Reaching Out in Swiss Schools

September 23, 2019

It’s Shuttle Time Cup is a series of tournaments initiated by Swiss Badminton specifically for schools, providing children between 8 to 11 years old the opportunity to learn about and compete in badminton. It’s Shuttle Time Cup seeks to promote badminton at school level and motivate teachers into delivering badminton lessons in schools.

The project started in October 2018 and aimed at promoting the TOTAL BWF World Championships 2019 held in Basel. Teachers in schools were encouraged to deliver badminton lessons using the resources from the BWF Shuttle Time Schools Programme. School-level tournaments were organised throughout the seven-month period, until April 2019. Following that, the regional finals were conducted from April to June.

Over 1000 free tickets to the World Championships were used as incentive for teachers to organise badminton lessons and tournaments, which in turn encouraged children to participate in badminton activities at the school level. Swiss Badminton had prepared video tutorials to take the teachers through the programme step by step on conducting activities and organising tournaments. Schools were given free tickets for every child if they organised an It’s Shuttle Time Cup Tournament. Organisers were encouraged with free VIP tickets.

Children attended the TOTAL BWF World Championships.

On August 21, all the participants – including children and teachers – arrived at the St. Jakobshalle Stadium to watch the World Championships. Swiss Badminton had prepared a Shuttle Time booth where the children played some games and participated in a badminton quiz.

Overall, the activity experienced a successful launch (over 1200 free tickets were given to children). Swiss Badminton has started organising Shuttle Time Cup 2.0 aiming to increase badminton’s presence even further in Swiss schools.

“Shuttle Time is a fundamental branch of our federation. As the school is a highly important part of Switzerland’s culture, it is crucial to bring badminton right into them with an excellent image. With BWF’s Shuttle Time, we have the perfect tool to spread a great reputation of our sport, whether it’s in schools or other parts.” – Thomas Heiniger, ST National Coordinator of Switzerland.