An exciting new partnership between World Academy of Sport and BWF has started with a pilot programme for Badminton Pan Am Confederation.

The WAoS, headquartered in Manchester, England, specialises in delivering learning programmes for athletes, managers, administrators, officials and coaches.

A pilot of the WAoS High Performance Pathways Programme was delivered to 14 member associations of the Pan Am Confederation for three days beginning Tuesday 30 September in Guatemala City.

BWF Development Director Ian Wright was among those participating in this inaugural course with World Academy of Sport Director, Chris Solly, playing a leading role. Member associations sent representatives connected to their technical staff to the course.

Badminton Pan Am Chief Operating Officer Pilar Carrillo was excited about the prospects which this programme offers when she was recently at BWF’s office in Kuala Lumpur. “It will be great for us. We think it’s a good opportunity for the technical directors of our member associations to get a good understanding of, not only how to coach, but also how to prepare players for high performance. It’s not just a technical issue, it’s about learning administration, managing and planning. The idea is to have this pilot project and for BWF to evaluate it at the end and see how to improve it in the future” she explained.

It’s significant the pilot is being conducted in Guatemala which has an extensive coach education and grassroots programme to scout talented youngsters. Once players are identified, they relocate to the national training centre where all their training, educational, medical and other needs are met. “Guatemala City has one of the best structures of all our MAs. So we have faith in the facilities and hope it will be conducted in the best way possible” added Carrillo.

As the Rio Olympics stand out on the horizon, this is an important period for the Badminton Pan Am Confederation. “We at Pan Am are working closely with the BWF on the Rio Project. Four years ago we started to identify the needs of Rio de Janeiro. Badminton is not so developed there” acknowledged the official. “We built up the support of coaches to run different programmes to showcase our sport. We have had a specific plan for Rio. We follow all the agreements or needs with the Rio Organising Committee. Badminton is growing in the Pan Am region and these programmes from World Academy of Sport will help it develop further.”