Assistant coach Young joins the UOIT coaching staff after four seasons of competitive play with Varsity Blues (OUA 2012-2015) and Humber Hawks (2015-2016). Jonathan joined the Blues in is second year of study at University of Toronto (Mississauga) with some playing experience within his high school but with very limited competition experience. As an athlete, Young’s development was amazing as he moved quickly from a novice player to an elite athlete – in each of Jonathan’s four seasons, he reached the final eight at OUA championships in selected events. As assistant coach and player in 2013, Jonathan was a vital component of the OUA championship team.
With the Blues, Jonathan served in various roles – warmup leader in his first season, assistant in his second season and team captain/assistant coach in his final season with the Blues. Jonathan is known for his commitment to training, for his determined and exciting style of play in competition, for his representation of the team brand as a character player and for his leadership abilities. With the Blues, Jonathan helped to design a dynamic stretch programme that was specific to badminton and was the catalyst in developing a strength training programme again unique for badminton.
Last season with Humber Hawks, Jonathan continued his development as he earned a spot on the OCAA/CCAA gold medal team in men’s singles and finished fourth in the OCAA championship.
As a coach, Jonathan has experience at several levels: he has worked at Durham College Summer Camp as an assistant coach (2014) and as head coach (2016), he has coached within COBA in the popular Focus on Badminton coaching series, currently he is an assistant coach with Harwood Junior Badminton Centre (Ajax). Perhaps his biggest strength as a coach is that he understands the concepts of “athlete centred coaching” and uses those principles well in working with athletes. A real asset for our Ridgeback programme.
