The Jamaica Badminton Association (JBA) is on a drive to open up the sport to more Jamaicans with the introduction of a new version called air badminton.

Air badminton is played outdoors with heavier rackets and heavier, smaller, shuttle cocks that are designed to be resistant to outdoor conditions, including wind.

The JBA recently introduced air badminton to some of their players at a launch at the Mona Hockey Field as they look to get Jamaicans moving again.

The game can be played in both the traditional, singles and doubles format as well as the new triples. The triples version includes two males and a female making up a team, on a smaller court which facilitates longer rallies and extended games.

First vice-president of the JBA Terry Walker is excited about the new possibilities that will come from this version of the sport being introduced on the island.

“It excites me because it’s outdoors, especially with the COVID-19 situation, the ability to come outside of your home and sweat again, breathe and just move up and down. Air badminton is, for me, a great thing at this time, so I’m excited.

“The shuttle flies pretty much the same but you are able to control it more. The court is a little different, it promotes longer rallies, in other words, the continuation of play is a little longer.”

Walker disclosed that the arrival of more equipment on the island soon will allow the association to introduce the game to schools and elsewhere, in the near future.

“We have rackets and shuttles specifically for air badminton coming into the island any time now and it is our hope to pass these on to schools especially, hotels, anywhere that badminton can be played outdoors.”

Luckily for the JBA, they have a sponsor to help grow air badminton from day one.

“Nestle has been a supporter of badminton for the past two years and we are thankful that Milo, the food drink of champions, will certainly stay with us.”

Nestle representative Chelsea Thomas-Benoit, who was at the launch, explained the reason for her company coming on-board at the infancy of air badminton.

“Milo [Nestle] really believes in fuelling our champions. We partner with sports because Milo is that energy drink that gives you the power, it wakes you up, it gets you energised. So, we really like to align ourselves with sports, because we really believe in fostering that social, physical and mental development of our young athletes and our citizens at large,” she said.

Thomas-Benoit said her company was delighted to have a front row seat to the badminton evolution that was about to take place.

“We definitely want to see the evolution of sport. We are definitely excited to see a new version of it and we embrace it full force.”

Former Jamaican number one Katherine Wynter was one of the first players introduced to air badminton and gave her thoughts on the new version of the sport.

“The shuttle is heavier and the racket itself is much heavier. It will be pretty good at strengthening my wrists if I was supposed to play this more often. It would help me to get stronger because this racket is so heavy and it would also help me to keep the racket up, because it forces you to keep the racket up,” she explained.

Wynter is of the belief that air badminton is perfect as a recreational sport, which meets the first mandate of this new version.

“I think this is perfect for persons that just want an easy recreational sport that can be played anywhere that you have an open area. It’s really fun and you don’t have to be an expert at it, you just have to be willing to try something new and just be up for the challenge and have fun with it,” she said.