The program to run across all five development regions of the country aims to teach badminton to 20,000 school students until September. The project is funded by Australia's department for Foreign Affairs and Trade under its Asian Sports Partnership Program 2015/16. Sport Matters, a non-government organization based in Australia, and Badminton Australia have coordinated with the Australian government to run the project in Nepal.
Australia's department for Foreign Affairs and Trade will provide Australian $ 200,000 (approximately Rs 15.7 m) to run the program. Besides spending the amount on Shuttle Nepal, the amount will also be used for infrastructure development of badminton.
The governing body of world badminton, Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Badminton Asian Confederation (BAC), will provide technical assistance to run the program which is currently in operation across 100 nations globally. The BWF also gave away 100 shuttles to Nepal Badminton Association during the launch of the project.
The schools will be given badminton kits free of cost besides teaching resources in English and Nepali languages.
The program is currently being run across 100 countries globally including 27 in Europe, 25 in Asia, 23 in PAN America, 17 in African and eight in Oceania.
In the initial stage, 23 tutors from five different regions have been trained for the program under the aegis of BWF and BAC. The 23 tutors will train 500 school teaches across the nation who will train at least 20,000 school children.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Minister for Youth and Sports Mandal thanked the government of Australia, other stakeholders and Nepal Badminton Association for running the program.
Australia's Ambassador to Nepal White said that Australia and Nepal share a love of sport which has the ability to define "our nations' identity, values and culture".
"I am pleased to announce a new relationship between the Australian government, Badminton Australia, the World Badminton Federation and the Nepal Badminton Association. I look forward to seeing communities work together in positive ways through badminton and other sports in Nepal," said White.
Jackie Lauff, the CEO of Sport Matter, highlighted about the project and its objectives. "We believe that sports have the power to change. Shuttle Time Nepal aims to use badminton to promote social inclusion, peace-building and health among primary school children across Nepal and is expected to leave a lasting legacy for children, teachers, and for communities in Nepal."
Nepal Badminton Association President Ramesh Kumar Shrestha said that the project was great opportunity for the development of Nepali badminton. "The Shuttle Nepal will also help to overcome trauma of earthquake and tremor that rocked the country."
National Sports Council (NSC) Member Secretary Keshav Kumar Bista said that the project shall be a milestone for the development of the game in Nepal. "Though badminton has a great potential in Nepal, we have not witnessed success at the international level. These types of programs will be vital in producing coaches in big numbers. NSC will leave no stone unturned to make this program a successful one," Bista said.
Shuttle buses to come into operation for convenience of tourist...
