The newest member of the Badminton World Federation family, Wallis and Futuna, has started the process of implementing Shuttle Time in schools around the French-speaking South Pacific Island.
Wallis and Futuna became an Associate Member of BWF in August 2021 and has been looking to introduce Shuttle Time to promote badminton as a new sport in the country. Badminton has already been delivered in secondary schools, making primary schools the target of Shuttle Time.
As part of the 2021 BWF Membership Grant Programme, Wallis and Futuna received Shuttle Time and AirBadminton equipment to hasten the implementation.
Unfortunately, the first activity was a Teacher Course delivered virtually to six participants (50 per cent female) in Wallis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions around it.
The island’s first official Teacher training is being planned for June, with Wallis and Futuna working closely with BWF to access teaching resources in French. The teachers will then be supported to expose their students to badminton as part of the curriculum. The aim is to train eight teachers from four schools so Shuttle Time can be delivered to 240 children.
In July, Wallis and Futuna will be competing at the Pacific Mini Games, where it looks forward to meeting athletes from around Oceania, particularly its French-speaking counterparts from New Caledonia and Tahiti.
By implementing Shuttle Time to children, Wallis and Futuna hopes its teams of the future will have more opportunities to compete at a higher level.
President of the Wallis and Futuna Badminton Federation, Caroline Brial, said: “The year 2021 marks a turning point for the development of badminton on Wallis and Futuna.
“Shuttle Time is a good opportunity to collaborate with Badminton Oceania and utilise resources to teach our people how to play a new sport.”
