NZ's top badminton players could end up paying for their trips to upcoming world tournaments, as the sport is struggling to find funding
12 February 2008

The harsh reality of being a minor sport is set to hit New Zealand's top badminton players hard in the wallet.

The "Black Cocks" men's and women's teams may have to partially fund trips to the Thomas and Uber Cups world tournaments in May themselves. Both teams qualified by beating Australia over the weekend.

Badminton New Zealand executive director Peter Dunne says at this stage the sport does not have the money for the tournaments, but it is working on it. He says the players are aware of the situation and only in the worst case scenario will they be forced to pay for themselves.

Dunne says Badminton NZ is looking at other avenues, but there is no chance of government funding. He says there are a number of problems with commercial sponsorship and gaming trust funding.

Dunne says the current commercial environment is tight, so a last minute deal is unlikely.

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© 2008 NZCity, NewsTalkZB
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do u remembered the 'black cocks' controversy?

Sad day for NZ badminton:(

I hope our Msian shuttlers learn something about national pride from NZ shuttlers.

Here in Malaysia, we are moaning about our shuttlers not paid enough and the reward for the Olympic gold should be RM1million. :o

Oh wat a bad news for team nz:o

For US badminton, even for qualifying, they only fund their number 1 players, meaning for Thomas Cup, only Raju Rai and Howard/Bob will be be funded and the rest , like Eric Go has to pay their own expenses....thats why also Tony decided not to play....

Well this is the same for Australia.I know most of the Australian team and one by one they quit too. They are talented but the lack of funding does not just affect them in terms of their expenses but also sponsorship , training and equipment..

same as canada too. Any oversea tournaments, players pay their way and/or some assistance from their own sponsors which are usually... their parents.

Very sad, BWF should look into this and assist, at least help to provide avenues for sponsorship if not funding ...... otherwise how are we going to grow the sport?

No wonder KLRC had a lot of recruits from abroad ..... BWF should be ashamed of themselves for letting KLRC do their job.

I hope our Msian shuttlers learn something about national pride from NZ shuttlers.

Here in Malaysia, we are moaning about our shuttlers not paid enough and the reward for the Olympic gold should be RM1million. :o

Not much national pride IMHO. John Moody and Rachel Hindley are like the only semi-famous kiwi badminton players, the rest are basicly asians like myself.

For US badminton, even for qualifying, they only fund their number 1 players, meaning for Thomas Cup, only Raju Rai and Howard/Bob will be be funded and the rest , like Eric Go has to pay their own expenses....thats why also Tony decided not to play....

even worse is that they ask the players to pay for it first and then reimburse them. sometimes after the trip, they will tell the players that they don't have enough funding and the players end up paying it from their own pocket.

ah, tis a shame, hopefully the situation is improving and one day it'll be as popular as .... dare i say it .... tennis?

BWF targeted by 2012, players can be independent in term of earning more monies.....lets see!! I doubt it!

4 more years, hmmm, yeah, really doubt it.
perhaps the top 10 players can be independent, but those outside of the top 10 will still struggle.

4 more years, hmmm, yeah, really doubt it.
perhaps the top 10 players can be independent, but those outside of the top 10 will still struggle.
Yep..many discussion with BWF,,,....long way to go...thats all I can say for now...but hopefully in 2010, BWF will increase the prize money for super series.....and also allow each country to have more than 1 tournament, not Challenge or Future series....like China has 2 SS, so hopefully, Malaysia/INA/others can have more than 1 big tournament.....

i would like to see that happen.
these few weeks between tournaments is so boring, no PAW, just work work work all day ....
:)

i would like to see that happen.
these few weeks between tournaments is so boring, no PAW, just work work work all day ....
:)
haiya, dont be so addicted la...:)
cool down la....:D:D:p
german open 08 is soon gonna start mah..;):p

:Di would like to see that happen.
these few weeks between tournaments is so boring, no PAW, just work work work all day ....
:)
next week, qualifying thomas cup/uber cup everywhere......:D:D...go to bars once a while...hehe..actually I am in bar while browsing internet...:D

even worse is that they ask the players to pay for it first and then reimburse them. sometimes after the trip, they will tell the players that they don't have enough funding and the players end up paying it from their own pocket.


A few years ago, I read an article about a rising star in US badminton. There was a young girl - Hu (hope I remember her last name correctly) recently came to us from China. She used to be training in CHN providence team. After she got here, she just beat up everyone in her matches. However, as a new immigrants, her family had great trouble to support her career. Therefore, during an interview with a local chinese magazine, her father is seeking help/sponsor from the public. After that, I never heard about her. Guess the financial situation just let her make the deicision of stop there. :(

A few years ago, I read an article about a rising star in US badminton. There was a young girl - Hu (hope I remember her last name correctly) recently came to us from China. She used to be training in CHN providence team. After she got here, she just beat up everyone in her matches. However, as a new immigrants, her family had great trouble to support her career. Therefore, during an interview with a local chinese magazine, her father is seeking help/sponsor from the public. After that, I never heard about her. Guess the financial situation just let her make the deicision of stop there. :(
..Jun Hu??..
https://secure.ksb.net/badminton/user/viewCoach.asp#
If she is, then she is currently coaching, or at least the last time i've heard, at SGVBC (still very young)..:cool:

..Jun Hu??..
https://secure.ksb.net/badminton/user/viewCoach.asp#
If she is, then she is currently coaching, or at least the last time i've heard, at SGVBC (still very young)..:cool:


Maybe, can't really recall her 1st name, but somehow, I thought it's 3 characters in chinese. Well, it's very possible they cut 1 of the character out, for easy spelling/pronounce purpose.

Anyway, I like her email name. ;)

New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) is also facing financial crisis for London 2012 project, read this article : www.stuff.co.nz/4395757a1823.html

What a grim situation that NZOC needs some cash injection, this unwell condition even happens to their Olympic priority sport such as cycling and rowing.

I think it's particularly offensive since they were willing to fork out heaps of money to fly david beckham over to play in Wellington for an exhibition to promote football. Why couldn't they do something similar for badminton? Gah....then again I don't quite know how funding is allocated for sports--with beckham it may have been done through the wellington city council.

this is off topic, but why does every NZ national sports team have to named 'black' or 'white', eg., the black caps, the white socks (or whatever the soccer team is called). Someone should fire the media agency working for NZ sports. yeah I know it's linked to the all blacks, but there are limits, I mean c'mon, the black cocks??! Jeez.

KLRC should chip in and help these players.

this is off topic, but why does every NZ national sports team have to named 'black' or 'white', eg., the black caps, the white socks (or whatever the soccer team is called). Someone should fire the media agency working for NZ sports. yeah I know it's linked to the all blacks, but there are limits, I mean c'mon, the black cocks??! Jeez.

i think it was meant to raise team awareness plus some publicity.
'come on', it is 'hard' to forget this headline:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/15/nz_badminton_kerfuffle/

I didn't even try to search for the NZ badminton team online. Too scared!!:D

KLRC should chip in and help these players.

But this is supposed to be BWF's job. :eek: Part of the on-going awareness and to popularize the sport is to set up some form of assistance to the players. Besides, they are going to a major BWF tournament.

KLRC have done their bit, and more .......

I think it's particularly offensive since they were willing to fork out heaps of money to fly david beckham over to play in Wellington for an exhibition to promote football. Why couldn't they do something similar for badminton? Gah....then again I don't quite know how funding is allocated for sports--with beckham it may have been done through the wellington city council.

this is off topic, but why does every NZ national sports team have to named 'black' or 'white', eg., the black caps, the white socks (or whatever the soccer team is called). Someone should fire the media agency working for NZ sports. yeah I know it's linked to the all blacks, but there are limits, I mean c'mon, the black cocks??! Jeez.

Yes, we need to get a famous badminton player in for exhibition match...hmmm but who??? most kiwis dont know their badminton players. We need to have a movie 'Bend it like Taufik'.:eek:

Black cocks??? I think that name should change. hmmm maybe what about black rackets? or shorten it to black racks:D:p

this sounds tacky but prob anyone who can do trick shots to entertain people a little? Badminton needs the equivalent of the harlem globetrotters.

then again in NZ badminton will always be a minority sport....those who would go along to an exhibition match would probably already be fans of badminton.

No one I thought the millionaire backer of the Wellington Phoeniz paid for Beckham to come to NZ, but I can't find a cite. Do you have a cite showing ther wa sgovernment funding?
Over the past few years the badminton Roadshow has travelled round NZ with top players & coaches like Dan Shirley & TJ Weistra (now one of the NZ coaches) Its had some success but there are so many sports to compete with.

this sounds tacky but prob anyone who can do trick shots to entertain people a little? Badminton needs the equivalent of the harlem globetrotters.

then again in NZ badminton will always be a minority sport....those who would go along to an exhibition match would probably already be fans of badminton.

My 1 cent,

I'm not sure about NZ's government's economic situation, but should quite ok.

It's not so much whether it's minority sport or not. The 'minority' or less popular sports in Msia, if they qualified for OG using own funds, from then on till OG will receive the needed backing. Latest example = sailing.

Similar situation, if baddy is minority sport in Msia, the players won TC qualifiers & got thru to go Finals, I think our NSC would have at least funded them 50% for the trip in May. If they didnt, the respective association would have highlighted the matter in the press to appeal for private sponsors, which would get NSC to act (in order not to lose face):D.

hey eek--no, I don't have a cite. It never even occurred to me that it might be privately funded. A friend of mine still living in NZ mentioned beckham's visit to me: I didn't follow it. That's why I said I wasn't sure about the allocation of funding.

Not much national pride IMHO. John Moody and Rachel Hindley are like the only semi-famous kiwi badminton players, the rest are basicly asians like myself.

Asians, Africans or Europeans whats the diff? Shouldnt we be colour blind?

Maybe jhirata was meaning NZ born? But I think most of the team that competed in the Thomas/Uber qualifiers were NZ born except henry Tam & Jessica J. & they have been in NZ for a while.
But yes as far as regular badminton goes - a lot of rank & file players in NZ are Asian. The big sports are rugby & netball which have good facilities, infastructure & often relatively cheap "subs."

sad to know... funny when i was playing in one of the tournament in nz 2 years back, peter was so convinced that the fund going to be HUGE to attract international players for upcoming years...

sad to see such great sport filled with piss poor players...

sad to know... funny when i was playing in one of the tournament in nz 2 years back, peter was so convinced that the fund going to be HUGE to attract international players for upcoming years...

sad to see such great sport filled with piss poor players...
Peter Who ? Oh well..

Recently, I joined a fun-tournament + international coaching clinic to raise some funds for Rachel Hindley and Jessica Jonggowisastro's trip to Jakarta for the Uber Cup. A total of 300$ for each player was raised.
The international coaching clinic was pretty good. Basri Yusuf, the head coach of the badminton institute at Singapore Sports school coached us. His feeding was quite impressive :p. And so was his defence against our top coaches.
We also recieved free ashaway t-shirts, and free prizes, where I won a pack of strings and a replacement grip.
I played against Rachel Hindley also.. she's so tall. We lost in doubles against her, 21:17. She was going easy on us though..

Asians, Africans or Europeans whats the diff? Shouldnt we be colour blind?
The 'asians' like to have this 'asian' pride here in NewZealand.

When we had Physical Education classes at school we occasionally had free days where we could all choose what we wanted to do. And at least one (sometimes both) of our two gym halls was always dedicated to badminton, as the majority of the class loved it! And would choose it over the other options such as Basketball, Football, Touch Rugby, etc. :).

Black Cocks... I've never liked that name... :p. I mean sure it made people take notice. It got on the news! That's like "WHOA" for badminton here. But I think people only took notice of the name and not so much the sport it was associated with... It just seems like a slightly desperate attempt for attention... come on Badminton NZ... I'm kind of embarrassed by it :o.

What I think we really need is just to have more happening! I know it wouldn't be easy... But really, a lot of people play when they're young, only to quit when they reach their late teens (yeah so maybe that happens in most sports, what with university etc. but especially it seems in badminton). When you're a junior there are a whole load of tournaments you can participate in, including those for higher age groups. As you get older, you're really lucky to be able to play in a few a year (in the South Island anyway). There's just really little motivation to continue playing competitively for a lot of people. I think the addition of regional Under 21 tournaments would help with that somewhat. As after you've spent your last year as a junior (unless you happen to be a top player), there's really nothing much to look forward to.

And when you see the junior players dominate the Opens, you can see the problem...

Same with coaches. There's just not enough (if any in some places). I've heard so many people (where I live) complain about the fact that they just can't get any better and a lot of people who want to excel just have no choice but to give up and focus on something else :(. I mean obviously you can't just fill the place with coaches... but it is quite a shame.

Oh!! And about the funding eheh. Yeah well sadly the news didn't exactly surprise me :(.

Wow.. NewZealand is put with Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Denmark in the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup. Any hope ?

This is not good for the sport..Can they search for local sponsors??In this kind of situation,we need companies like yonex to sponsor them..in return,maybe it'll boost yonex selling in NZ..fair deal

Wow.. NewZealand is put with Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Denmark in the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup. Any hope ?

Haha! Dear oh dear... we can only dream!

Well this is the same for Australia. I know most of the Australian team and one by one they quit too. They are talented but the lack of funding does not just affect them in terms of their expenses but also sponsorship , training and equipment..


I disagree with that, the states pay BA quite a bit for in affiliation (true no as much as New Zealand), and BA get gets ASC funding for high performance.

Well this is the same for Australia.I know most of the Australian team and one by one they quit too. They are talented but the lack of funding does not just affect them in terms of their expenses but also sponsorship , training and equipment..

JOHNSON & JOHNSON ATHLETE FAMILY SUPPORT
(05.03.08 11:17 Age: 13 days)

From Badminton Australia Website, note includes link to criteria: www.badminton.org.au/fileadmin/user_upload/J_J_Athlete_Family_Support_Program_Criteria.doc

Johnson & Johnson have invested $200,000 to help athlete's families go to the Beijing Olympics for support.

J&J understands the importance of families and the incredible support they provide, as well as the sacrifices that are often made.

The program is open to any Australian athlete on the Shadow Olympic team and applicants must fill in the attached form and send a photo of themselves with their selected family member.

Anyone who thinks they may be eligible for the program can click on link for more details.

Wow.. NewZealand is put with Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Denmark in the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup. Any hope ?

no worries. john moody can stun them with his bright red hair and distract Taufik long enough to win

I'm saddened by the news from NZ. IMHO, the govt should fully funded those baddies so that they could 100% focus on the sport. Perhaps badminton is not a popular sport in NZ but it is NOT right to ask players to fund themselves :eek: If NZ govt cant source the funds, why not just pull out of the tourneys?

Wow.. NewZealand is put with Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Denmark in the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup. Any hope ?

It's the spirit of participations, not just winning or losing. I'd say 70% OG participants have basically 0% of winning anything yet they still participate in the grand event. If that's case, I think Msia should only send LCW :cool:

I'm saddened by the news from NZ. IMHO, the govt should fully funded those baddies so that they could 100% focus on the sport. Perhaps badminton is not a popular sport in NZ but it is NOT right to ask players to fund themselves :eek: If NZ govt cant source the funds, why not just pull out of the tourneys? sometime, players themselves just love badminton so much that they wanted the experience. Same here for us canadian players, doubt that they go to oversea tournaments for money or fame.

sometime, players themselves just love badminton so much that they wanted the experience it. Same here for us canadian players, doubt that they go to oversea tournaments for money or fame.

Fully agree. When I was playing for Arizona Team, I funded myself to fly to Machacheuttes and San Diego for tourneys. No chance of winning, but just love of playing :D

no worries. john moody can stun them with his bright red hair and distract Taufik long enough to win

lol.. visual distractions can be called as faults. :D:D:crying:

Fully agree. When I was playing for Arizona Team, I funded myself to fly to Machacheuttes and San Diego for tourneys. No chance of winning, but just love of playing :D

that's what my dad's telling me. that when i get older, i'll use my job to fund my hobbies (i.e. badminton) :D:D:o

Now.. here's what we did to raise some money for our players..
http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-2415-0-0-0&sID=21077&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=5169764&sectionID=21077

"Ashaway Promotion Day - 8 March

Badminton North Harbour is pleased to announce a new sponsorship arrangement with ASHAWAY badminton products
The newly formed Future Champions Squad will be known as the ASHAWAY North Harbour Future Champions Squad
Ashaway International have just completed a visit to New Zealand where they spent time at North Harbour working with our junior players and discussing future promotional activities within our organisation.
Badminton North Harbour Chief Executive Julie Carrel says "it is great to have a company who want to work alongside us to promote their brand and the sport. This arrangement will be of significant benefit to the young up and coming players in this squad. We are also in discussions regarding other areas of our operations which could be of mutual benefit for both parties, it is certainly exciting times and I appreciate the confidence Ashaway has shown in our organisation by supporting us".
The Ashaway promotional day held at Badminton North Harbour on Saturday 8th March also raised $300 for both Rachel Hindley and Jessica Jonggowisastro towards their costs to represent New Zealand in the Uber Cup finals in Jakarta in May. "

Pictures.. http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-2415-0-0-0&sID=63364

Here's a little doccumentary thing on the Kiwi Players going to the Thomas/Uber Cup..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAFC68H0PXw

Hehe.. Henry Tam used to go to my school >_>

*this is a double post from this thead (http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51964&page=28)
But it's relevant to both threads so.. yeah.

..the video...I assume only Rachel & Jessica are getting help from the fund raising??..How many players are actually going and compete?..:confused:

One of the sound-bites there from the coach mentioned 7 boys and 7 girls will be sent if funding is sufficient, but drops down to 5 and 5 if not.

-dave

..overheard that sound-bites~thanks, Dave:)...But just want to confirm with our jhirata (Jim)..;)

..overheard that sound-bites~thanks, Dave:)...But just want to confirm with our jhirata (Jim)..;)
i actually have no idea how many of them are going.. but it's confirmed that jessica j and rachel hindley are going.. :confused::p

just wondering whose coming from nz team?.. is that ritchie and peter in the 2nd pic?...

just wondering whose coming from nz team?.. is that ritchie and peter in the 2nd pic?...
here is new zealand`s thomas cup players list..
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=41446&stc=1&d=1209395393

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=41452&stc=1&d=1209395418

Currently NZ Team is holidaying in Bali....

..planning to join them for a dinner or lunch??..;)

..planning to join them for a dinner or lunch??..;)
No..I am planning to be back today.......

I'm assuming the NZ team are in Jakarta for the Thomas & Uber Cup finals? If the players have funded themselves then that's a good effort and I'm sure they will get loads out of it. I sit and listen to the badminton things going on in NZ and my own Country of Australia, the funding is low in both countries, however they use it badly! Why is the funding not available? Look at the NZ players recently, some have been travelling all over to play events to qualify for the Olympics, are the players good enough for the Governing Body to fund this - I'm sure the players didn't and wouldn't fund themselves for this? Shouldn't they be using their own money to do that which would mean there may be money available to fund Teams to compete in something they have earned the right to be at and arguably gives greater experience than players going to International events in Europe, Asia or America and losing in the early rounds or qualifying?

Oh well rant over! Good luck to the Kiwis in Thomas & Uber Cup, I'll be supporting all the way.

I think BNZ only had funding for 1 team - & they weren't expecting to qualify for the mens'. there is probably someone more expert than me about this, but the funding over here goes on results in things like the previous Commonwealth Games & the Olympics as well as world rankings- & I guess our recent results haven't been that good. I really hate that an elitist sport like the Americas Cup gets so much funding but there you go.
But Good Luck NZ - go hard!

I think BNZ only had funding for 1 team - & they weren't expecting to qualify for the mens'. there is probably someone more expert than me about this, but the funding over here goes on results in things like the previous Commonwealth Games & the Olympics as well as world rankings- & I guess our recent results haven't been that good. I really hate that an elitist sport like the Americas Cup gets so much funding but there you go.
But Good Luck NZ - go hard!
will find out if I talk to John or craig again.....