Sir Craig Reedie CBE was a proud man today after the Glasgow badminton centre he pioneered was renamed in his honour. It was back in 1979 that Sir Craig identified the site of a disused paint factory as the ideal place to build a community badminton facility.

A year later, after he performed the role of project manager, the Cockburn Centre came into being. It has served the city ever since as a venue for recreational and tournament play as well as providing offices for Scottish badminton’s governing body BADMINTONscotland.

But today, at a ceremony conducted by Cllr Gordon Matheson, the Leader of Glasgow City Council and in the presence of the former BADMINTONscotland and Badminton World Federation President, the Cockburn Centre was renamed the Sir Craig Reedie Badminton Scotland Centre.

Sir Craig, who was impressed by the Centre’s recent £150,000 refurbishment and improvement programme, said: “This is a tremendous honour and to everyone at BADMINTONscotland, ‘Thank you very much’.”

“Congratulations on the recent improvements to the Centre. It seems to be full of young people playing sport and that is how it should be. I am proud of being involved.”

Cllr Matheson paid tribute to Sir Craig as “a badminton man, a world renowned sporting administrator and a good friend of Glasgow” and added: “It is my honour to declare the Sir Craig Reedie Badminton Scotland Centre officially open.”

Anne Smillie, Chief Executive of BADMINTONscotland, hailed Sir Craig for his vision in pushing through the organisation’s move from Edinburgh to Glasgow and then identifying and project managing the development which led to the birth of a centre which has served the Glasgow community for the last 34 years.

“We are incredibly grateful to Sir Craig for what he has done for Scottish badminton,” she added, content in the knowledge that the new-look centre will serve Glasgow for many years to come.

The facelift was possible thanks to a £150,000 grant from sportscotland, the national agency for sport, and £50,000 from Biffa Award, a multi-million pound fund that helps to build communities and transform lives through awarding grants to community and environmental projects across the UK.

The improvements include a new high performance sprung floor and state-of-the-art competition lighting in the Tom Pettigrew Hall, and new improved changing and shower facilities.

The improvements have resulted in the Sir Craig Reedie Badminton Scotland Centre being shortlisted for an award in the Recreation category at the Biffa Awards on October 9 at London’s Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

Smillie added: “The Centre is home to more than 400 members and 20 clubs as well as schools in the city and will also be a key practice venue for the players from all over the world who will be coming to Glasgow to compete in the Scottish Open Grand Prix from November 19-23.”

Tickets for the Scottish Open are already on sale. Check out www.badmintonscotland.org.uk for details and to benefit from early bird ticket discounts.

Pictured from left to right: Cllr Gordon Matheson, Johann Lamont MSP, Anne Smillie, Sir Craig Reedie CBE

Article and photo by BADMINTONscotland.