Badminton Association targeting prep schools
In a move to grow the sport of badminton in schools, president of the Jamaica Badminton Association (JBA) Sheldon Townsend said that his association is in the process of introducing the sport at the preparatory school level.
Townsend said that the only league being played in school is at the secondary level and prep schools should be targeted if the sport is to be promoted.
“That’s definitely one of our aims and objectives right now,” Townsend told the Jamaica Observer. “That will take a lot of coordination and we are trying to work with the schools as best as possible. It is more playing of the sport and efforts from other stakeholders, and we will definitely see more interest in the sport. Right now it is to really get badminton in front of people and hope they will fall in love with the sport and the school thing should be an asset to that.”
He says the sport will also grow if more coaches are involved.
“I think it will take a collaborative effort,” Townsend said. “It’s not just efforts from the association and the administration, but also from all players in the community and we are talking about coaches. I think that the coaches are the primary partners in getting more badminton to be played. A lot of these coaches not only coach schools, but they have their own personal clubs.”
After a three-year break, Townsend said that an improved high school league should return this year.
“We are also trying to kick-start our school league, and that has been absent for the past three years,” he said. “So that is the focus right now to coordinate with the schools and with the coaches to get back some semblance of the school league.
“That, however, is [proving] to be a little challenging as some of the schools right now have not started their sport programme – especially badminton, being one of the minor sports. So that will definitely take some coordination and, as such, may have a late start.
“The tournament usually starts in mid-end September, so depending on how far we get coordinating in that work space scenario, maybe that [tournament] will start a little later than usual. We just need to get stronger coordination with the schools, and at the same time, we are trying to encourage some schools that are not normally badminton-playing schools to get into the sport.”