Smash Hits - New Year Vibes
Dear Members,
Happy New Year - May 2018 be what you hope it will be!
The 2017 BA Award winners were just announced and it was pleasing to see an increase in nominations. Many hard-working, talented and deserving people have been recognised and we hope their commitment to another great year in 2018 continues.
I recently completed some goal setting with the Australian Sports Commission and it comes as no surprise that Badminton Australia's Participation Priorities remain the same - Members, Sporting Schools, Shuttle Time. Coaching, Technical Officials and Para-Badminton will also prominently feature in our operations.
With overall badminton membership at 15393, the focus now shifts to the retention of these members plus some sustainable growth. This effort will hopefully be assisted by the implementation of a national database in the coming weeks. State Associations have been asked to join in one of two training sessions offered by RevolutioniseSPORT. The first session will be held at 12-2pm AEDT on Wednesday 24th January. Details and calendar invitations are on their way to the participating Members. We are still awaiting to hear back from a couple of States on their availability for a second session, which could be held during an out-of-office hours period.
Sporting Schools continues to capture a growing demand for badminton, and all States/Territories continue to keep pace by ensuring many of the programs are met by assigning accredited coaches to schools. The workforce availability has also grown in the past year with more accredited coaches and private providers expressing their interest to deliver Sporting Schools programs. Badminton is considered to be in a strong position to deliver in secondary schools and we are targeting eligibility for delivery from Term 2 this year.
Shuttle Time has won many accolades in the past but one close to our hearts is the recent "Peace and Sport" Award (presented in Monaco in December) for the Shuttle Time Connect program. Shuttle Time Connect is a sporting, educational and cultural exchange between seven schools in Nepal and Australia using badminton to promote lasting connections between students, teachers and schools. Over 1200 students and 20 primary school teachers in Nepal and Australia are engaged in the program through classroom-to-classroom connections between the participating schools through the shared experience of Shuttle Time. Students and teachers also joined in an exchange visit to the Gold Coast in conjunction with the TOTAL BWF Sudirman Cup. The reverse visit to Kathmandu is expected to occur sometime in September this year!
In other news:
I look forward to working with all of you again this year. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly to provide feedback, recommendations, or have any questions/topics for discussion. The more we share, the better we shall be!
Regards, Marianne Loh Participation Manager Badminton Australia
