Letter to Members -75TH anniversary of founding-

Dear Member Associations

75 years ago, at Bush House London on 5 July 1934 to be exact, nine countries- Canada, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, New Zealand and Wales - got together to form an organization called the International Badminton Federation to regulate, promote and develop their beloved sport badminton around the world.

75 years on, we can look back and celebrate our achievements and acknowledge those who have contributed to the success of the sport. The fact that our membership has steadily grown from the nine founding members in 1934 to 165 Members in 2009 is remarkable, and with several applications pending, this number too, will soon change.

Today on the 5th July 2009, it gives me great pleasure and it is an honour to wish all our Members, and our badminton community, a Happy 75th Birthday.

The sport has evolved over the years, namely its philosophy, rules, laws, format and all these have been either forced upon us or have been necessary to keep up with the changing times and the changing needs of our world badminton community.

If the objective of the game in the early years was to keep the shuttle in the air for as long as possible, the objective today is to end a rally as quickly as one can.

The service point system has now been replaced by the rally point system. On 1 October 2005, the administration of the Federation shifted to its new headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Cheltenham, England where it had been for many years and a year later on 24 September 2006, the Federation officially came to be known as the Badminton World Federation.

As a sport with a rich tradition and history, we have over the years, been faced with our fair share of challenges in administering and regulating the sport. Collectively the sport has resolved the many challenges and has grown stronger and more focused as a result.

Through all the changes and challenges over the years, there is one key ingredient that has kept the Federation moving and growing in the right direction, and that is its Members. All 165 of you. Without your commitment and wholehearted support, badminton will not be where it is today.

My appreciation and gratitude goes out to all our past BWF presidents and Council members who played a pivotal role in carrying out the will of the membership. I must also thank the thousands and thousands of volunteers who sacrifice their weekends either to officiate or coach little kids and our talented youth who will be tomorrows champions of the sport.

To the fans, another big thank you because your support means a lot to us and our players. And to the sponsors who make a lot of these events and activities possible, we can’t thank you enough. We have had some very long term relations with some of our sponsors and we very much appreciate the investment they make in our sport.

Despite the global challenges facing the economy in recent month, badminton has found some staunch commercial partners and we are indeed grateful to all of them.

As an Olympic sport, we are still very much in our infancy but we are buoyed by the hugely successful Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and we will strive to work very much harder to ensure London 2012 is another major success for the BWF and the sport.

To that end, my colleagues in Council and I, and the BWF staff are fully committed to realizing this goal.

We shall not be lulled into complacency. Whilst we acknowledge the extremely good work that has brought us to where we are today, there is so much more room for improvement and this must be a continuing process.

Rest assured that my colleagues on Council and I will continue to do our best to safeguard the trust and faith you have entrusted us to develop our beloved sport further in the next four years.


Thank you, and once again, Happy Birthday BWF!


KANG YOUNG JOONG
President