The USAB Board of Directors has officially reversed the proposed tournament restrictions and agreed to our request for formal representation. We achieved this outcome by maintaining pressure until our proposal was incorporated into the final policy manual. I will now shift focus to coordinating with the board to finalize the …
May 26, 2017
Final supporters
The rights of juniors to play more than one match per event should be protected by the policies and procedures of the USAB. Clubs, tournament organizers, officials, parents, coaches, and the USAB should strive to meet the needs of all players regardless of current level of play. Our community should focus on increasing, not decreasing opportunities for young people to explore and flourish in the life-long sport of badminton. Policies, intended or not, that restrict access to the positive components of competitive sport run counter to inclusive organizations.
We propose the following modifications to the proposed structures that inherently limit the number of competitive games at USAB sanctioned tournaments. Additionally, we respectively ask for representation on the USAB Board of Directors to ensure junior voices on policies that impact current and future generations of badminton playing in the USA:
1. REWARD CONSOLATION POINTS, NOT PARTICIPATION POINTS, FOR ALL RANKINGS JUNIOR TOURNAMENTS: Keep the Current Consolation System reasons supporting the rewarding of consolation points. (please see details in attachment).
Transition Challenges
Skill Development to Reach Higher Potential
Healthy Development of Self Concept and Self Confidence
Assessment and Rankings
Motivation
Coaching
Multiple Purposes for Tournaments
International Standards
Why Change Something that Works?
Equity Fee Allocation
Family Economics
The Needs of Children
2. POSTPONE ANY NEW JUNIOR POLICY CHANGES UNTIL 2018-2019 SEASON SO THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS MORE TIME TO REVIEW IMPLICATIONS: Parents and the community were not informed of the impact of the changes associated with the new structure.
The new structure was introduced as a forgone conclusion. Substantial modifications to the structure should have been introduced to each region, allowing ample time for feedback and clarifying questions. We recommend that any change in structure be presented as a proposal during JN16 Seattle.
Any proposed change to the structure should consider the impact of the change on regions. It is clear that the proposed changes attempt to alleviate a capacity challenge within a select few regions without considering the deleterious impact on the vast majority of regions across the country.
3. CREATE A NEW SEAT ON THE USAB BOARD OF DIRECTORS THAT REPRESENTS JUNIORS:
The voices of juniors and their parents should be heard and valued as much any other USAB group.
Juniors not only represent the future of the sport, but are currently a sizable portion of USAB members. It is not fair that the rights and welfare of adult athletes, officials, and coaches are represented on the Board, when junior have no formal representation.
There is a disconnect between the USAB central office and the community that represents junior/parents’ rights and perspectives. JAG is only a bridge between central office and community, and appears to have no impact on important decisions facing juniors.
We, the undersigned thank the USAB for its commitment to growing the sport and its support for current and future juniors. However, we strongly appeal to the Board to pull back the current structural changes and instead enter into an ongoing dialogue with the junior community before any changes become permanent. The future of U.S.A. badminton shines bright if our junior player community feels valued and connected to important USAB decisions.
Updates
Reached 500 supporters
February 27, 2017
February 26, 2017
I am currently finalizing the formal briefing document for the USAB board members to outline why the current consolation system must remain. Several regional directors have replied to my initial inquiries and I am organizing these responses for a follow-up meeting regarding policy transparency.
Reached 100 supporters
February 24, 2017
136 Comments
Seattle was not represented during this decision-making process. There needs to be more review. Additionally, traveling players and their coaches deserve to have consolation matches to make the trip worth it.
We are from SoCal region. Strongly support the idea of remaining consolation games in junior badminton tournaments. This is the way to build up the population and the skill level for badminton sport in USA.
Younger athletes training hard to earn their place in the ranking and move up will be very dejected and ultimately drop out of the sport. This move is not in the best interest of badminton in the USA. There will be a move by families to have a parallel association to make the sport available for all!
Badminton is in its nascent phase as a sport in this country. The focus should be on expansion and development, rather than restriction of participation. Representation from all regions and all levels (coaches, club owners, players and parents) is important, as well as transparency in decision making.
Juniors should be able to play the consolation games because they spend so much money to go to different states to play tournament and they spending like $500 just to play 3 games maximum? Don't think that's fair at all and consolation games give junior players another chance to win after losing the first round. So consolation shouldn't be taken down.
Strongly Support!
This cannot happen.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
The USAB Board of Directors has officially reversed the proposed tournament restrictions and agreed to our request for formal representation. We achieved this outcome by maintaining pressure until our proposal was incorporated into the final policy manual. I will now shift focus to coordinating with the board to finalize the …
May 26, 2017
Final supporters
The rights of juniors to play more than one match per event should be protected by the policies and procedures of the USAB. Clubs, tournament organizers, officials, parents, coaches, and the USAB should strive to meet the needs of all players regardless of current level of play. Our community should focus on increasing, not decreasing opportunities for young people to explore and flourish in the life-long sport of badminton. Policies, intended or not, that restrict access to the positive components of competitive sport run counter to inclusive organizations.
We propose the following modifications to the proposed structures that inherently limit the number of competitive games at USAB sanctioned tournaments. Additionally, we respectively ask for representation on the USAB Board of Directors to ensure junior voices on policies that impact current and future generations of badminton playing in the USA:
1. REWARD CONSOLATION POINTS, NOT PARTICIPATION POINTS, FOR ALL RANKINGS JUNIOR TOURNAMENTS: Keep the Current Consolation System reasons supporting the rewarding of consolation points. (please see details in attachment).
Transition Challenges
Skill Development to Reach Higher Potential
Healthy Development of Self Concept and Self Confidence
Assessment and Rankings
Motivation
Coaching
Multiple Purposes for Tournaments
International Standards
Why Change Something that Works?
Equity Fee Allocation
Family Economics
The Needs of Children
2. POSTPONE ANY NEW JUNIOR POLICY CHANGES UNTIL 2018-2019 SEASON SO THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS MORE TIME TO REVIEW IMPLICATIONS: Parents and the community were not informed of the impact of the changes associated with the new structure.
The new structure was introduced as a forgone conclusion. Substantial modifications to the structure should have been introduced to each region, allowing ample time for feedback and clarifying questions. We recommend that any change in structure be presented as a proposal during JN16 Seattle.
Any proposed change to the structure should consider the impact of the change on regions. It is clear that the proposed changes attempt to alleviate a capacity challenge within a select few regions without considering the deleterious impact on the vast majority of regions across the country.
3. CREATE A NEW SEAT ON THE USAB BOARD OF DIRECTORS THAT REPRESENTS JUNIORS:
The voices of juniors and their parents should be heard and valued as much any other USAB group.
Juniors not only represent the future of the sport, but are currently a sizable portion of USAB members. It is not fair that the rights and welfare of adult athletes, officials, and coaches are represented on the Board, when junior have no formal representation.
There is a disconnect between the USAB central office and the community that represents junior/parents’ rights and perspectives. JAG is only a bridge between central office and community, and appears to have no impact on important decisions facing juniors.
We, the undersigned thank the USAB for its commitment to growing the sport and its support for current and future juniors. However, we strongly appeal to the Board to pull back the current structural changes and instead enter into an ongoing dialogue with the junior community before any changes become permanent. The future of U.S.A. badminton shines bright if our junior player community feels valued and connected to important USAB decisions.
Updates
Reached 500 supporters
February 27, 2017
February 26, 2017
I am currently finalizing the formal briefing document for the USAB board members to outline why the current consolation system must remain. Several regional directors have replied to my initial inquiries and I am organizing these responses for a follow-up meeting regarding policy transparency.
Reached 100 supporters
February 24, 2017
136 Comments
Kids playing badminton, a not so popular sport in the US, hasn't been easy, any encouragement the USAB can provide will help the kids to be better on what they love and the parents keeping the passion to continue to support.
Seattle was not represented during this decision-making process. There needs to be more review. Additionally, traveling players and their coaches deserve to have consolation matches to make the trip worth it.
We are from SoCal region. Strongly support the idea of remaining consolation games in junior badminton tournaments. This is the way to build up the population and the skill level for badminton sport in USA.
Younger athletes training hard to earn their place in the ranking and move up will be very dejected and ultimately drop out of the sport. This move is not in the best interest of badminton in the USA. There will be a move by families to have a parallel association to make the sport available for all!
Badminton is in its nascent phase as a sport in this country. The focus should be on expansion and development, rather than restriction of participation. Representation from all regions and all levels (coaches, club owners, players and parents) is important, as well as transparency in decision making.
Juniors should be able to play the consolation games because they spend so much money to go to different states to play tournament and they spending like $500 just to play 3 games maximum? Don't think that's fair at all and consolation games give junior players another chance to win after losing the first round. So consolation shouldn't be taken down.
Strongly Support!
This cannot happen.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
Kids playing badminton, a not so popular sport in the US, hasn't been easy, any encouragement the USAB can provide will help the kids to be better on what they love and the parents keeping the passion to continue to support.