Its a shame NSW badminton doesnt have a proper Interclub or central badminton Tournament on a weekly basis. Im a kiwi living in Sydney and Im use to playing at least 3 times a week back in Auckland where they have a good badminton structure in place. Im currently playing in the Greater Sydney Badminton Associations interclub tournament which has some very good A grade / Open standard players but its not consistant and on a frequent basis. If NSW had the same structure as we did back in Auckland it would really take off. There is a huge Asian infuence in Sydney who love to play badminton a bit like Auckland and Im sure they would support a proper interclub system with all the top players playing. I find it hard to firgure that a city the size of Sydney has no proper setup to harness all the good youngsters and really good ex A-grade / Open players who hardly play. I use to play at Moore Park where all the top players in NSW but this is a club night and not a proper setup. Whats everyones thoughts ?
Between SBA, GBAS and ACTBA there are plenty of tournaments around (maybe one each month or so) that you can take part in and keep yourself occupied throughout the year. I don't know about the structure of the organization be it Sydney or Auckland but as leftyskill mentioned, badminton isn't big here so it's hard to expect people to give up their personal time to make badminton a bigger and better sport in Australia. Which club do you play for Rotz?
have you seen this webpage, it has the names of badminton clubs in the sydney region http://www.sydneybadminton.org/clubpagenew.htm
I play for number#1 for Northern Beaches Badminton Association. We only have a small group playing over here but they are decent standard. 3 guys who would be top A Grade players in NSW. We are actually part of the GBAS which is run by some feral person called Carmen. The guys out in the North are keen but we struggle to make good games between the 3 or 4 of us. I was brought up in Auckland and came through the badminton system when I was young after being coached etc. Even the coaching is hard to find in NSW. NSW Badminton is a waste of badminton potential and Id like to see it get stronger to compete with Victoria.
Maybe you could play a more influential role if you got more involved in the organisational side of things? There's the open teams event coming up next month. Are you part of the team Rotz?
I forgot to mention that I think SBA actually caters better for the higher grades, especially for A-grade and Open-grade. There isn'tt much competition for those two within GBAS. You should try playing in the SBA tournaments if you want more of a challenge. There's one coming up end of this month at unsw! I want to play there!
Rotz, Maybe you should contact NSWBA, try their website for tournaments, coaches, and information on junior programs http://www.badmintonnsw.org.au/calendar.html Alternatively you are always welcome to Canberra for our tournaments, http://www.badmintonact.asn.au/index.html
Hi Rotz, Please refer to the following email for a veterans competiton if you are over 40. There are lots of badminton clubs in North-West Sydney areas (Epping, Castle Hill, Blacktown and Lidcombe) and many good players. Many people play three times a week. There are some coaches here, too. Badminton has become more popular in our areas, especially some junior training sessions have been established. Badminton has started growing in Sydney. Sam Sinnayah is the current president of Sydney Badminton Association. You contact him if required. Subject: re: Veterans competition on the 23/9/06 > To: sinnayah@hotmail.com; yiis@tpg.com.au; peter@citywestaccountants.com.au > From: kathy_fong@playersbiscuits.com.au > Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 09:22:41 +1000 > > > > > > Good morning everyone, > We are having a veterans competition on the 23/9. Can u all form a team. > We need 3 men and 2 ladies. This is NSWBA competition and will be held at > Homebush starting at 10 am. > > Kathy Fong > Players Biscuits > Please note my DIRECT PHONE AND FAX no. > Ph: (02) 8543 2638 > Fax (02) 8543 2605 > e-mail :kathy_fong@arnotts.com
