfully represented Wales at under 17 level against the top young players from England, Scotland and Ireland in a quadrangular tournament at Loughborough University – not bad going for a 14 year old from Pembroke Dock!
As the youngest in the competition by almost two years she helped Wales into second place with a cracking 21-10, 21-12 win against the Scottish champion and No 2 ranked player.
Long treks galore
It was another measure of the rapid strides made by Jordan over a busy season where she had travelled almost 10,000 miles, played all over the United Kingdom and even further, and all funded by parents Mandy and Derek, who was the chauffeur for the jaunt to Loughborough.
There was also another recent trek to Sheffield so that Jordan could compete against the best in the country at under 15 level, and she came back with another prized scalp since she beat the current British-ranked No 1 Chloe Birch, who lives in Sheffield and so had little travel.
The competition is played over a different formula since there is just one set played to 31 points and Jordan eased home by 31-21 to leap-frog her opponent in the unofficial rankings.
She was asked to stay an extra two days so that she could partner Chloe in the under doubles and Jordan made the journey home with two gold medals after they had brushed aside all the opposition. So how does all this travel affect Jordan’s schoolwork?
“I’m a bit of a swot with school work so I always keep up” says Jordan with a characteristic chuckle, “I enjoy every subject so it’s no problem at the moment.”
Hard graft paying off
It is just as well she copes because she can spend upwards of 20 hours a week with regard to her badminton involvement, including fitness training, travel and coaching.
Jordan shows total commitment and is already regarded as one of the most talented young badminton players to emerge in the Welsh set-up for many years since she couples a natural flair for the game with a willingness to push herself hard in pursuit of her stated aims of representing Wales in the 2010 Youth Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and then the United Kingdom in the 2012 Olympic Games.
Jordan, who hails from Pembroke Dock, is already in the Welsh squad, having represented Wales for the last two seasons, the second as captain of the Welsh team at under 13 level for last year’s series of international matches. Jordan’s wonderful season was recognised in 2007 when she was nominated by Phil and Linda Gwyther for the Sport Pembrokeshire awards in the under 16 girls’ category. The Gwythers had been instrumental in setting Jordan on the road to success when she was eight years old, went swimming at Pembroke Sports Centre and spotted their notice for youngsters to join the badminton club. Jordan joined them on court and they have been very supportive ever since and are rightly proud of her achievements.
Family following
Jordan’s dad Derek, who had dabbled a little in the sport when he was younger, was delighted when she asked if she could start out – and even more thrilled when she was soon showing terrific prowess well beyond her age. The whole family travel to competitions, with Derek, Mandy, younger sister Lowri and grandma Barbara always there to cheer her on. Jordan was soon catching the eye by winning local tournaments, often against older opponents, in what were known as the shuttle series (for beginners) and then the satellite tournaments (intermediate competitions) at venues like Llanelli, Swansea and Cardiff, often by very big margins like 21-1, 21-5.
Championship success and talent spotted
Four years ago Jordan entered the Welsh under 11 championships at Wrexham and scooped a remarkable triple triumph as she won the singles, the doubles with Yasmin Morris (Cardiff) and the mixed doubles with Michael Kinnear (Cwmbran). Not content with that sort of achievement, Jordan went back last year for the under 13 championships and, despite the fact that she was a year younger than many of her opponents, won the singles, the doubles with Louise Breen (Cardiff) and again with Michael Kinnear in the mixed doubles.
These outstanding performances caused the Welsh coaches to sit up and take notice and now Jordan travels to Llanelli every Monday for coaching by Joe Morgan and James Phillips, from 7-9.30pm, plus to Cardiff every Sunday with the elite competitors coached by Chris Rees (Bridgend), who was once ranked 11th in the world so knows youthful talent when he sees it. She also plays as Chris’s partner in mixed doubles for the Vale Badminton Club in the adult league.
“We travel up for three hours tuition and then I join him on court straight afterwards in matches that will help me gain vital experience in senior competition,” she said, “We also travel up to Cardiff to play on Tuesday evenings if I’m needed and I know it is a great help to me when I play back in my own age group.”
Jordan is aiming high for 2012
Ask her about ambitions and she is equally certain.
“It has to be to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London. That would be brilliant. I have been to the Welsh Open and there were top players from all over the world. Some were only as old as 15 or 16 and they are at that level already so I know what is expected of me. I also lost in the semi-finals of the Welsh Under 15 championships to the girl who won it but she is two years older than me.”
She already has plenty of international experience after representing Wales against Scotland and winning the singles by beating the Welsh No 1 in the semi and the Scottish No 1 in the final – and she also won the mixed doubles and doubles as a bonus. February 2008 saw further recognition because Jordan was chosen to captain the Welsh team in Belfast and she used the experience to travel into Europe to further her experience.
Lack of funding hasn’t stopped Jordan
Sadly, there is no central funding for such a bright talent, something that throws shame on the original ideals of the National Lottery, and something the government needs to look at again because budding sports people of such quality as Jordan needs to be carefully nurtured so that the financial burden doesn’t fall solely on the shoulders of such willing parents as Derek and Mandy.
Her travel to specialist coaching and competition needs to be properly funded by a central body, perhaps with a three-year sponsorship, so she can concentrate on developing her immense talent. But with her family behind her all the way it is to be hoped that at the moment Jordan can continue to catch the eye because she is a great advertisement, not only for local badminton, but also for Pembrokeshire Sport in particular and Welsh Sport in general.
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