Badminton Papua New Guinea sent six para-athletes over to Victoria that are set to compete in the Victor Oceania Para Badminton Championships that begins today and will be followed by the Western Australia Para badminton International.
President Kinivanagi Karo was nothing short of proud of his team and praised them for their tireless efforts and trainings that have gotten them to this point.
Karo was asked by the media if the sport of badminton has grown over the past few years and his response was, “it has grown to a certain extent, what I’ve see over the years is that the Covid-19 period reduced the excitement and motivation, we were gaining momentum and then when covid hit us we had a down turn in terms of attendance.”
He said they were able to get into schools then and are hoping to build that bridge again and be associated with the schools.
“Despite that we are concentrated on our GYMBAD program, which is accommodating the para-athletes and the intellectual disabilities, we’ve concentrated in that area and that is how we have been able to bring them to this stage, and this will be the third time for us participating in the championships,” Karo said.
Karo said in terms of growth the para team is building gradually and will get there, and have also resumed junior development programs and will see an increase in schools.
He also encouraged schools and the surrounding communities to establish clubs so they
can in turn attend competitions.
