Solutions

Fundamental Problem with UK Badminton

Impact of Proposed Solution

Declining number of players

Badminton in France has grown exponentially in the last 20 years, and doubled in numbers in the last 5 years, providing the country with almost twice the membership level of the BA of E. This growth can be largely attributed to the French tournament system:

In France, the number of licenced player is over 80,000, virtually double that of this country. However, badminton in France is a relatively new sport, with membership of the FFBA (the Féderation Française de Badminton, the French equivalent of the BA of E) having increased phenomenally over the last 20 years, as follows:

(Source: FFBA's web-site, www.FFBA.org, reproduced with permission.)

Look at the figure of 40,000 in the 1995/96 season, and compare it to the figure of almost 80,000 in 2000/01. The playing population of France has doubled in 5 years, taking its membership levels way beyond the 40,000 membership of the BA of E. This growth is clearly attributable to the French tournament system.

Seeing such statistics makes one wonder how a country such as France, with the same population as the UK, could overtake it in such a dramatic fashion in such a short time.

It should also be noted that were the playing population in this country to double to equal that of France, total income received by the BA of E would also presumably double. Surely such a situation would please both the playing population and the BA of E?

As mentioned above, badminton in France is a young sport, thanks largely to the competitive and all-inclusive (i.e. age-irrelevant) nature of the tournament system. This system also caters for juniors and veterans.

Elitism within clubs

This can be very hard to tackle in any environment, and no easy answer is offered for elitism experienced by potential new members.

However under a tournament system, lesser / non-league players are at least given the opportunity to play stronger players if they wish, which they often are not given the chance to do in their own club (speaking from experience).

LACK OF MOTIVATING ELEMENT

In a French tournament a player can compete at any level at or above their own grade . A beginner can therefore start at level NC and work their way up through the grades. They could even play an A-grade player if they want the challenge.

Children / youngsters can also play in these adult tournaments, should they like. There is nothing better for motivation than coming up against a 14 year-old, for both the youngster and the adult (who presumably wouldn't want to be 'humiliated' by being beaten by someone so noticeably their junior). It is hard to think of any better training ground for the future stars of the country.

The tournaments give players a clear target to aim for, via a structured, well-organised system. This ensures an unrivalled level of motivation for all competitors. As stated by Martin Dew-Hattens in a recent article for Badminton magazine, 'Once trained and during training young players need to get out and compete as often as possible'.⁴

After each match in France (whether tournament or local league), the results are published on the web-site of the FFBA, which updates the results, ranking, and grade of every licensed player. This live set-up allows every player to track every single match they play over the entire season, showing both their competitors and partners, with a link to their results, and the precise results of each game played. The national ranking of each player is also displayed, which enables players to monitor their progress after each match on a real-time basis.

The tournament system also allows players and members of the public to see top-level badminton for free - to see how it should be played, and to support their local teams. In France finals of all levels are held simultaneously which allows weaker/newer players to witness close-hand very good, even international standard badminton. Finals are always compulsive viewing.

As an added incentive for players, prizes are available, ranging from rackets to badminton bags to a couple of hundred Euros for the top grades.

Almost every town in France seems to have its own badminton tournament (with differing grades of play). This means that keen players can play competitively almost every weekend if they want to, allowing them to gain valuable competitive experience, and allowing for fast progress through the grades for the keen / gifted.

Very little grass-root interest

If you play at any French tournament (or join any club there) you will notice what a young sport it is in the country. The tournament system there has created the massive base of a growing pyramid of players.

In France junior players can compete against others of their own age group (ie Under 19/17/15/13/11) or above. Juniors are given a grading according to ability in exactly the same manner as for adults, although if they play someone in a more senior age range (eg U13 v. U15) their grade is effectively reduced, to allow the difference between their respective levels to increase (and consequently to gain more points if they win). Thus if a C-grade U13 plays a C-grade U15, their level is effectively reduced to D-grade U15 to reflect the age difference.

This allows all juniors to be treated in exactly the same way as each other and in the same manner as adults (albeit with the slight modification to take account of their age).

In line with adults, all juniors are thus given both regional, national and grade (A, B, C etc) rankings, and compete directly with adults in all these respects.

This system completely levels the playing field for all players, allowing the most junior of players to challenge an international player if they so desire, and to get full credit for winning if they do so!!!

Catering for juniors in the same manner as adults is expected to have the same impact in terms of increasing levels of junior members (see 'Declining number of players' above).

Providing juniors with exactly the same motivating element as adults and even allowing them to compete on an even basis paves the way for future champtions.

Single-tier tournaments only cater for top-level players

Anybody of any level can enter the French tournament system.

Players compete against those of their own ability, with the choice of challenging higher-ranked players should they desire.

Almost no singles played

The French tournaments cater for singles, level doubles and mixed doubles.

Singles in France is initially played by way of a system of small pools, usually with 3 players per pool, guaranteeing at least a couple of good games of singles before the knock-out stage.

Elite & exclusive county system / BA of E

The all-inclusive nature of the French tournament system completely shows up the elitist county system in the UK.

COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS
In France, regional / departmental bodies are responsible for promoting badminton within their areas for all levels of play, taking on a purely administrative role.

This separation of county administration and elite play is fundamental to the healthy operation of such a system. In the UK, county associations are responsible for both regional administration and high-level play. By having this dual responsibility, county priorities are distorted towards providing for the needs of the top players, to the clear detriment of all other players and grass-root development.

In order for county associations to offer the greatest benefit to all players in each county, associations should relinquish direct control over top players, leaving this role to clubs, and instead support the development of badminton at all levels. This support will reach a far wider range of players through an increased level of direct support for clubs, the organisation of tournaments and local leagues, school initiatives etc. By taking a less hands-on approach to top players and concentrating more on overall development and administration of the sport, county associations would encourage grass-root playing and training to a far greater extent, and become far more representative of the average player.

This would also act to merge the segmented infrastructure of badminton, which can be seen as a large rift running through the sport (i.e. clubs v. county).

With the re-inclusion of top-players into normal clubs, existing clubs would become more competitive with each other, especially with the introduction of the tournament system proposed. This increased competition would encourage clubs to take responsibility for their own growth and training, which at present is sorely lacking, while at the same time leaving the best players in their own clubs to improve both their own and other members' games (and not skimming the best players to join the closed system of county competition as at present).

This would increase the exposure of players to high-level badminton, while other promising players are would not be denied the opportunity (through county quotas or personal issues with county selectors) to receive county-level training.

County-level trainers / clubs would also get an incentive to actively coach grass-root players, without having to rely on the hope that a promising junior player will somehow turn up (never having received training before?), or that a player has received prior training paid for by their well-off / pushing parents. The move towards a club-based system would also promote the growth and creation of large clubs through increased competition between clubs and an increased grass roots interest. In France, clubs with 2-300 members are not unknown. Such large clubs will naturally have large resources available to them, which in turn is used in part to support and train top players, as well as to encourage / support grass-root interest, and often host their own (national/international) tournaments.

BA OF E
The BA of E is effectively controlled by elite county associations. If county associations lost their direct interest in top-level players as is proposed above, and became more representative of the whole playing population, the BA of E itself would thus in turn be controlled by a more representative setup.

If the BA of E is perceived to be more accountable to and representative of the common player, its operations and decisions will be far less open to external criticism than at present.

FUNDING
The BA of E clearly has limited resources. With these limited resources, it appears to have concentrated on applying for grants and support for its top players, to the detriment of all other players.

Sports grants are available not only for elite players; had the BA of E wanted, it could surely have applied for grants to support its every-day members.

The funding of badminton in this country is very different to that in France. However, should the BA of E wish to implement such a tournament system as that proposed, grants would undoubtedly be available from sources such as the Lottery Commission or Sports England.

Little training available

Badminton in France is run on a club basis (along the same lines as football clubs). Larger clubs routinely provide training for club members, sorted according to level as appropriate.

The only advantage that this country has over countries such as France is its coaches; being a relatively new sport in France, players have not got the same level of access to the network of experienced (county) coaches available in this country. The lack of technical training still shows to some extent on French badminton courts. However this will soon change as the sport matures in France, and I await the almost inevitable day France beats England on the international badminton circuits.

The high level of competition in the French badminton system, largely engendered by the tournament setup, has created a high demand for badminton coaching / training.

It is anticipated that a move to a French-style tournament system in the UK would create an increased interest in badminton training, in order to gain an edge over other competitors. An increase in the level of training received by players would increase the level of play across the board.

Countless players not affiliated to the BA of E

A tournament system which caters for all levels of players in the UK would increase interest and motivation in badminton across the country (see declining number of players). This would increase the number of licensed players, who would have to register in order to play in the tournaments.

Poor image of badminton amongst general population

Having numerous tournaments around the country with large participation rates would ensure coverage in local newspapers at a minimum, and possibly even local TV news.

Some of the larger tournaments in France have upto 400 players competing at any one time, which is clearly a newsworthy event for any local news media.

Opening the doors to the general public for the finals will help to raise public awareness of the sport, and allow them to actually see international-level badminton for free. This would help to dispel the poor image of the sport.

No TV coverage of badminton

As mentioned above, local news programmes are more likely to show highlights of a badminton tournament, especially if large numbers of competitors are playing, and if they and the general public are given free access to the event.

However, surely what is needed is publicity - but who says it has to be by TV? Publicity by word of mouth can be an extremely good advertising method, and if a product is worth selling, it will sell itself. (This is a perfect example - the French product is so well-selling that it is even receiving critical acclaim from those abroad, who are largely unable to gain access to it.)

With such a system as that used in France, would the BA of E have any need to try to win people over to the sport by TV? Surely it has adopted its current policy in order to increase long-term membership numbers? But would the BA of E not be satisfied with increasing its numbers by more than half (see declining number of players and Note) from 40,000 to 66,700 (based on current membership numbers and the populations of England and France), while providing a valued service to its members and a competitive, grass-roots base that would certainly churn out future champions?

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

The BA of E has clearly gone for a strategy (although possibly not expressly stated) of trying to bring in players by attracting them with the bright lights of TV. This strategy of pumping money into a few elite players (see Elite & exclusive county system / BA of E) has had no noticeable effect to date for normal club players. Equally, although commendable, introducing badminton to schools will only be so effective, until the fundamental problems are addressed.

The alternative strategy being proposed is to set up a tournament system to attract grass root players to the game, and provide a clear structure for them to progress to the top levels of competitive badminton. As stated above, this would dramatically increase the number of players affiliated to the BA of E.

Although the very top, elite levels of the sport may not do so well out of this deal in the short term, creating such firm grass roots for the sport would pay off within a relatively short time, and produce real base talent for future world-class winners.

This would also benefit top-level players in the long-term; by providing a much larger player base, the BA of E would have a much larger income with which to support top players (increased by between at least a half - see declining number of players and Note), and a far greater population base to support its grant / lottery applications and sponsorship deals.

This set-up would clearly require the right ingredients. This would principally include support from the BA of E, which is the only organisation in the country with the power to get this off the ground.