Badminton vies for center court at Special Olympics World Games

Badminton, the racket sport with a fan base of over 450 million people globally, is already the fastest growing sport in Special Olympics, with an increase of 14 percent just last year. This is thanks to the partnership between the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and the Special Olympics International (SOI) which started about four years ago.

Success

Following the success, around 150 badminton players – known as shuttlers – from 58 countries competed at the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019. The world badminton governing body also trained 10 athletes from the UAE as line judges for the ongoing Abu Dhabi 2019 and they are also slated to officiate a world event in Dubai next year.

MOU With aim to further increase the number of athletes and develop more Special Olympics talents, BWF and SOI inked another memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Monday. BWF President, Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen views this specific partnership in a different way compared to any other collaborations the federation has, as Special Olympics is about inclusion and diversity.

Unification

“Special Olympics is unification of whole aspect, a holistic approach to athletes. It’s not about on court only but also off court. It’s about understanding special athletes and the social intelligence of being more inclusive in the whole aspect of sports.

“That is why BWF wanted to be here because we see badminton as a sport which includes everybody. Badminton has the possibilities to be played anywhere, everywhere. Therefore, we have an interest also to be here and contribute through our sport into this enthusiasm,” he told AIPS after the signing ceremony at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).

High quality training opportunities

Through the new MOU, BWF is set to provide high quality training opportunities, and facilitate the delivery of a safe, fun and positive experience of badminton to Special Olympics personnel. SOI on their side, pledged to endorse BWF Shuttle Time and its Coach Education programmes as an example of best practice in supporting the growth and development of badminton as an inclusive sport for all.

Tactical support

For Special Olympics Senior Vice-President of Sport and Health Drew Boshell the partnership is more than signing a piece of paper, where it is aimed to help the movement in reaching the global population.

“It’s providing the highest level tactical support to the Special Olympics in gaining all the benefits of the relationship and the awareness of BWF provides for the moment. As a result, it will help us to grow our sport and have more athletes competing. We are going to work with 5 years strategy with BWF to set targets to further enhance our growth,” he said.

An hour before the signing ceremony, former world number one, Peter Gade of Denmark and former World Champion and Olympics silver medallist, Wang Yihan of China hosted a unified badminton experience, where they showcased their skills playing together with Special Olympics athletes.

SOURCE: AIPSMEDIA.COM