A common badminton activity connects these diverse groups: refugee children in Jordan; orphans and senior citizens in Kuala Lumpur; teachers in Nigeria.
When Shuttle Time was launched in 2012, its ambition was to become a schools badminton programme enabling children to lead a healthy and active life. With each activity, the programme grew, touching lives all over the world – including refugee camps, orphanages, senior citizens homes and universities.
The seed that was planted 15 years ago has since grown into a massive, shade-giving tree, granting succour and opportunities and encouraging the sprouting of new dreams.
Shuttle Time is now the world’s largest schools badminton programme and the flagship of BWF’s development strategy. For most of these 15 years, it was the only programme of its kind; in recent years it has inspired other sports to roll out similar programmes.
Its impact is being felt far and wide, enabling millions of children, young adults and even older people to experience the sport for the first time. The programme is being implemented in 164 Member Associations, with over 85,000 certified Shuttle Time Teachers and over 3000 certified Tutors supporting its delivery worldwide. The programme has even opened the door for badminton beginners to go on to the grandest of stages – the Olympics.
An important component of this growth was the removal of barriers to entry through free resources and accessible training. Shuttle Time was all about inclusion, welcoming participants of all backgrounds and abilities. The strengthening of the grassroots would helped develop a base on which further development at higher levels could be achieved.
Robust Structure
Shuttle Time’s success owed in large measure to the robustness of its structure and the partnerships that expanded its scope.
The working model consists of Teachers at the grassroots and the National Coordinator at its apex, with Tutors and Trainers in between. These personnel are supported by high quality and free resources such as manuals, lesson plans, videos, a mobile app with the choice of 21 languages, Youth Leadership workshops and a university course, all globally accessible with the programmes catering not only to regular schoolkids, but also those with disabilities.
Equipment worth US$2.6 million has been donated globally to help schools, particularly in developing regions, start badminton programmes.
Strong Partnerships
The social impact that Shuttle Time achieved was thanks to the strength of its partnerships with national governments and ministries, and global agencies such as UNHCR, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN Women, WHO and Olympic Solidarity. But Shuttle Time wasn’t just focussed on the global – it paid equal importance to local entities, through partnerships with NGOs and community organisations, and including leisure centres, clubs and humanitarian organisations. Within the badminton fraternity, the five Continental Confederations handled regional coordination, Tutor development and national rollout strategies.
With access to indoor areas a challenge in some regions, AirBadminton has become part of Shuttle Time. The integration of AirBadminton into Shuttle Time has energised a further wave of activations.
Over the course of 15 years, while Shuttle Time has remained true to its original vision of giving every child a chance to play badminton for life, it is also evolving. The need for such a programme among diverse demographic groups has inspired its transition into an expanded “badminton for life” offering with the integration of Shuttle Time Senior, strengthening opportunities for every generation.
An Unmatched Legacy
Shuttle Time has become a key legacy platform for BWF, ensuring that major and multi-sport events leave long‑term participation, education and community benefits well beyond the competition itself, such as Olympic and Paralympic Games, Youth Olympic Games (YOG), World Championships, Special Olympics World Games, ISF Gymnasiade and more.
