Meet Synodi Athanasiou, Shuttle Time National Coordinator of Greece.
I was born in 1979 in Volos (central part of Greece) in a typical Greek family. My parents weren’t involved in sports but I love participating in any athletic activity. My dream was to become a teacher of physical education and fortunately this happened.
Introduction to badminton
I first saw badminton in 1997 during university while I was studying Physical Education.
We had a great teacher who made lessons interesting. We loved badminton as it was a fast indoor sport that you could easily practice with a friend.
I was in my third year of university and I decided to specialise in badminton, although I knew there were very few clubs and the prospect in working as a badminton coach was remote.
Career in Badminton
I followed the courses for line judges and I was selected as a team leader for the Olympic Games in Athens. Afterwards I started umpiring in national and international competitions. At the same time I started working in government programmes teaching badminton to children.
I continued with my Masters studies and my thesis and my research was about badminton. Then I started participating in Badminton Europe seminars and now I am a coach in a local badminton club.
Fond Memories
Athens 2004 was a lifetime experience and memory. I enjoyed the international tournaments I participated in as an umpire, and I met great people and great coordinators. I really enjoyed Badminton Europe seminars as they were helpful and well organised.
Developing badminton
Badminton is a safe sport, it is a sport with a great code of ethics. We can recommend it for all ages.
It is hard to start from zero and talking about something that’s not well known. Now people at least know what badminton is but it needs time and try to convince people to select it instead of some other more popular sport.
Impact of Shuttle Time
I’ve many visits to schools for years. The 20-lessons plan, the videos and the app make it easy to deliver lessons.
The biggest lesson from Shuttle Time is that good organisation, planning and love for badminton can achieve great results.