B A D M I N T O N W A L E S A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 9 / 2 0 2 0 C O N T E N T S : Badminton Wales Board Vice Chair Foreword Highlights CEO Summary International Matches Communications Development Competitions Performance Accounts Acknowledgements & Partners B A D M I N T O N W A L E S B O A R D | 0 1 DAVE DAVIES President KERRY ANN SHEPPARD Chair [Elected] CATHERINE MCCLUSKEY Vice Chair [Elected] ANN BEVAN Governance Director [Appointed] DR BARRY GARNHAM DAVE DAVIES, Events Director [Elected] BEIJING 2008 OLYMPICS DEWI JAMES Finance Director [Appointed] HEFIN ARCHER-WILLIAMS Legal Director [Elected] ROBYN FISHER HR Director [Elected] V I C E C H A I R F O R E W O R D | 0 2 Another year of my tenure has passed as Vice Chair of Badminton Wales and I am proud of the organisation as it continues to stabilise and grow in a tough economic climate. As the 2019/20 Season came to a close we have had time to reflect on the challenges that we have faced as a National Governing Body. Badminton Wales has continued to grow its participation of Badminton in Wales over the last twelve months, and will continue and strive to attract new members, providing the Badminton community in Wales with ever increasing opportunities. Badminton Wales stepped back on the Senior International Circuit at the European Men’s and Women’s Team Competition in February. I have been proud to see the way in which this season, of two halves, has been navigated and how Badminton Wales and the Welsh Sport Sector has collectively come together to lead the nation back to the sporting arena safely and cautiously. We certainly have a way to go but the journey back to the court will continue with the safety of our members at the heart of everything we do – together we can. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who help make Badminton in Wales possible. From the grassroots, all the way up to the elite level of the sport, our volunteers’ expertise and passion allows Badminton Wales to continue to grow, develop, thrive and deliver for our members. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Badminton Wales Board Directors - you give many unseen hours to Badminton Wales and I thank you for your time, experience, endurance and foresight. The Board, with the Badminton Wales staff work incredibly hard to ensure that the sport we all love continues to thrive. I am excited for what the next twelve months holds for Badminton Wales. New partnerships, new ideas and new opportunities are all in the pipeline and we will continue to lead Wales’ Badminton community through these unprecedented times and return to the court as soon as we are safely able to. Catherine McCluskey - Vice Chair HHHIIIGGGHHHLLLIIIGGGHHHTTTSSS 5 World L Team e 64 Ranking a 2,065 g Seniors 72 u Clubs e s 1,475 Juniors RETURN of the Welsh Senior National Squad PPRROOGGRRAAMMMMEE LLAAUUNNCCHH Insport Safeguarding 2 Equality L1 courses run C E O S U M M A R Y As the 2018/19 season came to a close with the success of the International Graded Event held in Ireland in the summer, the momentum continued as the 2019/20 began with the resurrection of the Senior National Squad. With International Team Events such as the European Men’s and Women’s Team Competition, plus International Matches and qualification for the Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 on the horizon, the re-introduction of the Senior National Squad started the season with a bang. The 2019/20 calendar highlighted events such as Senior Select Matches against the UK Armed Forces and British Police, Junior European Championships, Graded 4 Nations International, European Club Championships, Senior International Events to name but a few. Our Flagship event held on week 48 at SWNC – the Victor Welsh International 2019 - was a success with over 40 countries represented. The commitment and dedication to host an International Series Event begins early in the year with the support of the Badminton Volunteers who make the event the showcase that it has become. Year on year BW strive to better the previous year’s competition. The event has been upgraded from Future Series to International Series in 2018 and the goal is to increase the level of the event to an International Challenge to sit alongside Scotland and Ireland's International Challenge Tournaments to attract the World best and to introduce a Junior WINT competiton. Strategic Highlights Following a strategic review of BW in 2016, the needs of the business were mapped out for retention, growth and sustainability to focus on the business, operations and delivery strands. The following examples are some of the key areas which have and continue to be targeted: Membership System, New Brand, Staff restructure, growth of shuttle time, New Coach education pathway, Membership engagement plan, focused Event Schedule, volunteer recruitment and deployment, marketing and communication plan to name but a few. BW Mission is to grow the number of people playing and volunteering for and in the sport of badminton in Wales and the number of welsh players winning medals in domestic and international tournaments In order to continue to strive and move the business forward Badminton Wales has four key strategic objectives which we believe are key to the delivery of our mission: - The 2020 strategic review has looked at two core elements that these Strategic Objectives underpin - Badminton Participation and Badminton Performance. Engage with our Badminton community to drive the needs of Badminton at that level and continue to drive International success and improve standards within our Elite Performance Programme. The Team were involved in the mapping process looking at gaps, what can be improved, made better, increased or introduced as well as what must happen in order to achieve the objectives. The Team engagement was critical to ensure ideas and vision can be translated to work programmes that are linked directly to the BW Strategy, providing a clear direction for the team plus ownership and drive with a collective approach. Stabilising our organization to be less reliant on public funding is something that we continue to strive towards. Increase funding resources The Objective: · Increase support from Badminton - Increase participation in Badminton in Wales Wales - these are the elements which sit Increase Volunteers closest to the aim and are critical in order | Increase tournaments for Badminton in to achieve this Objective. Wales The Objective: Player Support Packages - Increase performance in Badminton in Coaching Pathway Wales - these are the elements which sit International Major Events closest to the aim and are critical in order | Funding | Resource to achieve this Objective. Operating Highlights In August 2020 the role of Senior Performance Coach was filled by Chris Rees who has been working with us over the past year as a Consultant Coach. Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience of coaching at the highest level to the role. As we continue our Return to Training our Performance Players will slowly begin to return to International Competition and our Performance Programme will grow over the coming season. Our present challenges should not detract from what was a first 7 months of building and growing. The Team continued to develop programmes during the 5-month lockdown period. Couch to Court, At Home Badminton, AirBadminton and BW workforce opportunities will be released over the coming months, which will further enhance our education programmes available to our members - Activators, Youth Apprenticeship, Team Manager opportunities to name a few. We hope these opportunities, which can be accessed by our members, will be popular and in turn increase the BW workforce as we continue to drive our Strategy. Looking Ahead COVID-19 has had a huge impact upon our community game aswell as the elite side of the sport. COVID-19 continues to be a great threat to Badminton in Wales as participation in the sport has been impacted by this global health crisis. It will be for Badminton Wales and the wider Badminton community to work together to survive this crisis and help the game to rise out of the ashes and prosper. PPRROOTTEECCTT -- PPRREEPPAARREE -- TTHHRRIIVVEE We have protected the organization during the lockdown period, we are preparing for our Return to full Badminton play and we will thrive and come back stronger over the coming months / years as we continue to work closely with our members, Home Nation counterparts, other Welsh NGBs, Sport Wales, WSA and build on the positive relationships. INTERNATIONAL MATCHES Our newly reformed National British Police. Wales Select Tsung Fong Mo (WAL) against Ireland Senior Squad against the UK were again victorious over the Armed Forces and British British Police. Police culminated in a friendly match away to Ireland A small Welsh representative followed by a full International team headed to Ireland for an Match on home soil ahead of exhibition match which was the Welsh International 2019. followed by the full After a number of years away International Match against Wales Senior National Squad Ireland on home soil. Some stepped back onto the very good performances by International stage with both the Senior National Team Men’s and Women’s Team however we the match was represented at the European lost 5 – 0. Disappointing but Men’s & Women’s Team giving us an insight into the Competition. level of work that needs to be carried out over the coming The year began with a years.