The Badminton Federation of Nigeria held a two-day Shuttle Time Train the Trainer Badminton project, in partnership with Community Sport Educational Development (CSED) Initiative, at the Indoor Sports Hall of Kwara State Stadium Complex, Ilorin.
The training programme involved 25 teachers and 100 students from various Secondary Schools across Kwara State.
The programme is an initiative of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to take the game of badminton to the schools and to the grassroots in order to discover and develop hidden talents that abound in schools and the society.
Kwara State Governor and the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum , Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, represented by Executive Chairman of Kwara State Sports Commission – Bola Mogaji, applauded the Badminton Federation and the World Body as well as the Community Sport Educational Development (CSED) Initiative for the bold steps to develop the game.
Governor AbdulRasaq admitted that the government alone cannot shoulder the responsibility of sports and he encouraged corporate bodies, organisations and individuals to join hands with the government to take sports to greater heights.
The representative of the Governor later announced the personal donation of ₦200,000 to stage a state-wide Secondary Schools Badminton Championship, urging the State Badminton Association to work out the modalities for a hitch-free tournament.
The Chairman of Kwara State Badminton Association, Engineer Suleiman Warah, in his address, advised the participants to embrace badminton, describing it as a lovely game and the students can make career out of it while pursuing their academic programme.
National Coordinator Shuttle Time Nigeria, Coach Tajudeen Suleiman, said 28 teachers and 102 students from 28 schools attended the two-day programme that featured tips on how to raise beginners in Badminton using Shuttle Time resources.
Chairman, Association of School Sports Officers, Suleiman Yusuf Ademola, appreciated the World Badminton Federation, BFN and their partners for the opportunity promising to go the extra mile to ensure the development of Badminton at the grassroots.
At the end of the two days course, certificates were awarded to the participants by BWF and 100 rackets, 25 tubes of shuttle corks and 25 nets were given to the participating schools to ensure the take-off of the badminton game.
Next stop for the Shuttle Time train is Kaduna State, precisely Zaria City on July 18 and 19.
