A national initiative aimed at keeping teenage girls engaged in sport is continuing to gather momentum into 2025, with strong local ties in Mallow.
Ashgrove Renewables and EPS Group, two Mallow-based companies, are co-sponsoring Badminton Ireland’s BadminTeen programme, which launched last year and has quickly established itself as a powerful force in tackling the drop-out rates among teenage girls.
Research shows that while 94% of girls participate in sport at primary school level, that figure falls sharply to 65% during their secondary school years. BadminTeen was created to address this challenge, offering a pathway that combines sport with valuable life skills such as team building, negotiation, and organisation.
The programme also integrates with the Transition Year curriculum, encouraging participants to bring badminton into local primary schools, widening the sport’s reach and giving teenagers opportunities to lead.
This academic year has already begun on a high note, with 57 girls taking part in week one at Breifne College, Cavan, and St Joseph’s Secondary School, Westmeath. In total, 308 girls across 13 schools in 10 counties were involved in the initiative last season, making BadminTeen a vibrant and growing community.
Badminton Ireland said it was “delighted to kickstart another season of BadminTeen” and is already planning for bigger things ahead. “We are looking forward to another great season of BadminTeen along with our sponsors EPS Group and Ashgrove Renewables,” the organisation said.
Alongside BadminTeen, Women in Sport activity across Badminton Ireland has been thriving in recent weeks. In the past fortnight alone, 87 young leaders in Westmeath, Cavan, and Kilkenny have completed the BadminTeen leadership programme and are now preparing to put their coaching into practice.
