Meet Our Coaches We are fortunate to have some great coaches in Sussex…come meet the team. David King David has been playing Badminton since the age of 8, in that time he has represented England at two world junior championships, won a bronze and silver medal at the U17 European championships and reached a highest national ranking of 5. Since retiring he has had the chance to coach players of all levels, from beginner right through to junior England players. His philosophy as a player was always ‘work hard but have fun’ and has carried this through to his coaching. Julia Alkema Julia has been a full time coach since 2006 but she didn’t have a what you would consider to be a traditional route into coaching. Although she played county badminton as a junior up in Cleveland County in the North East, Julia then put badminton to one side and embarked on a career in musical theatre performing on stage, TV and radio for many years until she started her family. She likes to think her ‘old’ career has had a huge bearing on her coaching philosophy. She’s very good with people and her friendly and open coaching style puts people at ease; in her experience that’s when you get the best out of them. Although Julia coach’s all age groups and levels, in recent years she has specialised in Primary aged players and has the pleasure of teaching badminton in many junior schools across Sussex. She also runs a Primary Academy at Longhill Sports Centre in Rottingdean which is her pride and joy. Training young athletes has become somewhat of a passion, they are not simply small adults and shouldn’t be treated as such. It’s a fascinating area of sports development which is constantly changing which means she has to keep updating her own coaching skills to keep up. Julia is also a Badminton England Coach Educator, which means she has the pleasure of tutoring new coaches all over the UK and has mentored many of our own Sussex juniors as they make the transition into coaching. Julia’s Coaching Philosophy: I will make you feel valued as a person first and as player second.