I've just recently returned from a trip to Australia where I managed a visit to the Australian Institute of Sport. I was amazed, and a bit disappointed to find that Australia places very little emphasis on badminton. Does anyone know what the state of play is over there? Also, what sort of development and support programme do the aussies have?
badminton is not a very big sport in Australia Magpie. I don't think there are any programs at the AIS for badminton. Badminton mecca in Australia is really in Melbourne with Victoria usually the strongest state team so the national squad hang out there to my knowledge. It is suprising when you look over the Tasman to New Zealand who have really developed badminton over the last few years and have some very good junior programs. Sport in Australia is dominated by Cricket, Football (Aussie Rules or Rugby) and tennis in summer. With most funding going towards these sports. Unless the badminton profile is raised (winning medals at the Olympics and Commonwealth help but is unlikely) or participation numbers increase (members affiliated to Badminton Australia have been in decline over the last few years), then further funding is unlikely. With decreasing funding from members and the Govt, it is unlikely that Badminton in Oz will improve as funding for coaching and development programs is not there and prize money from competitions is dismal. Badminton in Australia needs promotion and a major sponsor if it is to develop further...either that or junior players will need to fund their own development. Hopefully we can have a player that will soon challenge the world's best but to do this, they will certainly have to look elsewhere for elite training and sponsorship...these programs just don't exist sufficiently in Oz.
Yes, badminton isn't that big - but AIS is not where Badminton programs are hand. Badminton Australia is located in Melborune and elte devleopment is handled by the national sports organisation with some training through the VIS. Yes the Victoria team has been the strongest state team, but not always dominating, and not all of the national squad are Victoria players. As to junior development - BA do have an extensive program, and have shown some results over the years. Yes New Zealand have devleoped badminton over the last few years, including spending quite a large amount of money on training and preparation - highlighted by the rankings of their top Mixed Doubles pair. But Australia have had some good results too - This year will see the first Australian team to make the Uber Cup finals in in Jakarta, Indonesia 7 - 16 May 2004, granted the New Zealand Men's team will be in the Thomas Cup.
Most players in Aussie is usually chinese from , Msia , Thailand , ABC , Indonesia. Not many australian play the game. Usually they play cricket , rugby , footy and basketball.
Sounds like you have a good case to try and increase your funding if Australia have made the Uber Cup. If you have some good junior players coming through, hopefully the Sports Commission will see that increased funding will benifit Oz in the long run. It's the age old catch twenty-two. You need the funding to get better, but the Sports Commission won't give you the funding till you get better.
Some of this is true - but not all rep players are from asian extration. For example most succesfully player argubly in Australia was Lisa Campbell, Commonwealth Gold Medalist (Ladies Singles) was a blonde, blue Aussie girl
Future of aussie badminton Well I agree Australia has no chance of ever producing a champion at badminton. For any sportsperson to succeed, you need thousands at the grass roots level. Take for instance the number of tennis players in Australia and we can have Hewitt and Philiposious as the top 2 guys at moment. After primary school, any athlete who has talent goes into the popular and well funded sports like AFL, cricket, tennis, swimming. Badminton is not promoted on television at all, the tournaments have no strong sponsorship and our national squad players are seemingly having to pay their own way around overseas to get any exposure to better players. Take for instance one of our top junior players Jeff Tho, he is like 16 and can beat most under 19s and 23s. However without overseas training, he will never progress much further than being a top player in Australia. I went to the Victoria Open this year, and apart from seeing maybe 20 players in the Open section, the numbers dwindled for each other grade. We were lucky to see maybe 4 girls playing A grade singles, and not many further down from that. The runnerup in A grade was not even a resident here, but an overseas student!! There is just not the participation levels and without that, how can any dedicated player improve? I also think the training for the juniors etc. is very below standard, knowing a lot of asian social players could easily beat our players who get training in the squads...:crying: Well I know I am barracking for China from now on. Aussie badminton is just a poor man's tennis scene.
I totally agree... except for the training part.. In western Australia there are the two top coaches in Australia.. Chang Jie Chen and Zhang Ai Ling... Trust me.. they will produce at least some top 20's in the World. Tiger Chen their son could be a challenger to the World.. But because of interior POLITICS in BAWA (badminton association of Western Australia) right now.. the future of young badminton players in Western Australia stands in the balance.. as Norman Anthony is gaining control of the Board and will use it to get rid of the best coaches in Australia Zhang Ai Ling and Chang Jie Chen... If anyone on the Badminton Australia board can help.. please do..
I don't know who you expect on BA board to help, I can only think of one person. Given that BA were ready to accept at one point a private team entry from Norm Anthony for the June Bevan (U17)! - even though this is against rules, but fortunately they have extended the dates for state associations to enter so WA can fix up this problem! Please note it is difficult for other associations or BA to be involved in another states internal politics, though some have tried. Though I don't doubt these two are porbably some of the best coaches in Australia, thats a sweeping statement saying that they are the best.
SSBA Regional Team lol.. sorry thanks.. i know how hard you guys are trying.. but these people are my coaches.. im allowed 2 be a bit bias arent i.. thanks anyway.. Can you please read the letter that was sent in to the BA board requesting a regional team. The reason the request was sent in so late from the SSBA was so late was that the BAWA BoM delayed till December from June the nomination for coach for the Under 17 State Team. Please read the letter that was sent in by Mrs B Clutterbuck and Mr L Blackburn.
Thanks I have read your PM, and answered it, unfortuantely I don't have access to this letter, as I am not on the BA board, I am on one of state/territory associations board.
I'll admit that badminton isn't that recognised, but Victoria has some pretty good juniors... even on an international level - based on what I saw at the Southern Cross
on International level??? Are you kidding? We SUCK. I mean, even the Kiwi u17s come here and absolutely kick our butts.
Why do we suck so much? Is it because a lack of talent (which I don't think is the reason) or the lack of financial support from the government and private sectors? newplayer
Based on personal experience, all of the above. Badminton is unpopular here, as most people still think it's a game you play in the backyard. Even now when i carry my racket in a case around uni, people comment on my squash gear. The lack of publicity despite the sport's huge social following means that there aren't many kids who go to sleep at night dreaming of playing in the Thomas or Uber Cups. On the matter of talent, it is hard to tell. Most juniors here don't start taking it seriously until around 15 or so. Compare this to when I was in u19, the Singaporean u15 team came over to Australia to play against us (and won). I have a friend from hong kong at uni at the moment who at 15 had to decide whether to concentrate on study or continue playing badminton professionally, which she had been doing for a number of years. at the time she already had an international ranking better than any Aussie bar Lenny. In my opinion, if you are going to take a sport seriously, then it should be at a much earlier age, especially where there is little support as is the case for badminton. This is not a hard and fast rule - Dean Lewis tells me he didn't even know what badminton was until he was 21 - but generally i think the focus must start much earlier. Another reason why we aren't very good is because a number of good juniors don't continue to play after about yr 11. I made it to 2nd in Vic in u19 when i was 16, then i had to stop playing because of injury. When I came back to badminton about 18 months later, Shane Grund was the only one still playing. Most kids stop to concentrate on yr 12, uni and getting a job. The support is getting better, now that players are given the opportunity to train overseas. However, Guy Gibson and Stuart Gomez moving across the country to live in Altona just so they have a chance of playing for Australia show that unless you're already in Melbourne/Ballarat/Bendigo, there's not much chance you're going to get very far in badminton. At grassroots there's not much help. I know a number of coaches do it primarily for the money that is paid directly by the players, and don't receive any benefits from any bodies. As a result, advanced coaching is quite expensive, and it is hard for parents to justify spending so much when their kid could get similar exercise and social interaction from playing cricket/footy. I believe the funding for top level players is not fantastic, as I know a couple of former national hopefuls who just couldn't balance the amount of training required with paying the rent. Basically there is not enough support or interest in badminton to fully develop the talent of our juniors, if the talent is there. In the few places where the system is in place to get the most out of the players, such as at the Badminton Academy at Kilsyth, there is still the general belief that unless the child has real potential, like Jeff Tho, Erica Pong or Boris Ma, the sport is still just something to keep the kid away from the tv, until work and study take its place. Anyway that's my 2 cents...
excuse me.. we australians in under 17s took all the titles from the new zealanders.. we won EVERY single title and victoria took out the team event.. !!!
Well the problem is not so much beating the Kiwis - their senior team can easily kick our butts, but the larger problem is no juniors progress past our region to go on like a Hewitt in tennis to attract more younger players to want to grow up and become like them. Malaysia is so close by, yet their high school teams could nearly beat our senior Australian team there is so serious a gap between skill levels!! Like what has already been written, there is just not enough interest in the community to support large sponsorship and attract enough players to get the cream of the top athletes in Australia into badminton to be able to represent us competively at an international level.
Yeah... very true... I think Badminton Australia are working on improving badminton in Australia... But without sponsorship we have no hope...
