Photo by Mak Chiu Wo/Mak Chiu Wo/Badmintonphoto
The BWF hosted their Members’ Forum and Annual General Meeting on 25 – 26 April in Xiamen, China, bringing together global leaders of the badminton community to discuss and build on the power of inclusive badminton and the progression of the sport worldwide.
This year, the meeting’s theme was Inclusive, Innovative, and Sustainable Sport-Positive Impact Towards a Better Future—a field Special Olympics knows well.
Photo by Mak Chiu Wo/Mak Chiu Wo/Badmintonphoto
Jonathan Deering, a Special Olympics badminton player and Health Messenger from Ireland, delivered a speech at the Members’ Forum on Friday afternoon with this theme in mind, speaking about the impact playing badminton has had on him as well as those with intellectual disabilities (ID).
To an assembly of more than 250+ presidents and secretary generals from badminton associations from around the world, Jonathan shared:
“Badminton has helped me build lasting friendships with my fellow athletes in my local club and community. Being a competitive athlete has taught me how to deal with the highs and lows of winning and losing—and from those experiences, I found the motivation and confidence to pursue a job I love.”
As Jonathan continued his speech, he urged the assembly to use their voices, platforms, and the power of inclusive sport to make a difference in the world, “Badminton has changed my life! It has given me confidence, friendships, and countless unforgettable moments. I encourage you all to help give another person with an intellectual disability, the same opportunity as I have had.”
Photo by Mak Chiu Wo/Mak Chiu Wo/Badmintonphoto
During the Special Olympics World Games Abu Dhabi 2019, Special Olympics and the BWF renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signifying their collective commitment to increasing inclusion and accessibility of badminton for more athletes.
BWF has aided in this plan by providing high-quality training opportunities for Special Olympics badminton athletes, identifying best practices and educational resources for athletes with IDD to compete in sport, and providing insight and leadership in the sport of badminton.
The two launched the 2020 – 2024 BWF-SOI Global Badminton Development Plan accomplishing:
- 22 new Special Olympics programs (countries) offering badminton as a sport for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 saw its largest competition of badminton ever on the global stage, with more than 200 players with intellectual disabilities and their Unified playing partners taking part
- The creation of a new badminton divisioning assessment tool, which is used to ensure competition level matching where athletes are grouped by age, gender and ability—giving everyone a reasonable chance to win and the best possibility to perform. This new divisioning tool helps establish stronger competition quality at Special Olympics events and has been made available to Special Olympics national programs in seven languages.
- Inaugural joint training delivered to develop technical delegates and Unified sport delegates—16 representatives from across all seven Special Olympics regions and five badminton continental confederations took part.
- More than 100 Shuttle Time Equipment kits have been provided to Special Olympics national programs ensuring Special Olympics badminton players have access to quality badminton equipment
Photo by claire Behan
In 2024, Special Olympics had 137,843 badminton athletes playing, training and competing worldwide—43% female and 57% male—with Special Olympics East Asia leading the charge regionally with over 96,200 badminton athletes across their 6 national programs (China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Korea, Macau, and Mongolia).
Globally, the numbers of Special Olympics badminton players continue to grow with an additional 2,653 new players picking up a badminton racket during 2023. One of the key drivers of this being the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin in 2023 and the quality of the badminton competition at the Games.
At the forum, Mrs. Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul was named as the new BWF President. In 2023, in her former position as Deputy President of the BWF Council, Mrs. Leeswadtrakul attended the Games in Berlin. As a longtime supporter of Special Olympics Thailand, her home country, she saw the importance of being in person to support and cheer on all Special Olympics badminton athletes during Games.
Photo by Marvin Ibo Guengoer/Marvin Ibo Guengoer
Also in attendance at the Members’ Forum was Vice President of Sport Development for Special Olympics International, Jon-Paul St. Germain.
Jon-Paul St. Germain, along with John Shearer, BWF’s Head of Continental Development; Fern Guilders, BWF’s Head of Tournament Development; Wojtek Czyz, four-time Paralympian; and Wang Yihan, Special Olympics Ambassador, and Olympic and World medalist, were all part of a panel discussion, Inclusive Badminton: Spotlight on Para Badminton & Special Olympics.
The discussion between the five experts focused on the steps needed to meaningfully create more opportunities for inclusive badminton to grow around the world.
Addressing the panel and audience, Special Olympics’ Jon-Paul St. Germain spoke about the positive impacts the partnership between the BWF and Special Olympics has made over the course of the past six years, calling on those yet to embrace the rise of inclusive badminton to do so.
“Whether you are a federation leader, a coach, or an advocate… take the next step in making badminton more inclusive in your country. Open your doors to athletes with intellectual disabilities and partner with Special Olympics. Invite us in, and help us play, grow, and belong.”
Photo by Mak Chiu Wo/Mak Chiu Wo/Badmintonphoto
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