Badminton Europe Confederation (BEC) would like to congratulate Swiss Badminton on their 70th anniversary. We celebrate their achievements as they mark seven decades of commitment and progress.
From Robbert de Kock, President of Swiss Badminton:
70 years is a big number — not many companies reach such longevity. Our sport has grown ever since and today, men’s singles in badminton is the most watched event of all competitions at the Olympic Games.
Also in Switzerland, Badminton has considerably grown. We have more members than ever, a semi-professional league with plenty of European top players. The players can choose from more than 280 clubs and over 70 private centres, our professional office has 9 staff members and 4 coaches. Every March, the best players in the world gather at the “Swiss Open” — for more than 40 years already, and we have also successfully hosted 3 World Championships: the editions of 1995 and 2019, as well as the Para badminton World Championships in 2019.
In the 10 years of my Presidency, we made a lot of progress in professionalizing the Swiss Badminton office, increasing the services for all members but also our centralization for our National Team players (12 professional players in Bern). We continue to improve and we newly have a 50/50 board (male/female). For several years, our ethical and good governance code has been in place. Performance-wise, we are on the right track and by qualifying 2 players for Paris 2024, we have reached our objectives once again. Also, our European and World titles and medals with the Elite, Juniors, and Seniors are simply a joy! Not to speak about the excellent performances of our Para badminton players.
If you read all of the above, you will understand that working for Swiss Badminton, as a staff or board member, is very satisfying and we all execute our activities with huge pride. We are ready for the future and we are looking forward to the next steps for badminton in Switzerland.
From Simone Ramsauer, Managing Director of Swiss Badminton:
As Managing Director, I have been able to help shape and accompany Swiss Badminton for more than 7 years. These have been incredibly intense years, notably the years of the coronavirus pandemic, which demanded everything from all sports organisations. The emotions and successes that we have recently been able to live in this fascinating yet so demanding sport on elite and junior competitive level, as well as in club development, make us fly.
It is a privilege to lead and further professionalise Swiss Badminton. Together with an incredible team, we are achieving this step by step and I am extremely grateful for that. My wish for Swiss Badminton is that more and more people in Switzerland and Europe discover this attractive and inclusive sport for themselves and that Switzerland continues to establish itself at the top of European badminton.
Badminton Europe extends its heartfelt congratulations to Swiss Badminton on this anniversary and looks forward to seeing the continued growth and success of badminton in Switzerland.