Smash Hits - Mindful May
Dear Members,
Some of you will have followed the Federal Budget announcements closely this month. Pleasingly for the sport sector, the Government announced that its 2018-19 Budget will continue to drive participation initiatives for the community; helping Australians to become more active and healthy. A copy of the ASC’s media release, which outlines additional funding, can be found via this link.
The Australian Sports Commission continues to review the investment framework to reflect the recent announcement. Once this process is complete, Badminton Australia will be informed, and will subsequently contact State/Territory Members to discuss 2018-19 Sport Participation Agreements.
Another update on national database - Many thanks to ACT Badminton for bringing their member data on board in the last week. It would be appreciated if all other Member States/Territories could provide an update on their progress and any challenges they are facing with importing into revolutioniseSPORT.
In Shuttle Time News, a course in NSW saw 12 people certify as Shuttle Time Teachers. Great to see para-badminton player Richard Engles participate in the course - he will utilise the skills to now deliver badminton activities to his audiences at school seminars visited by Wheelchair Sports NSW.
Reflecting on National Volunteer Week last week...Volunteers in sport make a huge difference - these could be students, parents, coaches, technical officials, administrators or any helpers! Sometimes it is challenging (tiresome?) to use the same people over and over again. To build on new capacity for the Crown Group Australian Badminton Open this year, we went beyond badminton for all roles! We first had doubts when a large number of university students and non-badminton members of the public applied to be part of the event...Offering opportunities to and building trust in new people was not easy, but the screening effort paid off, as all new and eager people contributed their skill sets and enthusiasm at the highest possible level...It was a privilege to team and learn with them!
State/Territory Members will have received Sporting Schools Term 1 surveys, showing that coach satisfaction and communication with schools has improved from 2017. Most of the participants in Term 1 were from WA (510). Badminton is currently tracking an impressive 78 school requests (17 of which are secondary bookings) across seven States/Territories in Term 2, with just over 23% choosing to deliver in-house as a teacher program.
As usual, please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any queries.
In other news:
* Welcome to Callum Dunk, SA Badminton Association's new Development Officer!
* Want to increase your membership numbers? Learn from tried and tested strategies from Goodsports.
* Badminton Geelong has been announced as the host of the Australian Para-Badminton International and Oceania Para-Badminton Championships from 20 - 29 November 2018.
Regards, Marianne Loh Participation Manager Badminton Australia
