Page 13 - RADC 2017

AMS Badminton Championship.
Cpl R Bell, RADC
On 5th Sept 17 the AMS recruitment team and a few RADC personnel took part
in the AMS Badminton Championship. Although we had limited knowledge and experience with the sport we just turned up and had fun! With very keen and enthusiastic team members we were able
to win the men’s singles competition and the mixed doubles. Not a bad result seeing that we only had one make shift practise with ‘basic beginners rules’ printed
from the internet. The AMS Badminton Championship was a very enjoyable
event and we aim to build on our success
next year (and maybe get in a few more practise sessions as well!.. Ed.). Well done to Maj K Porter RADC for winning a medal. RADC personnel that took part on the day were Cpl R Bell, Sgt C Bridgeford and Maj K Porter.
Intermediate teams and first on course...the facial expression says it all!
was disappointing, Felix was nervous and he felt like he was going to explode the entire test. The next day however, I made sure
he had time to relax before starting and he pulled it out of the bag with an enormous 75% and 3rd place overall. I later found out we had received a score of 9 out of 10 for one of Felix’s movements, the only one to
be awarded in the whole competition and certainly our personal best! We also gained a qualification to the UK Armed forces Dressage Championships, which is part of the National Championships of Great Britain. As a result it is back off to Wales again in September, to fly the AMS flag there once more.
Our most recent outing was the Army One Day Event at the Royal Armoured Corps Saddle Club in Bovington, Dorset. I shall
say very little about this event as despite doing a fantastic dressage phase, and
only a single problem fence showjumping,
Felix decides he needs a closer look ...
Felix and I nearly came to a sticky end mid cross-country, just before the water jump (see above). This is a new event for Army Equitation and it certainly produced some varying results, overall the AMS decided to draw a line under this one and move on... there’s always next year!
In the background I was delighted to have been lucky enough to be awarded my half colours. I have also been working closely with the Army Equestrian Association as
the co-ordinator of the new ‘Grassroots’ competitions, aimed at increasing participation in equestrian sport. The hope
is to bridge the gap between beginner courses and the big military competitions with a Grassroots League. It is to be an inter-Corps dressage and showjumping competition starting in autumn 2017 and running throughout the winter at military Saddle Clubs. This will hopefully allow novice
Occasionally it all goes according to plan!
riders their first exposure to competition in a military
environment. We are lucky enough to have just taken sponsorship from Harry Hall and the final will be held at the Royal Tournament in June 2018.
Overall a really successful 12 months for the AMSEA , which is one of the fastest growing teams in the Army and certainly one of the largest in the equestrian field. It continues to go from strength to strength and have successes from the grassroots to the highest levels.
RADC BULLETIN 2017 11