Badminton Australia

Badminton Australia (BA) is the top governing body for badminton in Australia [ [http://www.acn.net.au/wsd/2352.htm Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal website details] ] . It is committed to promoting the awareness and development of badminton within Australia and is also responsible for the management of international badminton relations + events. Junior events such as the June Bevan Teams Event or CP Maddern Trophy with their respective Australasian Championships, along with the Australian Closed Championships are also organised and run by Badminton Australia.

History

Badminton has been existent in Australia since the early 1900s [ [http://www.sportsknowhow.com/badminton/rules/badminton-australia.html Brief history of Australian badminton] ] , especially within regions in Victoria. The official Australian Badminton Association was formed in 1932, and shortly after, Australia became the 11th member of the International Badminton Federation. In 1936, it founded the development of the Oceania Badminton Confederation alongside New Zealand [ [http://www.badminton.org.au/index.php?id=37 History from Badminton Australia] ] . This is now known as Badminton Oceania.

The current national office for BA resides in Melbourne, Victoria.

Achievements

Australia is yet to be a competitive nation in the field of badminton, in the context of current Asian and European/Scandinavian dominance [ [http://www.sportsknowhow.com/badminton/history/badminton-history-2.shtml Scroll down to Asia dominates the sport] ] . Its best achievement to this date has been at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where Anna Lao reached the quarterfinals in the ladies singles. Lao also partnered Rhonda Cator to reach the quarterfinals of the women's doubles event as well.

When commenting on Australian players at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, BA's Chief Executive Paul Brettell has stated that 'A bad draw will see [the Australian players] out after their first game' [ [http://au.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news/article/-/4776107/badminton-hopes-rely-lucky-draw Badminton hopes rely on lucky draw] ] and that 'Australia's greatest achievement is just qualifying for the event'. These statements reflect the current status of badminton within Australia.

Further, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, badminton was one of just 2 Australian sports (the other being Rugby Sevens) not to win a medal at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/badminton/hallam-breaks-jinx-to-go-one-better/2006/03/26/1143330933355.html SMH: Hallam breaks jinx to go one better] ]

Recent performances at the 2008 Olympics have reinforced this viewpoint, with all Australians knocked out of their respective first matches [ [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/BD.shtml Badminton Results at the 2008 Beijing Olympics] ] .

Problems With Badminton Growth

The main problems with current growth or improvement in Australian badminton are due to many factors. Of particular importance is the relative popularity of the sport in comparison to other sports in Australia. [ [http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-15012.html Is badminton played in Oz?!] ] Badminton is arguably one of the least recognised sports in Australia when juxtaposed with popular sports such as Rugby League, AFL, Rugby Union, Cricket, Soccer, Swimming and Tennis. Another major problem, which partly stems from the reason above, is the lack of government support and funding for players at grassroot and/or professional levels.

Another obvious factor is the sheer size of the Australian mainland itself, epitomizing the difficulty of interstate/national competitions due to distant-cost issues. For a growing sport like badminton, such a factor represents a significant logistical problem for BA where all state and territories are separated by considerable distances, a non-existent issue for smaller countries. This also contributes to a declining awareness of the sport in relatively remote regions of Australia. Badminton participation is also particularly low in the Northern Territory [ [http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2000/ascpub/pdf/badminton%202.pdf Ausport Pdf File] ] , reinforcing the above facts.

Expenses involved with badminton are also another major factor that is even more pronounced in a country such as Australia, where there are few vendors that sell badminton related products + services, driving up prices due to little competition. Court hire, racket stringing and new shuttlecocks are often definitive costs that are usually unavoidable.

By contrast, there is no such thing as court hire for sports like rugby league where one can practise in a park or field at no cost. Combined with purchasing rackets, shoes, racket grips, coaching fees amongst other miscellany, badminton is in effect an expensive sport [ [http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54528 'Would u consider badminton an expensive sport?'] ] . Having said this, other racket sports such as tennis have their associated costs as well, but the popularity of tennis is significant enough to overcome such financial factors (eg. major sponsoring and support for talented players).

Despite these factors, Australia certainly has the potential to excel in any sport, even badminton, given the right circumstances. This is due to the competitive sporting culture of Australia witnessed in a wide variety of sportsFact|date=July 2008. (See Sport in australia) There is much work that needs to be done for BA to make this a possibility.

Comparisons

It is interesting to note that rivals New Zealand have produced bronze medallists Daniel Shirley and Sara Petersen in the mixed doubles event at the 2005 IBF World Championships [ [http://www.usabadminton.org/2005WBC.html USA Badminton Website: 2005 World Championships Info] ] . This is a rough indicator that badminton in New Zealand is currently of a much higher standard than Australia, and also mirrors the growth of the sport there as well.

A similar achievement from BA would be required to boost the popularity of the sport in Australia Fact|date=July 2008.

Solutions Undertaken

References

ee also

Badminton New Zealand

Badminton Oceania

Badminton

External links

* [http://www.badminton.org.au/ Badminton Australia's Official Website]