At our club we don't currently allow Juniors to join our membership due to the rules/issues with Child protection. We'd have to get registered and ensure a supervising adult that's passed an enhanced CRB check was at hand at all times at a minimum. A properly run club does need to be following legal requirements BoE have guidelines for this: http://www.badmintonengland.co.uk/t...ionTitle=Safeguarding+and+Protecting+Children We usually allow juniors to play as a guest if they're accompanied with their parents as I don't think that breaks any rules. By the sounds of it though your over 18 and considered an adult. Clubs can be run at different levels. Some have organically grown from a bunch of friends renting a court & expanding & it's often the organisers personal views/opinions which may dictate membership. Others are run in a more organised manner but the aims of the club are quite specific and again the organisers opinions can cloud the point. (i.e. if your good enough can be quite subjective) At our club any prospective member that requests to join has to be put forward to our commitee and we always give a reason for refusal. If we do we also try & help them find a suitable alternaltive as well. As for my own personal thought. I have no problem playing with a beginner. I'll normally just keep the rally going & try to give them as more "shot" time rather than "picking shuttle off the floor" time. Depending on the context of the people/club I can make it a fun knock around or if they're receptive give pointers. I'd consider looking bored as being a bit rude but mucking around doesn't mean disrespect to the players. I guess it depends on the attitude of the beginner.
Thanks for your reply. I am most certainly not considered a junior, and was not considered a junior when I looked to join that particular club. However, I was considered "young". The club in question has a team in the highest division in the league they played, and I would easily have made that team, so my standard wasn't an issue. It was just plain being "cold" because they didn't like my (or my friends) age. Which is stupid. I understand the rules and whatnot about allowing junior players into the club. This is of course an important consideration for any club, but too many clubs are just stubborn. Badminton is not encouraged in this country the way it should be. It sounds like you have a good club culture where you are. Suggesting other clubs and whatnot are always very considerate things to do for players, and the whole "committee decision" process is, i think, fairly common to most clubs. Not many clubs have enough members or court time to run at different levels, but then again many clubs form partnerships so that players start in one and feed through to others as they improve. I think club attitude is a strange thing. People are not, in general, as welcoming as they could be. I think this is in large part because they don't like having to reselect teams and such/don't like change. There are of course exceptions where everyone is made to feel welcome, and those clubs are doing the right thing!