Badminton has been spreading the gospel through the Fiji Na­tional Sports Commission pro­grammes in the community since the start of 2019 and recorded outstanding results.

A minor sport by Fiji standards, Oceania Development Officer, Kumon Tarawa wasted no time when taking up the Regional Development Manager role based in Fiji and jumped on the Commission wagon to spread the gos­pel of the sport to the remote parts of Fiji. Here are some of the highlights of Badminton’s achievements since the sport started working with the Com­mission.

Northern Division

The successful implementation of the Shuttle Time Programme by sports development officer North, Shavneel Prasad allowed kids to play and enjoy sports and at the same time explore the different types of skills and movements across sister sports like volleyball, ten­nis, squash and table tennis.

Badminton partnering with Get Into Rugby through Northern staff Saiasi Bose and Labasa based Fiji Rugby Un­ion officer Lemeki Savua saw the sport getting the same recognition as a more popular sport like rugby. People with disability in Labasa and Savusavu Fiji Paralympics and Special Olympics have organized a work group to start work research on PWD and encourage participation from communities. (Com­mittee make up- Ministry of Youth, Ministry of Education, Fiji Rugby, Fiji National Sports Commission, Youth NGO’s, PWD advocates, Social Welfare and teachers

Two badminton clubs have been set up in Vanua Levu, in Savusavu and Laba­sa. Shavneel Prasad is now moving into becoming Shuttle time tutor and is now licensed to train the trainer and sign­ing them off.

Four sets of badminton equipment was delivered by Fiji and Oceania Bad­minton to support development work in Savusavu and Labasa.

Western Division

Timoci Bakanivesi has used shuttle time for kids in communities and to special schools. He has created posi­tive influence with the Western Special Schools so equipment and technical as­sistance is planned for this group. Ex­pansion and extension to western rural areas is a big plus for Fiji Badminton. It has enabled Badminton to reach a lot of areas in the west due to resources avail­able in terms of time, human and vehi­cle. Shared vision between badminton and Commission has improved the sta­tus of badminton in the west.

Nadi, Lautoka, Ba have set up clubs, in total four clubs were revived, 15 shuttle time teachers trained and four sets of equipment delivered to support devel­opment work.

Bakanivesi has earned the shuttle time tutor license as well due to his delivery and commitment to shuttle time. He will now be able to train the trainer in badminton and give them full license.

Central Urban Division

A Train the Trainer programme or­ganised in Lami through SDO Central, Saula Koroi saw 10 Shuttle Time teach­ers accredited. Three of the teachers started teaching shuttle time badmin­ton at Lami High School in Suva.

Central Rural Division

Assistant sports development officer, Mitieli Savu has completed the shut­tle time training and is fully licensed, Elesi Ikanidrodro needs to complete few more units to receive accreditation to train trainers.

A set of equipment donated for devel­opment work.

The number of people playing bad­minton n Fiji has risen dramatically in the past year as a result of the sport’s partnership with the Commission. Fiji currently leads the Oceania Region with 20 accredited teachers and 2500 school children playing badminton since January 2019.

Commission Contributions

“Generally, FNSC has contributed to Fiji Badmintons number in the Pacific.

We are leading Oceania in numbers of teachers ( 20) accredited and kids participating since January 2019 is 2500,”Kumon said.

Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are ‘singles’ and ‘doubles.’

Badminton Information

The sport uses shuttlecock and rac­quet. The sport was first played in the 19th century. Its world governing body is the Badminton World Federation. Competitions may be run in singles or doubles. The sport has been played as an Olympic Sport since 1992, in Spain. Though small by Fiji standards, no way it is small by world standards.

While badminton competitions are held indoors, the sport can be gener­ally played outdoors for fun and skill development. A 13m x 6m space is all you need to set up a court. This makes the sport a top choice for a lot of our ru­ral communities that may have limited ground space to play the sport.

Plea to other Sports

FNSC acknowledges the work put in by badminton’s regional development manager Tarawa since the start of this year. The Commission appeals to other ‘minor’ sports to utilize the op­portunities provided by government to promote their sport to the remote parts of Fiji. Some NSO’s make little or no efforts at all to take their sports out when government is providing oppor­tunities at no cost at all to the national federations. Talk to us if you wish to take your sport out to the community. We will be more than happy to assist.

Feedback: oseab@fijisun.com.fj