Problems

Fundamental Problem with UK Badminton

Details

Declining number of players

Almost every club in the country will be able to relate to the declining level of badminton within their club and local area. This problem is more than a local problem, as can be seen from data provided by the BA of E itself:

Over the last ten years membership of the BA of E has more than halved from over 90,000 at the start of the nineties to just over 40,000 today, and over the 4-year period from 1996/97 to 2000/01, membership dropped by 17% (from 53,100).¹

The decline in membership and can be attributed in part to factors ranging from an ageing population to the increased number of leisure activities available to today's youth, including computer games, TV and the internet.

However, these factors clearly cannot by themselves explain the recent halving of the membership level of the BA of E. Instead, the declining membership can be seen as a major symptom of the further problems outlined below.

It is telling that one of the BA of E's objectives set out in its report 'Developing Badminton in England 1998 - 2001 A Nation's Sport' was 'To stop the decline in membership and then increase the affiliated membership from its level of 54,000 in 1997 to over 70,000 in 2001'¹. Instead membership fell to just 44,000!

Solution

Ageing badminton population

THE AVERAGE AGE OF PLAYERS AFFILIATED TO THE BA OF E IS 49!!!

Badminton in England is literally dying out!

The ageing population and low level of grass-roots entrants means that the average age of clubs is steadily increasing. Young players would naturally be reluctant to join clubs where the average age of members is 30/40 years older than them.

The ageing effect of badminton in the UK is not only felt amongst the players, but is also entrenched in the sport's administration - the average age of the BA of E directors is almost 60, with only 2 below 55 (one of them barely, the other being Stephen Baddley, the Association's Chief Executive), and one aged 71⁵.

While aiming to represent the interests of badminton players in the country, the directors of the B of E hardly seem representative of the playing population. Being composed almost entirely of ageing middle-aged men (with only two women in the 11), can the directors really state that, as a whole, they represent the diverse age, racial background and sex divide of all badminton players in the country?

This compares to an average age of 55 for the SBU's directors, with almost half under 55 (12 of the 28 total, youngest 36, oldest 77) and 7 women (25%).¹³

The BA of E's 'Equal Opportunities Policy'³ states that 'The Association may take positive action or introduce special measures for any group which is currently under-represented in its membership representative bodies or workforce.' Given that almost every group in the population is under-represented in the Association's management, apart from ageing middle-aged men, it is suggested that the BA of E considers taking appropriate action in line with its own policy to remedy this imbalance.

Without young blood, new ideas and a representative management, badminton in the UK is slowly withering away.

The current conservative administration appears to be stuck to following the aged status quo, and cannot seem to see the resulting degradation of the sport.

Solution

LACK OF MOTIVATING ELEMENT

People join badminton clubs for any number of reasons, ranging from get-fit to social to competitive reasons. When junior members join clubs, for example, boredom can set in very quickly unless:

• they are provided with a supportive environment, complete with training
• they are regularly challenged
• they can meet other players of their own age
• there is an even division (as far as possible) between boys and girls

In a 24-hour fast-paced consumer-oriented world, children are all too often not receiving the stimulation they require to maintain their interest in the sport in the long-term.

For competitive adults / older players, the lack of a goal to aim for often raises the question of 'what is there to play for?'

Solution

Very little grass-root interest

Without grass-root players, top-level badminton within the UK will inevitably suffer, as a result of a lack of raw talent entering the top echelons of the sport.

Unless the raw talent is there, however much money and training is thrown at our top players, this will not be enough to produce world champions. As stated by Martin Dew-Hattens, the former England International, writing in a recent article in Badminton magazine, 'it is the base of the pyramid which needs the most support...⁴.We are simply not picking up enough raw material.'

Solution

Single-tier tournaments only cater for top-level players

For competitive individuals who are keen to improve, one important playing resource is tournaments, which allows them to both challenge themselves by playing new people, and meet new faces.

However, tournaments in the UK only have one level of play for adults, and non-county players all to often come up against seeded county players in the first round. They are thus humiliated by 15-0 losses, and walk away from the tournament having learned nothing, questioning their reason for having wasting their time and money in the first place. Their keenness for the sport is turned in this way into a completely negative experience which they will not wish to repeat.

Solution

Almost no singles played

One whole element of badminton is almost completely ignored by most clubs and local leagues - singles. Singles is the glamorous side of any racket sport (think Wimbledon).

For beginners, singles is much easier to learn and understand tactically than doubles, and should be used as a way of attracting young players to the sport, rather than shunning it to the position of the odd game after the club-nights.

Solution

Elite & exclusive county system / BA of E

In order to break into a county squad, players must be at least as good as the county players who have been trained since a young age. This way, if an untrained player with world-champion qualities tried to join a county team for training and match experience, they would be turned away simply due to a lack of training when they were younger.

If this player joined a normal club they would receive no proper training and although they might end up playing in local league competitions, their innate talent would be wasted.

Counties appear to rely on the hope that promising players will appear on their doorstep or be pushed there by keen parents, without getting involved themselves in the dirty business of nurturing grass-root talent.

Unless players receive training from a young age, there is almost no chance of them breaking into the county system. Every player should have the opportunity to reach the top-levels of the sport if they have the talent and desire, and not just the select few.

This is a fundamental problem that must be addressed by the BA of E.

BA OF E
The BA of E itself appears to be fundamentally elite due to its inherent organisational nature: the Association is set up as a limited company (limited by guarantee), effectively controlled by county associations, which act as its shareholders / owners. Although other organisations have a stake in the BA of E, such as the English Schools Badminton Association and the Badminton Umpires Association of England, this interest is very small, comprising a total of approximately just 3 of the 43 estimated total members.

As stated above, county associations are inherently elite since they are biassed towards skimming off / supporting the very strongest players in any region. As such the BA of E, being controlled itself by these elite county associations, faces the risk of being criticised of fundamental institutional elitism.

The Badminton Association of England is completely unaccountable to its playing population, and as such is completely free to set its own adgenda and act in a self-serving fashion, should it so desire. The BA of E should represent every badminton player in England, and not just the elite county associations which control it.

FUNDING
Another form of elitism experienced by the sport of badminton within the UK is the fashion in which top-level players receive high levels of support from the BA of E, while a negligible amount is received by the average club player.

This can be seen from examining some of the BA of E's statistics; over the last five years, total income of the association has more than doubled1 (from £1.4m in 1996/97 to £3.4m in 2000/01) while membership levels have fallen by 17% over the same period, and more than halved over the last ten years (see above)! What is the BA of E doing with all that extra money that could cause such a dramatic decline in the level of players (assuming that it is not paying off players to stop playing)?!?

The increase in grant income has decreased the Association's dependancy on income from members, which in turn removes its incentive to increase member numbers.

LOSSES
Despite such a large increase in income, over two of the last three years the BA of E has suffered consecutive operating losses in its financial accounts². These losses have been caused by an excess of 'administrative expenses' over income, and does not include any element of the cost of the £3.5m National Badminton Centre, apart from an element of grant received towards it and depreciation costs of the NBC.

Furthermore, and possibly more serioulsy, the BA of E appears to have experienced cashflow problems over two of the last three years, although these appear to have been recently brought under control; in 1999/00 the Association suffered a decrease in cash of £554k (largely due to construction of the National Badminton Centre), and a subsequent decrease in cash of £199k in 2000/01 (partly due to the NBC).

With its recent losses and cashflow problems, its ongoing decline in membership numbers, apparent dependency on grant money, ageing directors (see below) and lack of accountability, the BA of E appears to be facing a number of severe problems which it has got to resolve both for its own survival and that of badminton in this country.

Solution

Elitism within clubs

Many clubs can be viewed as elitist, either by potential members or existing club members.

Such a perception can turn away potential members, or within a club prevent club players from playing better / league players. Both can be very damaging to the sport.

Solution

Little training available

Very few clubs offer training of any form to members.

This is often due to the fact that social players are often happy playing at their current level, so that there is no demand for training in most clubs, even if they compete in local leagues. The result of this is that, even if members / juniors want to improve their game, the facility is simply not available in their club.

Solution

Countless players not affiliated to the BA of E

In England, there are many regular / club badminton players who are not affiliated to the BA of E.

What benefits do badminton players receive from the BA of E that would attract them to joining? The two main things are insurance against injury during a match (which non-members wouldn't be playing in anyway), and an annual subscription to the 'badminton' magazine. The badminton magazine is a very welcome information resource introduced in 1999.

Has this increased the number of affiliated players?

Solution

Poor image of badminton amongst general population

The sport of badminton has a poor image amongst the general population, due largely to its low profile, and the factors listed above.

Solution

No TV coverage of badminton

Despite hosting prestigious international events such as the All England badminton tournament, television coverage in the UK is almost non-existent.

Solution

High-profile, high-risk strategy adopted by BA of E

The BA of E appears to have put television coverage at the top of its priorities in the hope of attracting new members. On the basis that TV coverage will only come about by way of international badminton success, the Association is putting a large proportion of its resources into the attempt to produce a champion (see Funding above).

The sport currently has enough difficulty keeping hold of current dedicated players, let alone anyone who might eventually be attracted to the sport simply by the bright lights and cameras. It must be acknowledged that such players are most likely to lose interest soonest. This is a high-risk strategy, with the BA of E putting the majority of its money into the elite players, at the cost of its faithful members.

In the eventuality that badminton is finally televised, and membership actually does increase, will the resources be available to cater for the new players (i.e. to support, motivate and retain their interest)? Or will thy just come up against all the other problems listed above (which will probably only have got worse by that stage), simply to leave the sport when they lose interest? Unless the fundamental problems are addressed, they will not go away and will just be encountered in triplicate by all the 'droves' of new converts that the BA of E must be hoping to introduce with its uncertain strategy.

If the BA of E is trying to increase membership levels, the very strategy of televisation of the sport and pumping huge amounts of money into the elite players is questionable. Ten years ago membership levels were more than double today's even though there was no more badminton on TV than today. Is there any base at all for the assumption that increased televisation will increase numbers?

This raises fundamental questions over the BA of E's aims and strategies, and again highlights its lack of accountability to its playing members and its seemingly self-serving operations (see Elite & exclusive county system / BA of E).

Another approach of the BA of E is to take badminton to schools via its BISI (badminton into schools initiative). This appears to be a sound strategy, but still does not tackle the fundamental problems faced by the sport.

Solution