An exciting article from the NoordKaap Bulletin dated 23 February 2022 about the upcoming Kalahari AirBadminton festival
AirBadminton will be played and experienced in the Northern Cape for the first time ever in March.
The first AirBadminton tournament in South Africa, in which various teams from across the country will take part, will then take place in Kimberley, and on top of that, business teams can enter the mini-tournament and any member of the public can join in on this new sport dare.
It’s all part of the Kalahari AirBadminton Open Festival being held from 18 to 20 March at Kalahari Lodge in Kimberley.
“This is the opportunity to have badminton on everyone’s lips again. We want to take it to the far corners of the Northern Cape after the tournament. This is the best development opportunity in years.”
Philip Opperman, chairman of the Northern Cape Badminton Association
According to the website of the World Badminton Federation (BWF), outdoor badminton is a new project of the federation that aims to create opportunities for people of all ages, income groups and levels of competence to play the game on almost any type of outdoor surface. These include land, grass, sand, parks, gardens, streets, playgrounds and beaches. People with disabilities can also participate.
AirBadminton badminton was only launched in China in 2019. Very little equipment is needed to participate in the sport. All that is needed is a space to mark the court, racquets, shuttles and a net.
For the first-day mini-tournament, businesses can enter a team at R1 000 per team (four to six players), creating an ideal team building opportunity. Entry closes on 4 March at 12:00. Businesses enrolling in the mini-tournament may stage an exhibition for the weekend for free.
Businesses that do not enter the mini-tournament can set up their exhibitions and banners at R500. Sponsors of the event may do so for free. On the Friday and Saturday, a court will be made available to the members of the public.
These outdoor badminton matches will take place against this backdrop of a farm market atmosphere, with stalls, exhibitions and music. Some of Kimberley’s more famous artists will perform.
Local artists can call Marius Pretorius (Mars) at 084-395-2708.
Those interested can call Freda Keyser at 066-444-3515 (market stalls), Sharon Steyn at 083-457-8148 (exhibitions) and Tania Bekker at 071-506-1834 (participation in the tournament).
An email can also be sent to taniabekker12@gmail.com regarding the badminton tournament.
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