Badminton Europe Confederation (BEC) would like to wish the Polish Badminton Association a happy 45th anniversary.

Polish Badminton Association was founded on November 7th, 1977, at the General Assembly that took the place on the same day at Olymp Club in Warsaw. The city of Głubczyce witnessed the gathering of the representatives of nine badminton clubs who signed the declarations to access to the Polish Badminton Association. In 1978, the  Polish Badminton Association joined the EBU (former Badminton Europe Confederation) and in 1981 they became part of the BWF.

Andrzej Szalewicz was elected the first President of the Polish Badminton Association and fulfilled his duties for four consecutive terms from 1977 to 1991. He was a European Badminton Union Council member and in the years 1987-1992, he also acted as Vice President. The responsibilities of Secretary General went to Mrs. Jadwiga Ślawska, who was elected President in 1991. In 1997, Ślawska was appointed EBU Council Member, and in 2005-2007, she was the EBU Vice President. 

Mr Michał Mirowski was elected the next President. In October 2011, Mr. Marek Krajewski took over leading the organisation. The Extraordinary General Assembly in 2018 and the ordinary one in 2021 elected him President again for the next four years. At the moment, the president of the Polish Badminton Association is Marek Krajewski, and the General Secretary is Marzenna Koszewska.

In 2022, the idea was to mark this jubilee year with international tournaments organised in different parts of Poland: Polish Open at Arłamów, Polish U-17 International in Bieruń, Polish U-17 Open in Częstochowa, Polish U-19 Open in Gniezno, Polish International in Lublin, and Polish U-19 International in Głubczyce. The tournament in Głubczyce scheduled for December and which will take place exactly where the Polish Badminton Association’s history started 45 years ago, will be the culmination point of the anniversary activities in 2022. 

Last but not least is Poland’s key event – the National Badminton Days organised at the Centenary Hall in Wrocław. The “sports for all” event gathering school children, youth, adults, amateur, and professional players, carried an additional message this year.

Following the invitation of the Polish Badminton Association, players representing the national squad of Ukraine played a friendly match with Polish U-19 badminton players. Since February 2022, all the events organised by the Association in Poland have carried the message of “in solidarity with Ukraine”. 

In the  year of the 45th anniversary, we have presented a new brand of “Polish Badminton”. It is a subtle combination of a shuttlecock placed within the borders of Poland and presented in our national colours. It is a symbolic marking of all the national squads, the clubs, and the individual players, all the events and the matches organised on at all levels and for all the age categories in Poland.

“Polish Badminton” is also the name of the Polish Badminton Association’s newsletter published for the first time this year on the eve of National Badminton Days. On November 7 2022, the Polish Post will issue the occasional postcard with a date stamp, bearing the Polish Badminton Association official logo to commemorate the 45th anniversary.

Badminton Europe wishes the Polish Badminton Association a happy anniversary and looks forward to pursuing this fruitful cooperation.

Click here to know more about the Polish Badminton Association: Poland Badminton.