What to do now?

Try going to a new club with higher level players.

 

Are you a member of the Ontario Badminton Association? Don't they have a tournament circuit that you can compete in?

 

First of all, you have dreams professionaly, the first thing i will say is never give up on your dreams ! If you want something badly, then you can and will achieve.
You need to find a coach, in which you are happy you are getting the right training, and that the games that you are recieving at your club, are competitive, judging by what you have said, your club seems to be of a good standard, you may want to get yourself a coach for 1-1 training, so he can assess where you need to improve.
Are you entering competitions at the moment ? If so what level ? And how are you getting on ? If you are doing well, and these tournaments are of a good standard, then surely someone will have seen you, there are always coaches around at high standard tournaments that look for talent.
Its a shame you are not in europe, there are quite a few international events, here and they are all located in europe, which is good as it keeps travel costs down, which is good, i am not sure about tournaments in N. America. if you can get sponsorship to cover travel and accomadation fees, then thats good, but if you can get into your national squad, then they will pay for everything.
I can give you info, about tournaments in europe if you want
Good luck !

 

Definitely move clubs ... (getting the kind of sponsorship mentioned above is hard enough for the current national team members let alone one who is below the national team juniors but making it to a national standard would be a nice goal). Then again if your club has national team juniors it can't be that bad but would look around anyway (heard Montreal has a/one of the national training center(?) but probably way too far)

That is not the case for every nation I think it was New Zealand who couldn't even send their team to the Thomas or Sudirman Cup. Doubtfull they send their players around the world. Wasn't it Canada who could only afford to send either the men or ladies when both were qualified ... (?)

 

If you're an A level player, I'd suggest checking out the Quebec provincial tournaments. They typically have less travel distance and their entry fees are less expensive too. The only restriction is that Ontario residents can only enter the top division (not B or C).

If you are a B level player, then maybe you should try playing some evenings at the RA? There are a few B players that play there (usually Mon or Wed), maybe we'd provide a decent game? Besides, it's useful to know the other players that go to provincial tournaments, so you can arrange things like carpooling.

 

Like most clubs, it depends on the number of players there. When it's busy (7-9pm), everyone plays doubles. When there are fewer people present, there is usually some space to play singles.

 

Well at the age 28 i would say thats quite difficult to achieve but still possible to make yourself a good singles player. Things i would suggest is play at tournaments that is offered in Ottowa. For example, i live in Calgary and there are tournaments like Alberta Series or Junior National tournaments like Black Knight that people can join and not to just get better but to get to know yourself better. When you play someone you've never played before, you would need to change tatics cause everyone is different. Eating correctly is something that a singles player would want to watch out for. Food like Pasta or salads are good but make sure you know how much your consuming and what your adding on. I don't know what your life is like but if your free, go out and train with your coach or even go to a recreational center and practice footwork and endurance. Try play people who are at your skill level or even a bit higher cause if you play with people who are worst than you, chances are that your level of play will differentiate and possibly become bad. If you can, try recording yourself and post it here and everyone on this forum could help you out. Hope this helps