Smash Hits - Moving Mountains

Dear Members,

Heard of the saying "It takes time to move a mountain"? Well, it feels like we've moved a few in the past month.

In para-badminton, the 2018 national championships and training camp were hosted and delivered at high standards which caught the eye of the Badminton World Federation. Our development is featured by BWF as a news item. New national champions were crowned and new talents were identified over the February weekend. It is also pleasing news that a player in WA (Caitlin Dransfield) has been granted a scholarship with the WA Institute of Sport.

In Sporting Schools, badminton is now officially included in the secondary schools program. It would be great to add this messaging in your marketing and promotions. Upcoming key dates:

1. Term 2 Grants open Monday 5 March and close 23 March 2. Term 1 acquittals open 13 March (invoices to schools should be sent as soon as you can) 3. Term 1 booking system closes 16 March

Various representatives (see photo on right) from NSW, VIC, WA have also attended an Event Management workshop hosted by Badminton Oceania. Fiona Dunbar-Smith from NT also attended a separate World Academy of Sport course for Administration and Event Management in the past month. These are key staff and volunteers who will make a significant impact on the international events calendar in Australia this year and hopefully in the future.

Last but not least, we have been piloting resource improvements to Shuttle Time Teacher Courses in NSW and VIC. With support from the Badminton World Federation, we have introduced the Blended Course which allows participants to interactively learn through BWF's own online portal and attend a reduced practical session. Upon completion of an evaluation of user experiences, the BWF will make the portal accessible to the public. Completion of requirements at either the Full Day Course or Blended Learning Course gives participants the opportunity to accredit as Community Coaches under the new BA coaching framework. Read more on this Shuttle Time page.

I'm off to the Commonwealth Games in a couple of weeks but will still be available to respond to calls and enquiries during that time.

Regards, Marianne Loh Participation Manager Badminton Australia