Wanderers Club’s badminton courts were busier than usual on August 23, with sponsors playing and breaking a sweat.

The club badminton coach, Erksine du Toit, said the objective of the morning was to not only show sponsors the talent the club had, but also what the sport was about.

“The perception is that badminton is a slow sport played in the garden. As a club, we ultimately want to grow the sport and hope to attract more sponsors for the club and the trips that are involved within the competition.”

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Du Toit added that Chloe Lai and Layla Niayesha not only form the group that is competing abroad next month, but are players who were developed from the grassroots level to reach the stage they’re in, which is the U19 team.

Badminton South Africa’s (BSA) office manager, Susan van der Mescht, said it was heartwarming to welcome and work with new sponsors.

“As BSA, we’re always happy to get sponsors for our players because we’re not a sports code, which makes it difficult to get sponsors. We hope our partnership can be successful to continue growing the sport.”

Van der Mescht noted that badminton was a sport for everyone from age five right up to age 85, which is also good for one’s physical health and keeping children off the streets.

Dillion Schwapp, a junior national coach, said having sponsors on board was critical to continue growing the sport throughout the country.

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“We don’t always have enough funding for sports, especially in badminton. Badminton used to be a big sport which saw school and church involvement through their halls which were used as facilities.”

Schwapp added that this helped the sport grow because players who played socially at various community facilities encouraged their children to play.

He noted that the event at Wanderers Club was not only important for players to interact with the sponsors, but also to know how to communicate with them and make them understand where their investment was going or required.

All Africa’s number 1 junior, Chloe, said playing and teaching the sponsors about the game was an experience for the books: “It was cool to play with people who make our competition trips possible.”

Sponsors who would like to get in touch with BSA can contact Susan van der Mescht via email: [email protected]

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