Yes, money is really the main issue. Now-a-day, if you ask a teenager in US or Europe to work hard so he/she will be the #1 in the world, or ask a teenager to work hard so he/she will be a millionarie at 30 years old. I believe 9 out of 10 will think being a millionaire is more motivated. Winning a badminton tournment will make 5000 dollars. But just show up in a pro tennis tournment will make the same amount also.
Sometimes I dont see the constant drive to make badminton a dominant sport in the world. Lets face it, its a wonderful sport but it's not for everyone. Whether is court availability or Training program availability. Badminton is not the most professional player or just regular player friendly sport other than a few countries out there. Instead of pushing the sport on everyone there needs to be alot of fundamentals that needs to be addressed. Not in any order: 1. school programs through out the country. 2. Pro leagues 3. comparable prize money as in Tennis or Golf. 4. private clubs for badminton through out instead of sharing courts with basketball or volleyball 2-3 times a week. 5. enough money for Pro athletes to exist. Finally, I know in USA there are lots of players want to be world class. That just isnt possible since there isnt enough world class coaching as well as world class opponent / training partners. To put it simply, no world class players = no professional players.. No pro's ... = no young player interested to put in time... well the cycle continues... To show that its gotten really bad is that almost all the pro's that are imported from asia in the USA are coaching. Most of them dont train nor compete except a ver few. That kinda shows the state of badminton in USA.
Yes I think both you and Vilau have a point and Vilau is most candid about it. "Money makes the world go round" but unfortunately for badminton, there is not much money in it to attract the best from Europe and US. The Chinese still find it attractive simply because their reward system back home is not much better. And this has to do with their country's status as a developing country which has not quite reached the high standards of the developed West. Vilau is right in pointing out that they are paying pittance compared to the prized monies professionals from other western sports are getting, like in tennis, basketball and soccer. And unless they increase these incentives considerably, I'm afraid badminton will continue to be a poor man's game. But there is a ray of hope. China's dominance in the sport is not entirely bad if it continues to do well economically, as it has been in the past decade or so and enjoying growth rates averaging double digit figures. Already many Chinese companies have grown very big (there are many millionnaires in China now) and are beginning to branch out internationally. These companies can serve as a fertile ground for sponsorships as they want their names and products or services to be well known both at home and abroad. When a country is able to sustain its economic growth for long periods, inevitably personal incomes will increase and so will be the standard of living. (We must not forget another big, up-and-coming country in Asia which can contribute to making badminton a big sport, ie India, which itself had produced great players in the past.) Prize monies for badminton will have to go up. Hopefully there will be spinoffs to other countries in the West. When badminton becomes popular, everybody wants to join the bandwagon - parents, schools, players, officials, sports administrators, the mass media, sports goods companies, rich sponsors, etc. It will then be up to the imagination and resourcefulness of the IBF and the national associations to conjure up programmes, attractions and incentives to engage the world. However, in the meanwhile, much work has to be done by the country's own national associations to bring the sport to a higher level. They will have "to make friends and influence people", so to speak. They need to gain support from the country's leaders and the commercial houses. And some countries have succeeded because their combined incentives are still attractive to the talented, countries like China, Malaysia and Indonesia. Even tiny Singapore has dangled a carrot of a million dollars for any citizen who can bring in an Olympic gold medal, half a million for a silver and $250,000 for a bronze. Now at a relatively young age of about 25 (say the average age for most Olympians), if you come in first in the Olympics, you can be a millionnaire. That's not bad, isn't it? And the chance to travel the world and make new friends. So, not all is lost. The national associations themselves can still do something if they work hard enough at it.
- 40 % of the world's wealth is in Europe, 30 % in N America. If Westerners want to see more Western champs, they can do sth positive abt it. England knows the score and is already investing in players and programs. Denmark is supplying the talent and training and is too small financially to make an impact. Other countries have to help them to make an impact. If all else fails then the world will just have to accept badminton as Asian dominated as in the IBF, just as what Loh has summarised.
Some recommendations i know im going to take flak for this by the badminton puriest, but another factor of badminton's lack of sponsorship is that it is not very TV friendly. One of Badminton playing strength is that its fast pace with few breaks, yet to get more sponsors it need more schedule breaks which is evident when the IBF tried the highly questionable 5x7 scoring systems. I don't know why they can't just have breaks at different intervals of the game (example) like how the 3rd game in a match switches sides at 8. And someone has to invent a new surface that doesn't need to be touched up every point, I swear watching one of Lin Dan matches was just half badminton, half some local wiping the mat...ridiculous Also I still don't know why its so national oriented, why is it always China vs Denmark, Korean vs Indonesia, Malaysia vs Singapore....why isn't just 2 players playing against each other. Somewhere along the way it going to have to lose these useless distinction and just make it a game of players not nations except for like Tomas/Uber cup and Olympics. Also lets get some less bias and different commentators that have experience pronouncing Asian style names, I sick of commentators always saying (nationality) player, they have names ahahhh...
I think the best way is to bring a friend or two to try badminton. If everyone can do that the badminton population could double by next year. Soon all the troubles with money and sponsors could be solved.
its all in the state of mind i think its all in the state of mind...if u think u can, u can...i actually see many talents from countries like new zealand USA australia and canada...but y i r they not making an impact in the world stage?they simply are not focused and determined enough...just look at it this way...1.3b ppl in china...how many of them can afford the best badminton racket nice comfortable well lit courts to play on...good medical treatments physio and all those stuffs?0.01% perhaps?(dnt talk bout national team sponsered by yonex)and in USA nz all these countries at least 80% can afford it...so who do u think has more advantage?but y r they still not good?they simply think tht they'll neva make it and therefore neva even try...so if they hv the advantage and they dnt try hard enough too bad we cnt do anything but they'll just hv to lose out on the good stuffs(badminton prize money are getting larger)lol and btw...the asians are starting to catch up on the other sports as well like swimming track and field and many others so if the westerners still think they're good and sit home and eat fish n chips everyday they shld start to get worried
one day when im rich and possible famous im going to put up big money for tournaments in Canada and try to pull in corporate sponsors. A good idea would be to pull in Asian sponsors into Canadian tournaments b/c it promotes foriegn trade while at the same time increasing awareness of badminton in canada. honestly though, no one goes to the media when there are tournaments in canada and probably the US. I totally agree though that as China becomes more developed badminton will rise to becoming a more prestigous sport. Hopefully this happens soon
