DLT

Co-op's had up and down service since long before the financial woes of the group. Some good staff, some miserable ones. Sometimes it's had runs of being clean, sometimes it has been a disgrace in places. The car park ..... ridiculous. The rusting metal cladding ..... ridiculous. The promotional posters outside often put up and then left to flap in the wind ..... pathetic. Seen the same in places I've worked down the years, some folk can organise and run things well and some can't and never will. Co-op must employ some of the latter. Still, I'm still loyal and it'll be a lot worse before I defect to the other side of town. In spite of the bad an unnecessary problems, still does the job. And good idea, will add a suggestions in the box next time in.

I understand that folk appreciate what is here in Shetland, want to share it with the rest of the world, and want to see development. But I'm not sure what Sky TV and development will add to an unspoilt and largely wild fishery. lt'll change things, probably not for the better. The thing is that Shetland's generally fragile and my eyes tell me that things fall apart easily here. The fishery is fragile and it's not what it was, even in my short 35 years at it. I'd prefer it were left alone for the most part.

Some good comments here, from folk who know Shetland Badminton. My last word on what's been said goes ..... the selection howler's have often been righted. But we've also lost some players who've given up in disgust. In the worst case I've seen ..... it took about three years for the player to break through the artificial wall. The change only came when the person/persons keeping them out retired, as the selectors of the day were simply "scared" of the established player(s). Shameful! The one year I helped to select the Shetland B team ... every score was written down from day one. It became the routine for everybody. And the scores were invaluable. We first chose the team on merit (the ability to play well and win), we checked this selection against the ledger of scores and it bore out every selection. Then, the scores were used again to confirm our perceptions of the strongest partnerships. It really wasn't hard to do this; nobody was confused over selection criteria: the strongest players got in. We did have one "older" veteran in our team. And it raised eyebrows at the time. But that player kept on beating the competition throughout the training program, and was an asset to the team (on and off the park). If I ever loose my marbles and do it again ... it'll be done the same way and I hope that I get to select with folk as up front and capable as my last co-selector. That's all fae me.

There are pre-requisites that make folk eligible, and there are selection criteria for deciding who's in and who's partnered up. Not all Shetland selectors like to speak about this much, as there is little agreement out there and they get sniped at a lot. But these are the best I’ve come up with, but of course this is only the personal set of a one-time only (and ex) selector for the B Team. Pre-requisites include: (Shetland) residency, any age limiters in force, and regular attendance at county training. The main selection criteria are: physical skills and ability, mental ability, current form and fitness, and the ability to “partner†other players in the squad. And then into the mix selectors must put recent tournament form, results recorded at training, anticipated opposition, and any serious behaviour or disciplinary lapses. And (last but not least) the development potential of each player, which should favour the up and coming players. One past selector once said that ….. for the Orkney Inter County match I will always select what I believe to be the strongest possible team. I appreciated that open and honest approach (even when I didn’t always agree with the choices the person made). And they also said that they kept in mind that Orkney would not appreciate being sent a “weakened†team for our top level event.

Shetland Badminton team selection's have not been easy down the years. Selectors have made howling mistakes but they have also had to put up with lobbying from players, prima donnas who take the dorts when their favourite partners are taken away ... and from folk that get upset when the juniors don't get in. Well, I'm old and lost my young years to injury but I'm still playing. I work hard and it took me seven years to make the Shetland team. And after ten years of work I finally won the Shetland men's doubles title. And some out there would still have rather had juniors in the senior team before me. I really don't think so! Shetland Badminton Assoc. and Orkney Assoc. don't want juniors in the team. So have your say ... but change the policy before breaking the rules. And put juniors in teams on merit. Not before. They don't need to take places from stronger players to develop and the odd times I've seen juniors in the senior team .. or a younger player given the benefit of doubt over a vet. ..... the youngsters have let the team down and sometimes let themselves down as well. I've thought about this a lot and I'll keep treating juniors as equals. It works for all of us.