GRASSROOTS
a priority sport and most badminton clubs own their own purpose-built badminton facilities or have great access and guaranteed tenure. This is thought to be a major factor in Denmark’s high participation rates and international success. Badminton England wishes to invest in the development of more dedicated centres.
TALENT PATHWAYS The International Badminton Federation (IBF) – now the Badminton World Federation – was established in the first half of the 20th century. However, it was not until 1992 that badminton gained Olympic status, demonstrating its relative infancy on the international playing field. In October 2014 it was also confirmed as a Paralympic sport for 2020 in Tokyo. In England, the badminton Performance
Centres are the real starting point of the talent pathway, being fed from schools, clubs, CBNs and aimed at youngsters from primary school to 17- and 18-years old. The 10 England Performance Training
sites around the country provide opportunities for the most talented individuals within the Performance Centres. The England Junior Programmes provide individual places for the most talented from 13 upwards. The most talented players among the England and GB senior teams are based at the National Badminton Centre in Milton Keynes. One of the key challenges facing the
sport is that unlike tennis, there is no Wimbledon fever, with coverage of the sport not yet screened on terrestrial channels. This year, however, has seen
BADDERSBIRDS
The brain child of an inner city London badminton club looking to cement badminton’s appeal to young professional city girls. The concept is to enable girls from a variety of backgrounds to give badminton a go and see the benefits. In the majority of cases, women take up badminton looking to lose weight or get fitter but at first the emphasis has to naturally be on learning the skills needed. Baddersbirds, set up by four
56 The Performance Centres are the starting point for talented individuals to advance
the spectator offering grow, with the successful launch of the National Badminton League, which is being televised on Sky sports. This means more exposure for some of Britain’s best players, such as Chris and Gabby Adcock. The duo, partners both on and off the court, are ranked fifth in the world at mixed doubles.
FANCY A GAME? Yet in spite of the investment which has been made in improving facilities and programmes and the obvious love and affection surrounding the sport, badminton is still struggling to be taken
county players, had the idea of integrating a 45 minute yoga and fitness class (taught by a top London personal trainer) with an hour of learning to play. Promoted only on twitter and with flyers designed by a local artist, “the girls who come get to burn calories and enjoy a game," the campaign literature
states. "Life is so busy these days, it helps to know you’ll get your fitness fix and still get to hit a feather or two. Badminton is fast, fun and a great way to get fit and we want to prove it!”
as seriously as an innovative, strong performance sport. It's one of the easiest entry level sports, every leisure centre offers it and 3.5 million people pick up a racquet! In Asian cultures badminton is extremely popular, and it's a true cradle- to-grave sport. Having to compete against other giants
of sport such as football, rugby and tennis, badminton’s main challenge may well be the way it's perceived. Despite being incredibly fast, competitive and gender neutral, badminton has yet to challenge its outdated reputation head on. The small steps taken so far, such as Smash up! have proven successful, so clearly there's a desire to play if the message is right. If anything it's frustrating that the top badminton players are not household names and that badminton fever is not yet gripping the nation. As part of its Whole Sport Plan
Badminton England has set a weekly participation target of 153,000 for 14- 25 year-olds. The hope is that targeted marketing campaigns, the presence on Sky TV, and the increased level of social media activity will help to promote the sport. However, unless badminton begins to invest in repositioning the sport towards a younger, performance-motivated audience, then it may forever be seen as nothing more than the nation’s favourite summer pastime, played by grannies and girls alike. The key question still stands – can you name a professional player? l
sportsmanagement.co.uk issue 4 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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