A flurry of badminton activity last year culminating in the formation of Vanuatu Badminton Association and the conduct of a Shuttle Time Teachers course have fast-tracked badminton’s development in the archipelago.
With the support from Badminton Oceania Confederation (BOC), the Shuttle Time Teachers course was conducted by Danny Oud (BOC Development Officer) and Sam Kreutzer (BOC Participation & Development Manager). BOC shipped in equipment including AirBadminton kits and school sets. This new member planning visit was made possible through the BWF New Membership Grant.
Along with the Teachers course, AirBadminton activity was held at Feiawa Park, while Para badminton Shuttle Time sessions were held at Korman Stadium, all in the capital city of Port Vila.
The Shuttle Time Teachers course, which was run on 7 December, was attended by nine members of the community who all passed the course. The following day, an AirBadminton have-a-go session at the Port Vila ‘Christmas in the Park festival’ was delivered. The new Shuttle Time Teachers had the opportunity to deliver activities to children from the community who joined in.
On 9 and 11 December, two sessions in collaboration with the Vanuatu Paralympic Committee were delivered by the new Shuttle Time Teachers and Dhanny Oud to para athletes.
Vanuatu BA now has a base Shuttle Time workforce with the nine Teachers, and a Shuttle Time National Coordinator, to begin efforts to develop badminton in Vanuatu through Shuttle Time.
Unfortunately, on 17 December 2024, Vanuatu was hit by a devastating earthquake which destroyed infrastructure and caused death, injury and displacement to communities around the country. Vanuatu is still recovering from the earthquake, but VBA is still primed to deliver Shuttle Time in whatever context is possible throughout the year.
Background
Although badminton was played informally in Vanuatu, it was only in 2024 that the sport received a boost, starting with a fact-finding mission by the Vanuatu Association of Sport and National Olympic Committee (VASANOC) led by French volunteer Hugo de Haas and Sport & Development Officer Mathias Boe. The exercise was conducted to understand the extent of badminton being played in the capital city Port Vila, and interest in the foundation of a national association. It was found that a small number of expats played socially, and that badminton was being played regularly at a youth cultural centre called Wan Smol Bag.
VASANOC decided to deliver Shuttle Time activities to three local schools which culminated in an inter-school Shuttle Time Festival which was received positively by the teachers and students.
In November, VASANOC worked to establish a board to form a new national badminton association, led by Arnaud Weiss as President.
What They Said
“First and foremost Shuttle Time needs to be well established as a programme into the campaign for the VBA for sports awareness and promotion into schools and communities around the main islands of commercial centres, Efate, Santo and Tanna.” – Mathias Boe (Shuttle Time Teacher & VASANOC Sport & Development Officer)
“I see Shuttle Time benefiting my students as a newly-introduced sport in school that improves physical health for boys and girls which allows flexibility in movement and enables concentration. ‘Shuttle Time will be used at my school this year as a tool to cheer up students when they are tired of academic work and to inspire students to learn new ideas and concepts.” – Augustine Yalou (Shuttle Time Teacher, VBA Shuttle Time National Coordinator, and Schoolteacher)
