Canadian National Team Players' Websites/Blogs

Discussion in 'Professional Players' started by towbsss, Jun 3, 2011.

  1. towbsss

    towbsss Regular Member

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    Well, they have a specific criteria they set out which is actually based on playing more of the domestic circuit. For my Olympic pursuits in XD, I had to travel around more so I couldn't play as many tournaments with my MD partner back in Canada. We are a pretty solid team and I'm sure we'd probably make 2nd Doubles if we had a trials or something, but since we don't and it's criteria based, we kind of get defaulted out. It's kind of what happened last Thomas Cup where Canada lost to Peru hahaha, I thought they learned their mistake from last time, as Adrian Liu and I couldn't go because of the criteria and it probably would have made a difference I think that time as well. We'll see how things go after our Nationals though. It hasn't been finalized, but they had a preliminary cut and have already named two Doubles teams (with the top one being Adrian and Derrick of course).
     
  2. kwun

    kwun Administrator

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    so there is no one trial tournament?

    that's how they do it in the US. which in a way is a fair method to select the team.
     
  3. towbsss

    towbsss Regular Member

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    Yeah, there isn't a trial tournament. In fact, I don't think there have been trial tournaments in Canada for a long time. Basically, they do it by... results in the best 2 domestic tournaments, plus the 2012 National Championships (in a week and a half), and the best result at any International tournament (International Challenge or higher). I have been only able to make 2 domestic tournaments but played only 1 with my regular partner because he had a work-related event that weekend. Since we can only play 1 tournament together, that pretty much handicaps us severely.

    After our National Championships, they will probably name the full team as they still need to select a couple of Singles players and any extras. Makes booking plane tickets quite difficult because it would be just a week before the tournament. Only the tournament hotel will be covered by Badminton Canada (honestly, it's great that they cover something! :) )
     
  4. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    That sounds like a convoluted system. This country is too big. And too isolated from the international badminton powers.
    Perhaps Badminton Canada should make their team selection by giving all contenders Tim Horton's coffee cups and ask you to "roll up the rim to win".
     
  5. towbsss

    towbsss Regular Member

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    As great as an idea that is, I'd have to vote against it as my Roll up The Rim luck is absolutely terrible :p
     
  6. Staiger1

    Staiger1 Regular Member

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    Maybe sending you guys to a military style badminton training camp would help with getting results. If you want results , you cant have it easy !
    If you look at the China national team , they all are so talented and yet they practice and train harder than anyone out there . This is the reason why they are able to breeze past and win so many tournaments. .......is it all dedication and hard work...........
     
  7. towbsss

    towbsss Regular Member

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    Dedication and hard work are easier when you don't have to foot your own bills and manage your own air plane tickets and traveling. They don't need to write blogs or upload videos, they don't have to worry about manager meetings and booking practice. They don't have financial worries either. However, they DO have high level sparring, World class coaching, and coaches at every major tournament. We didn't even have a coach behind us for all those tournaments, let alone a manager or a team physio.

    We have a lot of freedom though and we get a lot more choices and opportunities however. It's just a different system, so I guess we have to make do with what we have.

    Also, China is a terrible example to use when they are beating pretty much ALL the other countries. I do see your point though ;)
     
  8. j4ckie

    j4ckie Regular Member

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    Very good point. Although I think Staiger wasn't criticizing you, and no one here questions your dedication or work ethic :)
    A training camp like China does it before the Olympics (and before the 09 AE) would most definitely help you guys improve, but it would have to be organised and paid for by the government/badminton association, not much you can do about it yourself...

    Have you decided whether to play in the German Open yet? If you do, I might go there twice, to see you lot play for sure in the early rounds, although I hope to see you in the Semis as well ;)
     
  9. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Hi Toby,

    I have been following your results with interest but taken a back seat on the comments:)

    The subject of training camps can be a topic for another thread. I don't think many people realise the organisation and the logistics needed to go to another country, live there, survive there Money is a big concern - like who you get money from, where does it go once you get to that country (i.e. apart from living expenses), what you do if injured..etc.. Perhaps it can be topic for your blog.
     
  10. towbsss

    towbsss Regular Member

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    Ahhh, good idea, we saw a Swiss player who was training in Korea with us last week and he seemed to have some difficulties adjusting from what I saw. Major language barriers, food, and just culture in general were quite different for him. I will see how things go this week or if I have some time next week, as we will be duking it out in Calgary for our 2012 Canadian National Championships :D

    @j4ckie
    Yes, I think most of us will be going to German Open and All Englands. Grace and I will not be playing Swiss GPG, though some of the others might. Also, whether Staiger1 was criticizing or not, there is no offense taken. I really do wish we could have a training camp, but the trickiest part is learning how to do things right. Efficiency in the technique is something I feel we lack here in Canada. We can hit the same shots, but usually not to the same quality as higher level players. However, how do we learn how to hit those shots as effectively? Trial and error seems to be the only option, but still, that takes tremendous time. I've tried to learn defense properly and every time I feel I'm a little closer, it's still not the way Kim has been trying to teach me. I've learned it many ways and even when things really make sense, but again, instead of just doing it my way, I personally would rather try to learn it in, let's say a perfect way. Practice can make perfect, maybe, but what if you didn't know what perfect looked like? How can you tell then, that your shots are perfect, or even your practice is perfect?

    But perhaps it's this micro-managing that's keeping me behind :p But for the sake of Canadian badminton, I would like to at least learn it the correct way, so that even if I can't do it, maybe I can point someone else in the right direction in the future ;)
     
  11. Staiger1

    Staiger1 Regular Member

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    I was NOT trying to criticize you ; I am just a fan of yours wishing you to do well and get that chance in the Olympic this year. I follow you on your blog and I just want you guys to win couple of matches at SS level and get the required ranking for the Olympic.

    You , Toby is a very decent world-class player (often consistent even at the highest level) and it takes 2 to make a decent world pairing to challenge the best in the world.
     
  12. CanucksDynasty

    CanucksDynasty Regular Member

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    I wish there was a rich Canadian billionaire who love badminton so much that he provides funds for all the badminton hopefuls in Canada. Just found out that Steve Nash provides free gym memberships (to his chain of gyms) to badminton hopefuls. At least that's something.
     
  13. j4ckie

    j4ckie Regular Member

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    Haha, same goes for me and Germany - I always hope there's gonna be a guy willing to sponsor at least some professionals....it's embarrassing how little they get. Although I think it's still a bit better than Canada's funding situation....
     
  14. towbsss

    towbsss Regular Member

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    Haha, don't worry Staiger1, it's weird but even I think Badminton Canada needs constructive criticism now and then. Otherwise, things just don't get done. We can barely even do an annual National team camp because people have their own personal goals and BCAN doesn't want to force anything on anyone, so exceptions are made and plans are changed. I suppose it is one of their values in their mission statement with regards to equal opportunities for everyone so we're the type of country that if we bring a big team, we will find someway to play EVERYONE.In regards to rich business person sponsors, I think badminton needs some more buzz. Even that whole skirt rule fiasco did fairly well with getting more attention, though unfortunately not a very positive one. However, I felt they scrapped the rule too soon. People were coming up with ways to protest the rule and they weren't given the chance to perform. That could have been some good buzz right there. Otherwise, we need to find some way of making viral videos or doing something outrageous but not criminal :p Doing a personal blog isn't that tough, but throwing in media like pictures and videos of behind the scenes would be really cool if someone from each country could do the same. Maybe the BWF should force associations to have a media manager, that way the players can keep playing :)
     
  15. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    The skirt fiasco was "good buzz" for badminton?
    It would be a little sad if all we could imagine to attract attention to badminton in Canada was tawdry news stories? Should we be hoping that Stephan Wojcikiewicz gets caught robbing a bank or Anna Rice carries Michael Buble's love-child. That would attract attention, but probably not money.

    The only things certain to attract money to fringe sports are success and beauty. The only other hope is, as was mentioned, a millionaire fan.
    SO towbsss, continue to train to win. But don't forget to look good while doing it.:cool: And smile nicely at anyone in a Rolls-Royce.
     
  16. towbsss

    towbsss Regular Member

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    Positive buzz for the skirt rule, no. I would think that it was negative buzz for the BWF but if they didn't give up on the rule and forced players to protest, the players who protest may get some positive buzz. Stephan robbing a bank is nothing special unless he robbed it naked or something outrageous. Anna with the love-child would definitely be interesting. Now you have attracted a whole group of Michael Buble's fans. Any badminton player + celebrity combo would definitely help :) Heck, even if they shot a music video with some people playing in the background, that would be interesting. A lot of the popular celebrities nowadays are those who do pretty outrageous things. Look at your Lady Gaga's and LMFAO's (i.e. Sexy and I Know It). I wouldn't say they are great at music, but they sure know how to sell it. However, their success comes from multiple hits though, so anything criminal would be too short-lived, as you'll probably only get buzz once. Unfortunately, it's tough to put badminton with anything interesting or outrageous as nobody has really tried, but that just gives a lot more opportunity to the first ones to do so :)
     
  17. cobalt

    cobalt Moderator

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    Absolutely love this idea! I wonder why BCan is not being a bit more proactive in this regard. And in fact, even expand on it. Many associations that I know of, don't shy from pushing aggressively for financial support from their natural/fan base and corporates. Some even use call centres for this purpose! In concert with a media/PR person they might pull in some decent money... has this ever been given some thought by BCan, Toby?
     
  18. towbsss

    towbsss Regular Member

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    I think they are slowly trying to do things, but it's a little tough because they don't really push us very far. I know a few of us try to operate our own blogs, but there are a handful of players who won't even bother doing a personal profile for the Badminton Canada website. For example, you can see from a list of the current National Team players who has profiles and who doesn't. However, I can't say for sure that they didn't fill one in, in case Badminton Canada forgot to put up the profile. There are quite a few things missing on their website but I guess they are also understaffed as well. There have been odd requests about putting stuff from my blog or using my video footage up on their website which I am free to share, so long as they just link back to my web spaces, but I really don't know sometimes. I will be running for President at the Badminton Canada Player's Association next week, so hopefully I can help "promote" badminton a little better, as it is one of the Association's core values. Though my influence is still limited, I just hope I can get some good ideas going and keep the system alive so that future player's will have a better opportunity instead of complaining on their websites how there is no money. It's kinda interesting as it's a common theme in most of our blogs at one point or another :p
     
  19. Fidget

    Fidget Regular Member

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    Go for President of the CPA, towbsss! You have vision and drive: Light a fire under those are happy just to keep the status quo. Good luck! :)
     
  20. Staiger1

    Staiger1 Regular Member

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    It is such ashamed ; if you guys have the funding like in badminton England ....there would be a very good chance the Canadian team could become one of the top team , challenging for titles such as SS , premier and WC ..... If you look at the England national team , they are underachieving with the resources they have in place ........and they know that ; However we do have the infrastructure in place for the future and there are a few upcoming talents (training at the national badminton center) ; hopefully in 4-8 years time they can repeat /or better what Gail Emms , Nathan Robertson did in the Olympic
     

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