Badminton Nghe An: Strong movement, weak achievements
(Baonghean.vn) - Although the badminton training and competition movement in Nghe An has developed strongly, attracting many people of all ages to participate, the province has not had any outstanding individuals participating in high-achievement competitions nationwide.
The movement is booming.
Regularly at the end of the afternoon every day, members of the Food Badminton Club gather to practice and compete together at the gymnasium of Thanh Nghe Tinh Food Joint Stock Company at 58 Le Loi (Vinh city).
Mr. Ngu Thanh Chung - a club member said: "The club was established about 10 years ago and now has nearly 30 members who share the same passion for Badminton, with many different backgrounds and ages... From the passion for this sport, the members of the club are united and the training atmosphere is fun, improving skills, training experience and competition".
Vinh City is the locality with the strongest badminton movement development with dozens of training houses in all agencies, units, and schools such as: Provincial Police, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, State Reserve Department of Nghe Tinh Region, Provincial Court, Nghe An University of Economics...
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| A badminton practice session of the Badminton Club of Nghe An University of Economics. Photo: Minh Quan |
In addition, many individuals and businesses have invested in and built badminton training and competition facilities to meet people's training needs, such as: Road Management and Construction Joint Stock Company 470, Thanh Nghe Tinh Food Joint Stock Company...
In addition, outdoor badminton courts are also invested in by localities, agencies and units. On average, each commune, ward and town has 2-3 outdoor badminton courts built within the cultural house of residential areas according to new rural criteria; ensuring conditions on area, lighting system, windproof nets...
In addition to Vinh city, some localities have a strong badminton movement, with relatively complete investment in infrastructure such as: Yen Thanh district has nearly 220 courts, Quynh Luu district has about 200 courts, Dien Chau district has about 160 courts, Hung Nguyen district has over 100 indoor and outdoor badminton courts...
According to statistics from the Department of Culture and Sports, the province currently has over 860 badminton courts (both indoor and outdoor). The province has over 250 badminton clubs established and operating, attracting nearly 30,000 people of all ages to regularly practice.
Every year, from district to commune levels in the province, hundreds of badminton tournaments are organized on major anniversaries of the Party, the country, and the industry... Many badminton tournaments of industries, communes, and towns have attracted the response and participation of many classes of people.
At the provincial level, in addition to the Nghe An Provincial Badminton Tournament, badminton is also regularly included in the Provincial Sports Congress, the Provincial Family Sports Tournament and sports tournaments and festivals of the Provincial Party Committee of the Provincial Agencies, the Provincial Labor Federation and the sectors: Provincial Police, Education and Training, Banking, etc. Badminton is also regularly included in the competitions in districts and cities, dozens of badminton competitions and exchanges are organized enthusiastically.
Especially in the Education and Training sector, badminton is chosen as one of the key sports to maintain extracurricular activities; at the same time, badminton is organized in the annual student sports tournament.
To have achievements in national tournaments
However, over the past years, the development of Nghe An badminton has only stopped at the grassroots level, because at national badminton tournaments over the past years, Nghe An athletes have not been able to make their mark.
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| A badminton match at the 9th Nghe An Provincial Sports Festival. Photo: Minh Quan |
Every year, Nghe An badminton athletes only participate in tournaments outside the province such as the National Family Badminton - Table Tennis Tournament and tournaments such as the Thanh Hoa Open Badminton Tournament for Age Groups, the Lam Dong Open Badminton Tournament, the Tran Open Culinary Tournament (Da Nang)...
Among these, only in the National Family Badminton - Table Tennis Tournament, the participation of Nghe An athletes is selected and organized by the state management agency, the Department of Culture and Sports, while in almost all the remaining tournaments, the participation of Nghe An athletes is spontaneous, each person goes their own way.
For many years, Nghe An has not had any athletes participating in national badminton tournaments such as: National Individual Badminton Championship, National Youth Badminton Championship, National Youth Badminton Tournament for Outstanding Youth and Youth Players or badminton at National Sports Festivals.
Mr. Nguyen Danh Nam - Deputy Head of the Department of Sports Management (Department of Culture and Sports) said: "Although Nghe An badminton has a strong movement, it lacks achievements in national tournaments, mainly due to the lack of a "leadership" role. The Nghe An Badminton Federation was established in 2001 but only operated effectively in the first 5-7 years, when the Federation President was a provincial leader.
After more than 20 years of operation, this Federation has only organized 3 Congresses, the most recent of which was more than 9 years ago, in September 2013. From 2009 to now, Nghe An Badminton Federation has played a very limited role in the development of the province's badminton movement, when it has provided almost no support for the organization of badminton tournaments in the province as well as in localities and sectors.
In addition, the province is lacking qualified coaches to train badminton athletes to participate in national tournaments. In Vinh city and Yen Thanh and Quynh Luu districts, there are dozens of badminton classes, but most of the teachers do not have expertise in sports pedagogy. For the same reasons, badminton has not yet been included in high-performance training and coaching.
Therefore, in order for badminton to develop widely and achieve better results in national tournaments, in the coming time, the culture and sports sector needs to pay attention to improving and enhancing the operational efficiency of the Provincial Badminton Federation.
In addition, in the coming time, sectors and localities will promote the socialization of physical education and sports, build and improve facilities and equipment; organize more and more tournaments to increase exchanges and competition for athletes.
On the basis of the development of the movement, the Department of Culture and Sports needs to have a specific development orientation for high-performance sports; pay attention to the selection and stable training of athletes in localities to create a source of badminton athletes for the province's gifted players.