For our review of Shuttle Time implementing countries in Europe, we kick off the year of 2017 with Czech Republic, a member association that has been a part of the confederation since 1993.
In 2014, the Czech Badminton Federation initiated BWF’s Shuttle Time programme to give teachers the knowledge about badminton and, in that manner, get more teachers to organize school badminton lessons.
Ever since the implementation, Shuttle Time has been very successful mostly for clubs that kids can join after school. Each school has their own ‘after school’ lessons that can be focusing on sports or other different activities, and in Czech Republic they are especially happy to see that instructors are initiating lessons of badminton. For example, secondary school teachers use badminton as an alternative for students who are not very keen on doing the same exercises during PE in school. And furthermore, a course has been implemented at Faculty of Sports and Physical Education Charles University, where it is delivered to students studying PE.
The Shuttle Time programme works well with the Czech federation’s development as they use it for many other activities such as exhibitions, open air festivals, sports festivals. Teachers often ask to get further coach education and the possibility to found a new badminton club. In this way, Shuttle Time works as an appetizer for teachers that come back for more, and that is how the Czech federation systematically reaps what they sow through Shuttle Time; new clubs and children that are informed that badminton IS in fact a sport.
A lot of the clubs have parents and children starting at an early age, which makes the amount of youth club members grow fast. The official number of registered players in the federation of Czech Republic is currently 4,486, but 6,518 players are registered in the clubs.
The next step is to make competitions for primary schools. This entails that many teachers ask for the next level of Shuttle Time-courses, where they can share their experiences and learn more. This is something that the federation takes very seriously and wants to work towards, while also growing the number of clubs which currently is at 130.
Martina Bernaciková, a certified Badminton Europe trainer, conducts the training of trainers in the country. From 2015, 15 successful training sessions was attended by about 250 teachers and coaches from 120 schools in the country.
The development in Czech Badminton Federation are taking part in the BEC Summer School, where they have both players and coaches participating. Furthermore, they participate in Regional Projects, and have players stationed at some of the Certified Training Centres located around Europe. In general, it is fair to say that their consistent participation in Badminton Europe’s ‘Sport for All’ and ‘High Performance’ projects is a great indicator in the growth of the sport in the country.
Or get specific info about the programme in Czech Republic
here.