After the successful hosting of the African Championships, the BCA development department embarked on various activities as per its strategic priorities, key being participation, coach development, Para badminton, high-level performance, technical officials, and gender equity.
Partners like the BWF, National Olympic Committee (through Olympic Solidarity) and Member Associations helped the BCA to deliver on their mandate.
BCA Basic Coaching Course – Guinea
The Guinea Badminton Federation, with the support of the Olympic Solidarity fund, held a organised a BCA Basic Coaching Course in Conakry from the 1st to the 8th of November 2021. The BCA Regional officer Bernadin Bopke delivered the course, which is a preparatory course to the BWF Level 1 Course. 14 coaches participated and 3 of whom were female.
The Guinea Badminton Federation has, in the past, benefited BCA’s support to lauch Shuttle Time through the training of Teachers in 2018. In March 2021, they held a similar course this time supported by the BWF Membership Grant and the support of the Guinean Ministry of Sport.
The Association participated in the Youth African Games in 2018 in Algeria and African Games in Morocco in 2019.
“Through this course, BCA aims to prepare Guinean badminton coaches to be ready for the BWF Level 1 Coaching Course.
BCA strategically offers this course to a few MAs like the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, to encourage the new developing MA’s. Bopke told BCA news.
Mr. Boubacar Balde, President of FEGUIBA at the launch of the course said:
“I thank the IOC, through the Guinean National Olympic Committee, for giving this opportunity of training to our badminton coaches.
I also thank BWF, BCA, and especially the expert Mr. Bernadin Bopke for leading this training. This course is going to boost badminton development in Guinea. Our coaches were for a long time inactive but with this opportunity and the encouragement that the expert gave to them through sharing of experiences and advices, they can now train competitive badminton players. In a near future, our federation will be ready to participate in the African badminton competitions . We hope that BCA will continue to support us with different development programmes such as Shuttle Time.”
Some of the expressed their satisfaction on completing the course.
Ms. Habibata Kante said: “This course is different from the last one we followed because the trainer gave us examples for each technical aspect of training players. Now we know what to do to develop our players. I also thank the Guinea NOC, BWF, and BCA for giving us this high opportunity.”
Mr. Mamadou Diouma Bah, Coach said: “This course is different from the other we received because now we have acquired new techniques throughall the practicalsessions. We all have well appreciated this course. That is the more reason to thank BWF, BCA, NOC Guinea, our federation FEGUIBA, and especially the expert Bernadin Bokpè. I can say now that we are ready to coach players and take them from zero to hero, as he said.”
BWF Level 1 Coaching Course – Botswana.
In Botswana, things were not different, Dr. Reda Ahmed, the BCA Regional Officer, delivered the BWF Level 1 course to 10 Coaches, 2 of whom were female. The course was held in Lobaste Botswana from the 2nd to the 9th of November 2021, before the Botswana International scheduled for the 25th to 28th of November 2021.
“The course aims to empower the African coaches with the knowledge that they need to plan and deliver effective training sessions, which obviously will help promote the sport in the African Countries. Said Dr. Reda.
The 8 coaches from Botswana showed diversity as they came from different areas with different backgrounds, but they all showed one thing in common that they were passionate about badminton, and they were ready to learn.
I observed that their badminton skills were good, but they were surprised about many aspects of the course as the coaches’ responsibilities, and that coaching is more than teaching the kids how to move and hit the shuttles.
This is what the other participants had to say about the course:
“The coaching course was a massive eye-opener to me as a former
National team player now aspiring to be a professional coach. I have been using my experience and beliefs to coach without any formal education or manuals to use. Now I have acquired basic skills that form the fundamentals to help the kids play proper badminton from a tender age. That gap is closed, and I believe I am going to help my country in producing good badminton players the right way.” Thabo KGASWANE.
“Usually after a big event, players should have a rest, but once I got the invitation to learn something, I didn’t think twice, I decided to attend.
I am happy with the course because not only did I learn how to coach and train kids, but also even as a player I learned a lot.” Deidre Jordaan, South African national player who participated in the All-Africa Senior Championships held in October 2021 in Uganda.
Shuttle Time Presentation Meeting – Djibouti
Meanwhile, in the hot and humid but beautiful country of Djibouti, the BCA Secretary General Mr. Sahir Edoo visited the authorities, including the Minister of Education, the Minister of Sport and the National Olympic Committee, to sell the BWF’s school badminton programme, Shuttle Time, from 2 to 4 November 2021.
Djibouti, one of the newest member of the BWF (2018), already conducted a BWF Teachers course with the visit of the BCA Regional Development Officer and BWF Level 1 Tutor, Mr. Bokpe, back in May 2021.(Click here). Now, with the base already set, the main objective of Mr. Sahir Edoo’s visit was to seal the government support in introducing badminton, as a sport and subject, in the curriculum of Djibouti’s education system.
The Ministers of Sport and Education were very supportive when they heard of the Shuttle Time programme and gave their assurance for a sustainable development of the sport in the country, especially with the introduction of the outdoor version of badminton, the AirBadminton. The President of the Djibouti Badminton Association said:
“ Being a physical education teacher myself, I made it a must to launch Shuttle Time in Djibouti. With the visit of Mr. Edoo in the country, my government is now keen and ready to assist our young federation to develop badminton nationally through schools. We are greatly thankful to the BCA for their continuous support and assistance.
The BCA Secretary General also promised more support to the Djibouti Badminton Association if the programme is successful locally. A Shuttle Time Tutors training course and a donation of equipment by the BCA is planned for the 2022 or 2023.
