Home

Badminton South Africa’s high-performance manager and Shuttle Time Co-ordinator, Klaas Visser, has been awarded the Badminton World Federation’s Meritorious Service Award.

Visser, who has been part of the sport for over 30 years, is thrilled with the honour which will be given to him later this year at the Melvill Cup in Bloemfontein.

“It feels great and I am proud of this,” Visser said.

“It is always a good thing when your work is recognised.”

Visser has been at the forefront of the Shuttle Time course in the country said he is planning to continue with it in reaching out to the unreached with the sport.

“Currently, we servicing 500 schools all over the country,” he said.

“But all in all we have 30 000 schools, so this shows you we are still scratching the surface and we need to change that. In fact, this award calls for more work to be done in the country.”

Badminton President Glen Brothers was equally excited at this development.

"Klaas has played a key role in pushing both the high-performance and Shuttle Time development programme forward in South Africa, for him to receive such an award is well-deserved,” said Brothers.

Echoing Visser’s sentiments, Brothers said “Such awards should not see us let the foot off the pedal but rather encourage us to reach for more.”

MEDIA STATEMENT

BADMINTON SOUTH AFRICA AND SPECIAL OLYMPICS SOUTH AFRICA ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP

Badminton South Africa has successfully clinched a partnership with their counterparts at Special Olympics South Africa.

Like the Badminton World Federation did with its international counterpart in signing a Memorandum of Understanding with International Special Olympics, Badminton SA felt this was something which can also be translated at a local level.

The partnership between the country’s sports bodies means that they will support each other in making sure both these sporting bodies reach great heights.

"We are incredibly excited about this partnership. It speaks to the global partnership between Badminton World Federation and Special Olympics International," said Special Olympics South Africa CEO, Ancilla Smith.

Smith said the fact that Badminton was the second biggest sport after soccer will augur well for them in his partnership.

"People living with an intellectual disability in South Africa are seldom given the opportunity to try new sports. The expert support we are receiving from Badminton SA and the WBF means that this is a sport that we can confidently offer to our athletes and we are sure that this will see the growth of the sport in South Africa.”

"We believe it will be beneficial for both parties."

Badminton South Africa President Glen Brothers said “This partnership is an important step towards making badminton accessible to all, a key strategic focus for Badminton South Africa, Badminton Confederation of Africa and Badminton World Federation. We are excited to be working with Special Olympics.”

Badminton SA will also leverage on this relationship by implementing its training and education within the Special Olympics South Africa workforce on a regional basis, utilising the BWF grassroots development programme Shuttle Time.

Gauteng, Western Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal and Eastern Province will be first four provinces to see the roll out of this initiative.

The Special Olympics will also take part at the badminton event hosted at prestigious annual Arnold Africa Classic event later this year.

For more information on getting involved contact Badminton South Africa on 012663 3292 or email badmintonsa@mweb.co.za.

You can also contact Special Olympics South Africa on 011 706 3323 or email ancilla@specialolympics.org.za