The History of Badminton & Olympic Badminton - A Brief Overview

0-100 AD – Ancient Greece (Some traces)

Medevil England – A game was played amongst kids which resembled Badminton ‘Battledore & Shuttlecock’ Aptly named because a paddle was used to keep a feathered cork in the air

17th century – Battledore was now popular in europe amongst the upperclasses.

1860’s – India ( British officers stationed in ‘Pune’ India adapted a game resembling badmington that the natives had apparently played for centuries) 1867 - Pune (India)
- Sport acquired the name ‘Poona’
- A net was introduced
- Rules were introduced informally
- It became competitive

1873 - England
(The Duke of Beaufort named the game ‘The Badminton game’ after the name of his house)

1877 – Bath (England)
(The Bath Badminton Club set out the first written rules)

1893 – The organising body ‘The Badminton Federation of England’ was established

1899 – They held the first English championships

1934 – The international Badminton Federation was established

1972 – Was an exhibition sport at the olympic games but not an official one

1988 – Once again an exhibition sport at the olympics

1992 – Barcelona Olympics (Became an official Olympics events) Indonesia dominated the first Olympics which loosely backs up the claims that people in that region of the world had already been playing for centuries before the British Army picked it up in India Sidney Olympics – Mixed doubles became accepted as an official Olympic event, which is reasonably rare within sports (GBR Olympic Highlights) Sidney Olympics – England wins their first Badminton Olympic trophy. Athens Olympics – England wins their first Silver in Mixed Badminton Doubles. Now 149 Countries in the IBF from an initial 9

Organising and Regulatory Bodies (UK)

IBF – International Badminton Federation , formed in 1934
- Had 9 founding members (Canada, Denmark, England, France, Netherlands, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales)
- India joined in 1936
- Changed name to BWF (Badminton World Federation)
- Recognised by the IOC (International Olympic Commiteee) ‘The Badminton Federation of England’ www.badmintonengland.co.uk Welsh Badminton Cymru (WBC) Scottish Badminton Union (SBU) Ulster Branch Badminton Union of Ireland

Implications of being an olympic sport

Countries and their relevant organising body take pride in getting medals at olympics and provide funding to the development of certain sports, the ammount given is generally relative to previous success in the sport at olympic level (The silver medal acquired in |Sydney 04 has seen the funding rise to £8,759,000 according to the table below taken from (http://www.uksport.gov.uk/pages/historical-funding-figures-olympic/) Funding Award (2009-2013)£7,428,900 (http://www.uksport.gov.uk/sport/summer/badminton) The money goes to the organising body who use it to develop the sport by improving the sports grass roots level, building or upgrading facilities in which Badminton can be played in the UK Badminton is now a part of the national curriculum at primary and secondary schools Athletes are able to apply for funding to cover living costs, which is to enable them to focus more on their training. This should also cover equipment or membership to clubs costs. This is known as APA (Athlete Personal Award), the funding is generally based on their ability level and potential to bring back medals.