How popular is Badminton in the USA?On USA WWW Sites you see almost only asian-looking players.Why there is no USA player in the world's bests list?Did you have an USA league?How do you contact with badminton?Have you only college players?Please write something about the scene in the USA.

thanx a lot

--olli

That's because they don't take pictures of the Caucasions playing very much...
I can't speak for the USA myself, however there are organizations, and federations, badminton leagues, and private & social clubs over here in North America.

However due to the lack of recognition, from the TV and big sponsors such as Nike, the sport seems to be not so popular.
Overshadowed by other sports such as Tennis.

There is however a younger generation in the schools now, taking more interests in the sport, which I am more than happy to see. Also there are the Universities, and colleges that take part in fairly big tournaments against each other.

It is a great sport, but until it gets recognized by the media in North America as a "true" sport, then we will always play in the shadows of Tennis, and Squash.

In North America there are 4 major sports that are always covered...
American Football, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball.

All of these sports you know about, as they are the only big news here.
Basically our TV coverage is based on, whether or not we have an athelete that is really good in the sport.
In those mentioned above... we have many... and so they are all covered, and very popular.

But because there isn't really a Badminton star here.. :(
The news will not talk about it much.

Hope this helps you to see what's happening here.

I concur with Kelvin - the situation in the U.S. is much the same as in Canada, but even worse. There is the USAB, which is supposed to be the national governing body of the sport, as well as several regional and state badminton associations, which mostly seem to put on low visibility tournaments. These associations do not do much, if at all, in the way of training programs or development of the sport.

I would think that a significant number of middle schools or high schools in the U.S. will play badminton in physical education classes for a week or two each year. Most colleges and universities probably have a few badminton classes in their phsyical education departments and many will also have a badminton club. In cities above 100,000 in population, there may be a local league or two that will likely play in evenings at a local school gymnasium and in some of the largest cities there may even be a very few badminton specific clubs. That's about it. I would think that there are probably only a half dozen or so training programs or camps in the country (compared with hundreds, if not thousands, for tennis instruction).

The problem is that there simply is not enough money out there from any source to entice North American athletes into devoting themselves to the rigorous trainging and playing necessary to become a world class badminton player. Without a program that will pay a reasonable living expenses stipend or enough tournament prize money to make a living, North Americans will not be able to turn out top class badminton players. Without a national hero, the sport will not attract media coverage, will not attract the most gifted atheletes to the sport and will continue to stagnate.

thanx for answering

how often do you play tournaments,about how many ppl play there?

--olli

To tell you the truth, depending on the tournament, and how much the prize is... also depends on how much it is advertised, and whether or not it would really affect people's rankings in Canada... I'd say on average 60+ people per tournament here in Canada... sometimes goes to as much as a few hundred participants.
That's exciting for us over here. :)

Other than that I'm thinking about seeing if I can't form a little club within my city, and some of the players on this message board.
That way I can get in contact with more people, as some people travel around to local clubs, and can help post news in the schools, and at the colleges, and Universities here. :)