Badminton Ireland 2012 AGM Report on Development 2011/2012 2012 Badminton Ireland Ltd.
Introduction Development activity in 2011/12 was seriously impacted by the enforced changes in strategy and structures with the resulting loss of our Development Officers. The enforced changes in personnel, the reduced income, and the general economic environment meant that we had to find new ways to organise our development activities. The development strategy is focused on the following core areas: Establish strong links with the Local Sports Partnerships (LSPs) to deliver our development programme throughout the country. At this point we have established linkages with 14 LSPs and the plan is to have working relationships with all of the LSPs by the end of 2013. The recent appointment of John Donovan to the new position of Participation Coordination Officer will help to ensure that we reach our targets for the coming year. John, who holds an Honours Degree in Marketing from Cork Institute of Technology and a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing Practice and Sales Management from NUI Galway, is a Level 2 badminton coach and, in addition to his professional career as a Marketing Manager in Italy, he has held the position Marketing and Liaison Officer for the CUS Bergamo Badminton Club. Establishing a new Schools programme to ensure that Badminton is ingrained in the school environment at an early age. Our new schools programme, which will be launched this year, is based on the BWF Shuttle- Time project. Shuttle- Time is an innovative training programme that aims to help teachers and coaches develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to plan and deliver safe and fun badminton lessons to children and youth using the BWF Shuttle Time Programme. 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 2
The strength of the programme lies in how it harnesses a range of web- based training resources to make learning effective and possible for teachers and coaches access anywhere in the world, said BWF Development Manager, Ian Wright. The main training resources are a Teachers Manual (comprising of 10 modules), 4 lesson- plan packages (comprising of 22 lesson plans), and 92 instructional video clips. Badminton Ireland has sent two of our coaches to train as trainers for the programme ahead of our coach- training programme. The shuttle- time programme is based on training teachers who, in turn, train the children. We have a two- pronged strategy for the programme in Ireland: 1) The Marino Institute provides a unique opportunity for us to work directly with and influence up to 60 new primary teachers per year in a captive environment - before they take up their posts as primary teachers around the country and 2) Working with the Local Sports Partnerships we will deliver the programme directly with the local schools throughout the country. The programme will be delivered on a phased basis, beginning this year. Establishing a new, countrywide programme, focused on developing skills from the very basic level to an advanced level. The Teicnic skills programme was launched in April. The programme is based on a system similar to Karate s belt programme. In the Teicnic programme players progress from a basic level (white T- shirt) through to advanced level (black T- shirt). A standard programme syllabus ensures that correct techniques are taught consistently (regardless of location), provides a solid foundation for players of all levels and abilities, maximises the fun factor and will help more players progress to the academy or squad system. 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 3
Already, 9 very successful sessions, across all 4 Branches, with more than 180 players participating, have been delivered in the past 8 weeks. A further 16 sessions are planned in 2012 covering all Branches and targeting over 500 players. Establishing new Club Programmes a new programme to support all of the clubs throughout the country. This year we introduced a new member subsidy of 10 to help clubs to encourage new members to join and, based on the feedback to date, the subsidy has been successful. In addition we re- launched the New Club and Juvenile club Starter Pack initiatives. Developing new clubs, and encouraging existing clubs to develop their Juvenile clubs is key for the future of our sport. These programmes offered the following incentives: Developing a new club including plan development, Workshops etc. Resources including manuals, handbooks, DVDs Subsidised Introduction to Badminton Coaching Course Subsidised (50%) Level 1 Coaching Course Collaborative support to build positive relationships with Local Sports Partnerships Code of Ethics Workshop Sourcing of equipment However, despite the renewed effort the response has been disappointing. Because of this we are planning to have a major overhaul of our approach to club development. For this coming season we are planning to launch a major new initiative the Badminton Ireland ClubMark and we would really welcome your thoughts on the programme, which we ve outlined below. Unlike the previous programmes, ClubMark is designed to significantly reward clubs as they develop in each of the following key areas: Membership Increasing membership at Adult and Juvenile levels 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 4
Juvenile club have a Juvenile section in the Club Coaching have qualified coaches in the Club Teicnic Badminton have players graded using the Teicnic Badminton system Child Safety have a trained Children s Officer in the Club Connectivity to BI Website have inter- website links & for match results Technical Official have qualified umpires, line judges or referees in the Club The levels and quantities of each of these metrics will be grouped together to provide four ClubMark levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. The club rewards will in turn be based on the ClubMark level achieved. At this stage we envisage that the benefits will include rewards similar to those on offer for the winners at our Awards Night see below! Parabadminton and Disabilities Badminton. This year there are two new Parabadminton clubs in Ireland one in Leinster and a second club in Ulster. This year we have worked closely with Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) and hope to promote the game further over the next 12 months. Along with BWF and the 4- Nations Disabled Badminton committee we are looking at having a number of suitably qualified Irish volunteers passed as BWF qualified classifiers. Membership Services To ensure that we continue to improve our support for our members, we recently appointment Damien Molloy to the full- time position of Membership Services Coordinator. Damien, a Level 1 Badminton Coach, holds a Masters Degree in 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 5
Tourism Management. He brings a wealth of experience in management, marketing and membership administration to this new role. Damien is responsible for: Membership applications Managing the membership database Promoting events and activities Processing of financial transactions for BI Providing administrative and logistical support to the other groups within BI Communications with our members Badminton Ireland Partner Programme Partner Over the last six months we have created a new Partner Programme designed to provide additional benefits for our members. To date we have agreements with Aer Lingus, Hilton Hotels and Yonex. Aer Lingus will provide a special website for Badminton Ireland members where, using their BI membership number, members can take advantage of flight discounts and flexible options for group bookings. Hilton Hotels will offer discounted rates for accommodation in any of their hotels throughout Ireland. Awards Night All three partners have provided significant, and much appreciated sponsorship for our Awards Night. The awards include: 2 free flights to Europe, A weekend in the Conrad Hotel in Dublin and in the Hilton Belfast, Shuttles, clothing and racquets from Yonex and In addition, Badminton Ireland is donating: A free Coaching session for a club with Lee Jae Bok and 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 6
A Two- day training session for eight players in the Marino Institute with National Coach, Daniel Magee; this offer includes accommodation in the Airport Hilton. Grading Player Grading. Despite very considerable goodwill and effort by many people throughout the country it wasn t possible to create a unified grading system across the four Branches. We came close and we did make significant progress for grades 1-4 but that s not good enough. This was a major target for the 2011/12 season and while we couldn t make it happen, we learned a lot during the process and the Board is convinced that we can achieve the common grading in time for the coming season. This is a very important goal for badminton in Ireland; it lays the foundation to develop not only the inter- counties and the inter- league competitions to become major national events, but also to develop an all- Ireland circuit for the majority of players who are outside the elite and senior levels. Live Video Streaming We carried out a very successful trial of live internet video streaming of the Leagues & Cups Finals in Baldoyle. The interest in this venture, evidenced by the spectators in the hall, and by the significant increase in the hits on the BI website, means that we will look to expand these facilities in the coming season and make them available in other venues. Members Monthly Email Since July we have had monthly emails to all of the affiliated clubs. While at one level this seems like a great way of ensuring regular communication, based on the response (or rather the lack thereof) we re not so sure. We would welcome feedback on these monthly mailings and thoughts / suggestions for alternative communication channels e.g. Twitter and Facebook which we also use extensively to promote the game. 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 7
Events This season there were 14 directly run BI events with more than 1,000 players taking part. This year the Irish Open was held in Lisburn as Ulster Branch celebrated its Centenary year. The event was very successful and included live streaming of the centre court matches on the internet. This season information on the events was provided in real time via the Badminton Ireland website (http://www.badmintonireland.com/) where you can view the reports of the events over this last season. Seniors (Vets) Badminton This season we set up a new committee to organise and run Senior s (Vets) badminton. The Board nominated Breda Connolly, President of Badminton Ireland), and each Branch was asked to nominate a representative. The Branch representatives are: Leinster - Seamus Halpin Ulster - William Martin Connacht - Adrian Furey Munster - Liam Chadwick 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 8
This year the European Senior Veterans competition is being held in Sofia, Bulgaria from 17-22 September. Applications are now invited by players interested in putting their names forward for selection for the event - email your applications to info@badmintonireland.com and also you should inform your Branch Rep. The deadline for written applications to reach Badminton Ireland is 30th May 2012 If there are more than the designated allowance of players entered in each age group selection may be required. (All regulations for the event can be found at http://events.badmintoneurope.com/cms/?cmsid=340&pageid=7009). Umpires and Officials In response to requests from event organisers around the country, this season we provided an additional 90% funding to ensure that the umpires and officials could participate in many more events. Organisers and players have told us that the presence of the umpires added significantly to the enjoyment and professionalism of these events. This positive feedback from - both players and organisers - has proven that this was a good investment. This last season Cormac Breslin took the chair for the Mens Doubles Final at the World Championships in London. It is a great honour for Irish Badminton to have one of our own officiate at what the BWF considers the most prestigious tournament in Badminton. Competing as individuals in five events, Men s singles, Women s singles, Men s and Women s doubles and Mixed doubles, success conveys the title of World Champion on the winner(s). 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 9
First held in 1977 and originally being held every two years the World Championships has since 2003 been held every year except Olympic years, where the winner of the Olympic title is considered the world champion in all but name. Mentioning the Olympics, this year see s our other BWF certified umpire (Carol Ui Fhearghail), and Irish Badminton honoured as she officiates at the London 2012 Olympics. Seen here at the World Championships in Los Angeles, we wish Carol the very best in London. As part of the programme for Continuous Professional Development (CPD), for the coming season we plan to run the Badminton Europe Training for technical officials which will be timed to coincide with the Irish Open. Also, funding has also been made available for Umpire Manuals, umpire courses and expenses for International events to help our officials to reach higher certification levels. 2012 Badminton Ireland AGM 2012 Report on Development Page 10