Badminton Papua New Guinea will be introducing a schools program next month.
Shuttle Time was introduced in 2012 by the world body, Badminton World Federation with the aim to make the sport accessible to all schools.
Shuttle Time offers school teachers access to free resources, training and equipment, which support the teaching of enjoyable, safe and fun inclusive badminton activities to children ages 5-15 years old.
“Badminton is finally here in PNG,” said President, Kinivanagi Karo.
“While the program is targeting 5-15 year olds, anyone older can also participate in the fun activities since the sport is very new to most Papua New Guineans.
“The Shuttle Time program is already very popular in many Pacific nations such as Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa. Fiji, New Caledonia and Tahiti are already taking part in regional and world events.
“In PNG, more teacher trainings are planned for the immediate future as more schools and communities will soon begin to embrace this new exciting sport.
“The program is not restricted to schools and local communities, churches and villages can also participate.
“With the inclusion of Badminton in the Pacific Games in Samoa 2019, we have all the more reason to learn this sport quickly and consistently be competitive in the event one gets selected in a PNG Team to participate in a national or regional event.
“Papua New Guineans are naturally gifted in adapting and therefore can be able to make a smooth transition from any mainstream sport to Badminton.
“In particular volleyballers have a clear advantage as the biomechanics are the same and they are able to adjust quickly without too much difficulty.”
He said for adults wishing to try out the sport, social badminton is played from 6pm onwards every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at the Rita Flynn Indoor Complex.
Badminton Clubs are encouraged to be established as competitions for different levels will begin as soon as groups and/or schools get organised.
For more information, Kinivanagi Karo can be contacted on email: kinivanagi@gmail.com or SMS bmobile on 75486102 or Digicel 71112005.