Building on the interest in badminton created by the exploits of Kevin Cordon and other players, the National Badminton Federation of Guatemala has started a project to popularise the sport in schools.
Starting this year, the federation’s coaches are promoting school badminton in 17 states of Guatemala. The project includes a School League in the capital which seeks to attract increasing numbers of schools and colleges year on year.
The primary mode of attracting students to badminton is through exhibitions at schools and colleges, giving as many children as possible an opportunity to try the sport. The project aims to unearth talented children through competitions between schools and colleges, with talented prospects eligible for a scholarship programme offered by the federation.
Given the enthusiastic response so far, with children happy to take part, the federation is confident that the sport will have wide resonance not only among school students, but also older participants as well.
Background
In 2023 the federation conducted Shuttle Time training for coaches, enabling them to have the personnel who could reach out to students and build talent at the national level. One of the main challenges for badminton in Guatemala is the lack of specific infrastructure such as halls. Existing indoor halls are used for various other sports.
The federation is thus looking at building human resources to grow badminton. With Kevin Cordon having qualified for his fifth Olympics, there is bound to be interest around badminton all over the country, and the federation wants to use this interest to scout for the next generation of talented youngsters.
