Humans of Shuttle Time: CARLOS M. MALDONADO GONZÁLEZ
Shuttle Time National Coordinator, Puerto Rico Badminton Federation
I grew up in a poor neighborhood in the Municipality of Vega Alta. Although with very limited resources, my parents’ main objective was our development through education. As part of the tasks to be carried out at home to help support the family, my father, apart from his work as a security guard, had a small company dedicated to the sale of pork, for which I cleaned the pens and fed the pigs. This did not imply me leaving studies, so they gave their best for me to be able to achieve my professional goals.
Early Experiences
I first saw badminton in a PE book in my fourth year of teaching, as I didn’t want to offer the same curriculum as other teachers and offer something different. So I was introduced to racket sports. From there the fascination for badminton was born. There is one word to describe badminton: ‘beauty’.
Developing Badminton
Although there was a federation on paper (1994), it was not until the arrival of Pedro Blach on the Island that the sport had a certain boom. I was recruited to enter the federation as a coach and then as Secretary General.
The most memorable moment in badminton has been leading the technical direction of the 2009 Junior Pan Am and working with David Carton, who was the referee in charge for the event. It was my first experience in charge of a large event, which laid the foundations to be able to carry out a similar role in the 2010 Central American Games in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Carton held my hand throughout the event and his advice was invaluable.
Developing Badminton in the Community
Initially I started in 1996 in the school environment by promoting the development of non-traditional sports, mainly racket sports, which were little known in the school environment. In 1998 we began to develop badminton outside of school in a community with limited resources, where we managed to develop talent for the youth national team. In 2001 I began to work as Secretary General of the federation.
Impact of Shuttle Time
When we started the project in 2011, being the first country in Latin America chosen to start the project, it was well received by the school community. However, with the socio-political changes in the country, which greatly affected the educational system, many teachers we recruited decide to leave the country in search of better offers in the United States, contributing to the decline of the program. We have carried out some dialogues with the Ministry of Education, which has allowed us to present the Shuttle Time project being approved for its implementation soon.
