Sakina Anwar-Riaz
A new initiative from Badminton England aims to change the face of the sport to one that is ‘inclusive and accessible’ to communities across the country. It is set to target 200 new spaces, including schools, Islamic centres, church halls, and community centres for grassroots matches, as ‘we cannot rely on leisure centres’ says Chief Executive Sue Storey of Badminton England.
This strategy will increase the estimated 1 million people who play badminton in England “reasonably quickly,” as these settings already exist and can be utilised faster than waiting for new leisure facilities to be built.
The racket sport in its basic form was arguably created in India and although popularized in England, the Asian continent is its powerhouse. This cultural heritage of families playing in gardens back home in Pakistan, India, or Bangladesh, provides many first-generation British Muslims with fond memories of the sport.
Fayka Anwar, a grandmother of seven in Essex, reminisces how she would play as a child on the flat roof of her home in Bangladesh with her cousins and her aunties. “It was such a fun sport that required very little expense.”
At her over-60s club in Gants Hill, Fayka is delighted to play badminton with her friends at their local community centre, dressed in their traditional Asian attire, without committing to the expensive one-year leisure centre memberships that many women of her generation feel daunted by.
This “doorstep sport for women who might not be able to access the kind of spaces that would be the normal place to play” is what Louise Hewitt, who oversees projects for Badminton England in the Northwest, is aiming for. Hewitt believes taking badminton into communities is possible because of the sport’s qualities: play at distances of two metres and equipment that is cheaper than comparable sports.
“We can get grandparents playing with grandchildren, and it’s not adapted,” says Hewitt. “It’s so multigenerational [and] in certain cultures, that goes a long way.”
For many Muslim women, there are considerable barriers to simply joining the local leisure centre. “It gets incredibly hot trying to drive, smash and drop shot whilst wearing a hijab,” says Salma Quaium, a teacher in East London.
“Having a female coach as organized by Muslimah Sports Association, in an exclusively female space, means I can take my hijab off. Stopping play to pray, enables me to play without compromising my values.”
Badminton England is determined to raise the profile of badminton while tackling the crisis in grassroots provision.
“The money the government is putting in is a drop in the ocean of what is needed. As a sport, we’re recognising we cannot rely on public sector leisure centres for the future; we must look at other ways of opening up courts,” admits Sue Storey.
Yashmin Harun, CEO of the Muslimah Sports Association, welcomes this. “We have long thought outside the box by taking sports to the community. We recently worked with Badminton England by creating 10 badminton coordinators to create more ‘No Strings’ sessions. By using local community settings, we are able to create opportunities to engage with women who otherwise could not play,” Harun told The Muslim News.
“Any initiative that creates opportunities for our community to get active is fabulous and most welcomed.” agrees
Ayesha Abdeen, co-founder of Excelerate Women’s Sports Partnership. However, she advises caution. “There is a difference between getting more people playing badminton and making badminton ‘the most inclusive and accessible sport’ as Badminton England states.
As long as Muslim women do not feel comfortable accessing facilities that are considered normal places to play, inclusivity and accessibility cannot be measured,” Abdeen told The Muslim News.
