Julie Russell currently plays for Trinity Badminton Club in their mixed and ladies teams in Division 1 within the Orpington/North West Kent league.
When she's not playing, Julie is a selector and Manager for Wiltshire County where she holds the record for first team appearances(205). She also plays in national tournaments throughout the UK and has been capped by England. She has won silver events, reached semis at gold and won the over 40's national ladies with Julie Bradbury. Julie coaches various standards from beginner to National players with many of her juniors entering national graded tournaments and representing their county, including recently 17 year old Meera Sivakumaran, ranked 8 for England.
From the age of 12, Julie was coached by Dennis Blazye, who also coached men, nationally ranked one and eight respectively. Dennis himself after playing at international level, was one of four coaches in the country to hold the top coaching qualification at that time. From the age of 14 Julie assisted Dennis with demonstration courses and via his tutelage attained a national ranking of 15 in singles and doubles. After completing coaching qualifications herself, Julie assisted with the coaching of the players on these courses. Dennis excelled in all aspects of coaching including racket techniques, footwork, fitness and mental approach, which he felt was equally important to produce complete players.
From this experience, Julie went on to coach players of beginner to National level, accompanied her players to England squad training sessions. Coaches Kent players including Lydia Henderson Boyle, Shaun Parr, Alex Skilton, Sarah Vine & Alison Dixon who have won titles & excelled in national tournaments, aswell as taking beginners into league standard Badminton, all of whom she is equally proud of.
Nowadays Julie continues to play and coach; Indebted to her coach Dennis Blazye, she believes choosing the right coach is one of the most important decisions you can make as a player and attributes all the successes she has had as a player and a coach to her mentor, Dennis. She knows she couldn't of made a better choice.
When she's not playing, Julie is a selector and Manager for Wiltshire County where she holds the record for first team appearances(205). She also plays in national tournaments throughout the UK and has been capped by England. She has won silver events, reached semis at gold and won the over 40's national ladies with Julie Bradbury. Julie coaches various standards from beginner to National players with many of her juniors entering national graded tournaments and representing their county, including recently 17 year old Meera Sivakumaran, ranked 8 for England.
From the age of 12, Julie was coached by Dennis Blazye, who also coached men, nationally ranked one and eight respectively. Dennis himself after playing at international level, was one of four coaches in the country to hold the top coaching qualification at that time. From the age of 14 Julie assisted Dennis with demonstration courses and via his tutelage attained a national ranking of 15 in singles and doubles. After completing coaching qualifications herself, Julie assisted with the coaching of the players on these courses. Dennis excelled in all aspects of coaching including racket techniques, footwork, fitness and mental approach, which he felt was equally important to produce complete players.
From this experience, Julie went on to coach players of beginner to National level, accompanied her players to England squad training sessions. Coaches Kent players including Lydia Henderson Boyle, Shaun Parr, Alex Skilton, Sarah Vine & Alison Dixon who have won titles & excelled in national tournaments, aswell as taking beginners into league standard Badminton, all of whom she is equally proud of.
Nowadays Julie continues to play and coach; Indebted to her coach Dennis Blazye, she believes choosing the right coach is one of the most important decisions you can make as a player and attributes all the successes she has had as a player and a coach to her mentor, Dennis. She knows she couldn't of made a better choice.