The Badminton Administrative Support and Information Sharing programme (BASIS), exists to support Member Associations (MAs) and their staff or volunteers to further develop and grow many aspects of their operation. It is an offering extended to MAs of all sizes, and we would like to encourage interested parties to apply now. 

BASIS is first and foremost a ‘demand-led’ programme, meaning that you tell us what you need or want, and we can work with you to build a support offering that accommodates the appropriate areas. Therefore, please do reach out to start the conversation right away. We are also taking an evidence-based approach to BASIS. With the help of the results of the BEC Member Survey, Badminton Europe Confederation (BEC) is proactively engaging with MAs to suggest that they apply for programmes that provide support in the areas where they have identified that they need our help.

BEC provides financial support for costs associated with participation. Visit the website for more information on all of the many other programmes that are offered under BASIS. 

Emma Mason, BEC Director and Chair of the Member Support Commission, is proud of what the BASIS programme has achieved thus far but encourages more Member Associations to come forward and be a part of the exciting future activities. 

“At BEC, we are committed to developing European badminton and our MAs.  We recognise that to achieve the results the European badminton community wants in High Performance, Commercial and Major Events, BEC must help increase the knowledge and capacity of our MAs from an administrative perspective.  BASIS has been designed to do just that.  The range of programmes that we are offering under BASIS is increasing year on year as we better understand the areas where most help is needed and where we can add most value to our MAs.  I’d like to encourage all MAs who have an interest in the BASIS programmes to contact Tania Teoh at BEC (details below) to find out how we can assist you.  We look forward to working with you!”

One such support activity can be the Shadow Programme, which provides an opportunity for MAs to send an employee or retiring player to BEC activities/events and shadow a key member of staff. Through this, the individual will gain direct experience of preparation and delivery of major events.

Georgiy Natarov and Artem Stasiuk from the Ukrainian Badminton Association took part in a shadow programme at the recent European Men’s and Women’s Team Championship in Liévin, France. For them it was an invaluable process in the lead up to hosting the European Championships in Kyiv next month. Natarov shares his thoughts on the programme. 

“It was a great experience to see how a really good team is running the biggest team event in Europe on a high level. From day one we saw good coordination of all the planning inside the venue.” 

“We had an opportunity to talk about major events with the organisers and Yonex team which will help us a lot to make good preparation work for us. We learnt a lot from this event.” Stasiuk added. 

The cycle of knowledge sharing continues, as Michał Langer, General Secretary of the Polish Badminton Association will be partaking in the shadow programme at the European Championships in Kyiv. He is looking to take a lot from the event and utilise them at the European Club Championships and European Junior Championships taking place in Poland this year. 

Michał Langer will be shadowing BEC Events Manager, Tamara Geerearts amongst others, gaining transferable skills and knowledge on delivering a successful major event. 

In addition, potential hosts bidding for the BEC Congress will be for the first-time sending representatives to shadow key BEC staff at this year’s BEC Congress in Bucharest, Romania. This event is an important opportunity to network and exchange ideas amongst member associations and celebrate the efforts of the badminton community with the backdrop of a picturesque host city.

If you think the various Shadow Programmes are applicable to you, or a member of your team, click here for more information.

Another great option is Representative Visits. This is where BEC staff visit an MA, focusing on certain key areas, and amongst many things, share information, network, meet with officials and local authorities. Karla Kennedy, who is a Membership & Development Intern at Badminton Ireland greatly benefitted from this programme.

“Although we are all so tech-savvy these days and often think that we know how to use social media, it is constantly evolving, and we must keep up to date with it. The training provided some valuable insights about how to use social media advantageously in our business and some tips to help along the way.”

If you are looking to improve and develop a certain aspect of your association, we can help. You can focus on areas such as:

•Governance

•Events Management

•Commercial

•Communication

•General Development Planning

•General High Performance Planning

•Para badminton

•Gender Equity

Click here for more information on each area. 

We aspire to enhance all our MAs domestic umpire education system through the National Umpire Education Programme. This is a vital component in the world of badminton. A sentiment shared by Sven Serré, BEC Director, creator of the National Umpire Education Programme and one of the tutors for this course. 

“It is a great opportunity to gather many countries together in order to help them bring their national level of umpires closer to the required BEC standard and continue to have the best umpires in the world.”

If this appeals to you, click here for more information. 

BEC Strategic Planning Day
Another initiative under the BASIS Programme is organizing the BEC Strategic Planning Day for selected MAs. This year, the BEC Strategic Planning Day will take place on 2nd April 2020 in Bucharest, one day before the start of the BEC Congress.

To learn more about all the Member Support activities within the BASIS Programme, click here. 

If you are interested or have any questions at all, contact Tania Teoh, BEC Development and High Performance Manager at tania.teoh@badmintoneurope.com for more information. 

There will also be an opportunity for you to discuss BASIS with Tania Teoh and Emma Mason during the Commission Clinics at the upcoming BEC Members Forum in Bucharest, Romania.  We look forward to seeing you there!