A2-day Shuttle Time Train the Trainer Badminton project, organised by the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN), in partnership with Community Sport Educational Development (CSED) Initiative, ended yesterday at the Indoor Sports Hall of Kwara State Stadium Complex, Ilorin.

The training programme involved twenty five (25) Schools Teachers (Games Masters/Mistresses) and one hundred (100) students drawn from various Secondary Schools across Kwara State.

The Program, a Badminton World Federation (BWF) initiative to take the game of Badminton to the schools and to the grassroots in order to discover and develop hidden talents abound in schools, attracted enthusiastic students, teachers and personalities.

Addressing the participants, the Kwara State Governor and the Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum NGF, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq applauded the Badminton Federation and the World Body as well as the Community Sport Educational Development (CSED) Initiative for the bold steps to develop the game.

Governor AbdulRasaq who noted that government alone cannot shoulder the responsibility of Sports called on corporate bodies, organizations and individuals to join hands with the government to take sports to greater heights.

The Governor who was represented by the Executive Chairman, Kwara State Sports Commission, Bola Mogaji, commended the participants for their conduct, advising them not to derail from their focus.

He reiterated the determination of the State government to always support sports in view of its potential to improve the economy of the athletes, the State and the Nation.

He urged the games masters and mistresses to be good ambassadors of the State and implement the training to the students.

The representative of the Governor later announced the personal donation of two hundred thousand naira to stage State Secondary Schools Badminton Championship urging the State Badminton Association to work out the modalities for a hitch free tournament.

The Chairman, Kwara State Badminton Association, Engineer Suleiman Warah, advised the participants to embrace badminton, describing it as a lovely game and the students can make career out of it while pursuing their academic programme.

Engineer Warah stated that the Association would not relent in contributing its quota to the development of Badminton.

Technical Director, BFN, Coach Tunde Kazeem charged the participants to spread the message to the grassroots which is the essence of the training.

Coach Kazeem disclosed the intention of the Body to organise Badminton championship among Secondary Schools in the State.

National Coordinator Shuttle Time Nigeria, Coach Tajudeen Suleiman, said 28 teachers, and 102 students from twenty eight schools attended the two day programme that featured tips on how to raise beginners in Badminton using Shuttle Time resources.

Chairman, Association of School Sports Officers, Suleiman Yusuf Ademola, appreciated the World Badminton Federation, BFN and their partners for the opportunity promising to go the extra mile to ensure the development of Badminton at the grassroots.

Also in their comments, some of the games masters, Shorun Esther Iyiola from Queen Elizabeth School, Ilorin and Suleiman Yusuf from Madi Community secondary schools, Ilorin and the students, Taiye Onimago, Lukman Ishaq from Odo-Okun Secondary School, Rodiat Yunus and Salimat Abdulwasiu Yuslat College, Ilorin, expressed hope to improve the game of Badminton as they have gained some knowledge in the course of the training.

At the end of the two days course, certificates were awarded to the participants by BWF and

one hundred(100) rackets, 25 tubes of shuttle corks and 25 nets were given to the participating schools to ensure the take-off of the game of Badminton in the schools.

The representative of the Governor, the Chairman Kwara State Badminton Association, the Vice Chairman of the Association, BFN Technical Director and the Captain, Kwara Stadium Veterans Badminton Club, Alhaji Wahab Oba assisted with the presentation of the equipment.

The Shuttle time train moves to Kaduna State precisely Zaria City on the 18th and 19th of this month.