This tread is meant to stimulate your thoughts on what you can do to give back/promote badminton in your area/town/city/country. I have read many treads about the lack of facility, the dismal state of badminton in your areas, the lack of players to play against, etc. These are all indication of what is wrong with badminton as a sport. But what can you do about improving this situation world wide. You can begin in your own back yard and if enough people do the same in their own back yard maybe the game can progress to a stage where it is more recognizable as a serious sports by all nation and I don't think the establish nation like Indonesia, China, Malaysia can rest on their laurel as well. Even places like Malaysia most of the population are not interested in badminton. What is the proportion of Indonesian population who does actually support this sport? I would guess only a small percentage of the overall population. Correct me if I am wrong. Let me start with my own back yard. Canberra is a very small city with a very small population. There is a distinct lack of young players in this city. Badminton in Canberra is only viable via migration of Asians to the city who already play badminton. We don't grow our own as most native Australian don't know about badminton. So in the long run we will either remain stagnant or our badminton population will shrink as our badminton population gets older. So what can I do to improve this situation. I can start by being active in promoting badminton to the younger population through coaching and supporting schools in running badminton classes. I have done these things but not enough. So what can you do.. For the younger crowds what can you do. Bring your friends, your family, your neighbors with you to play once awhile. Teach them the basics. Who knows one may actually stick. If we all do this one become a hundred.... So lets hear your thoughts and your actions....
Here's what I'm doing. I know what you mean. We have a dwindling number of players here too. Badminton is expensive. The shops over here sell shuttles at exorbitant prices. So, I'm going to ask some Taiwanese friends if they can ship some shuttles to where I live. We're going to breathe new life into our existing clubs by holding a monthly competition between clubs. At our club, we don't welcome beginners to play with us. We're going to change that and coach new newcomers to increase our numbers. In addition to that, I've started blogging about my badminton sessions. I'm happy to report, my writing has already sparked some interest among my friends. This is my blog http://zatlite.blogspot.com
Good on you zatliteblogspot. Its people like you who have the drive and the willingness to improve the image of the game that keeps it alive. Looking back at how I started playing badminton I can see how the younger generation don't care about keeping the game fresh and alive but that is ok its what being young is about. They just want to play. But there are no excuse for the older generation. I makes me want to cry sometimes in seeing the older generation just sit back and do nothing with what they have learned. In passing on their experience and passion onto the next generation. You don't have to be international star to coach or mentor a beginner. Anyone can do it. If you don't want to coach then get involve with your club and help organize. Get involved. Keep up the good work zatliteblogspot.
hmmm... quite some serious discussion here... i ll second tht badwally... it does pain no doubt... even i tried to coach my friends bout the basics ... no effect... they just want to hit the birdie... no court coverage etc... no seriousness... the best tht i do i guess is to tell people tht its not a sport for the girls... so lots o times tht means having a game or 2 with them.... in india cricket is religion... people play baddy in the alleys mostly... no game nothing... sad state...
Ah! That's where you went wrong. You should have been telling those boys it's a sport for girls and more would have join up
First Of All, I believe badminton is an excellent sport for men and women. Not getting too buff, yet healthy. Badminton itself is actually popular, being a backyard game. But, not too popular compared to other game worldwide (based on the television view). So, how do we PROMOTE badminton? The only one who is capable, is some people who is adored in badminton in each country, placed in any badminton organization in your country, close relative to any world-class player in your country. So, I f you're someone like that, or capable of doing such thing, do it now. example : This is The Thread about Susi Susanti Too bad, it's in Indonesian Language ~_~... But I believe we know how she promote badminton. She's the owner of Astec. And this is one of the most important comment from that thread. In fact, she's right. When Indonesia first won their olympic games, it's like who don't know Indonesia and their badminton. The fact is slowly the image of badminton in Indonesia is degrading. So that's why I said, If you're someone who's capable of promoting badminton. You should do it. Example of deeds : 1-Day visit to school by world-class player, explaining what they do, giving some training. Creating a badminton training center in neighborhood. Building up the image of badminton by commercial. For the players : Do the best for your own country and never give up. Participating in commercial adds (adored players). Of course, all of these won't work, if one country doesn't support badminton. It's pointless if we're just training people around, while our country is not working around their sports. I'm not saying giving up here. But promoting badminton, it's complicated . What I've trying to do? Currently trying to establish a sponsorship for my college team. (An Institute, full of geeks, striving to play badminton ~_~... With merely around 15 people who's capable of playing good) Help organizing the badminton group to a better place. (Our school's faved sport is Basketball). If we're all doing all we can, from bottom to top, It's enough to make people know badminton more. Anyway ~_~... Prize is also important to boost badminton sports. In that thread, you'll know how suffering Susi Susanti is.
I play badminton 4 times a week with different groups of players but I still don't think I have in any way helped to promote the game. To promote the game of badminton effectively, it must start at the roots when the players are young and you plant the seedings. The only way to do this is for all schools to have a compulsory PE class with badminton as one sport in which students cannot opt out.
I'd say that the surest way to kill interest in a game My school required every student to: 1. learn how to play hockey, football, cricket, basketball and volleyball 2. compete in at least one (athletics) track event on the Sports Day 3. take part in at least one (athletics) field event on the Sports Day 4. play at least two outdoor sports and one indoor sport every week The latter three 'choices' would be made by the PE teaching staff. Had it been left to me, I would have chosen volleyball, cricket, the 100m, the javelin and badminton. What I was assigned were hockey, football, the 400 m hurdles, the long jump and chess! I played hockey up to the national university level but I never grew to love the game. In football, I was such a failure that my house team was embarrassed to have me on the side. And if anyone could be counted upon to always end up last in the 400m hurdles and the long jump, it was me. (Fortunately, the whole school sucked at chess - so it didn't matter how well or terribly any one chap played.) In hindsight, it was the 'compulsory' nature of the curriculum that did it in. Had the students been asked to choose, I dare say we'd have made it to some level of better competence
Agree selecting a sport by someone else and making it compulsory is not the way to go. My son's school has a list of sports that the students need to select from and they are not limited to 1 sport per season either but in practice 2 is the max with school work load and such. The list of sports is quite extensive so they got a good choice of things to do. This is a better way to promote sports then your old school. I would also suggest an open day for each sports where children from the school are invited to watch and participate. I would also suggest the school invites one of the local badminton club to get some volunteers to play an exhibition match (preferably A graders) so the students can see what a competitive and action pack sport badminton can be in the real world apart from the back yard so to speak. Also coaching at schools need to be run by someone with badminton experience and not by a PE instructor who has not idea of how to coach badminton. They can either look for volunteers from parents who have played or are still playing competitively or get someone outside to come and coach. I had done coaching at my sons school and most of them are willing to learn. Another source is your local badminton club or association. In Canberra the ACT badminton association actively promotes schools to offer badminton to school children. We offer to send volunteers to coach the kids. They also organize competition and invites schools to send their kids to participate.
One sure way to promote Badminton: Introduce more new people to play it . This is what we can do: If each of us can bring in a new player to our sport, then the population of Badminton players would be doubled. .
In reply to.... The problem with Australia is not who you bring to the game but who is playing the game. You will find that in every one of the state the majority are Asian in origin. In order for badminton to be a major sport in Australia you will need to turn this round. Instead of majority being Asian in origin you need to have majority being Caucasian in origin, ie. people from the west. For people who has been fed on a diet or AFL, Rugby and Cricket this is a big ask. You will need major backing from the government and business. In order to get backing from these organization you will need to give them a reason to back you. In other words show us the money or at least show us why doing this will make us more money.... So what can be an monetary incentive/argument for these people to see the light... I have not solution to this question. You can argue perhaps that Australia is surrounded by Asian countries who do play badminton as a major sport. Maybe getting into this sport seriously may earn you prestige points from these major trading partners... Maybe too simplistic a solution but who knows.
I have taken some kids to the IBF Championships in Anaheim and they loved it. They all bought rackets, etc. within the following week. The trick is keeping them interested and involved in the sport.
lucky u mate... mine is moving out coz o my badminton... :crying::crying::crying::crying: .... hardly have any time for her coz o it... but then, who is complaining (except for her.. )
To promote Badminton: We need to welcome in new players . The biggest problem I find (in Melbourne, Australia) is that many skilled players do not wish to play with new comers to Badminton. They are only interested to have 'good' games amongst themselves. Therefore, new players feel that that they are not welcomed. .
Yes. That happens everywhere. That's why we should have coaching sessions for the new guys to bring them up to speed. I don't think it will be fun for anyone to drop a newbie into a group of guys who are there to just have fun in a 2hr session. They have to be there with the main purpose of teaching the new players the game. Maybe take a day during the week to teach your friends the game in a small group session. When they can hit properly and know how to move around the court then, they should be brought in to play with the better players may be the weaker players playing a mixed doubles kind of game. What I'm trying to get at is they have to be "up-graded" step by step. They do need input and coaching from the experienced players. New players should not be left to just hit around on their own. They'll not improve that way and they might even pick up bad habits.
Yes I agree with you that most badminton players will not want to play with beginners as like you say 2 hour limited session means you do not want to waste time with newbie. However I believe that you can make time to play at least one game with them per session and try and teach them the basics as you go along. It really depends on how your clubs are organize. In one of the clubs I play at this is the norm as a player has no say in who they play with and generally the board organizer will partner you with a newbie at least once per night and if you are unlucky or the organizer is piss off with you twice per night.:crying: This is not a bad idea as it forces better players to mix around and hopefully pass on some skills to the less fortunate. The only thing is not all clubs are organized this way. Most clubs I play with do not have organized boards. They play whoever they want to play with and this normally means people of the same standards. I think its just a matter of education, ie. let the players know it is for their own good to mix with lower grade players once awhile and help them improve. Its is good for the sport and it will ultimately be good for them as when these players improve they will have a wider pool of players to play against.
A simple thing you could do... Here's a simple thing we could all do the next time we go on court. Grab some newbie who want to be coach and spent 10 minuts or more to teach them the basics. Some newbie are afraid to approach senior players to ask for help. Don't wait for them to ask. Go and do... Also educate seniors to help out more by talking and encouring them to help the newbies out more by playing and coaching them on the spot. Simple but effective.
