Could best Xmas/New Year's gift be return of badminton clubs?

Year in, year out, the media continue to highlight the same sad story of Malaysian badminton. And for 2021, it is no different.

The above was the first paragraph from New Straits Times' Fabian Peter published yesterday.

The Star's Rajes Paul wrote today:

What then is the problem? Why can’t we produce champions or have a thriving development programme?

The conclusion that I like to make, like a broken record, is that we lack a workable system.

Former badminton stars, Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Roslin Hashim also shared their thoughts following Singaporean Loh Kean Yew's historic World Championship victory recently. They both said now is not the time to play the blame game amidst talks that the Penang-born could have been Malaysia's saviour in the scene.

Journalist Asan Ahmad twitter about this not too long ago. It applies to all sports, generally.

I quoted his tweet and wrote:

Yes, the rot started decades ago and it may take perhaps decades to undo the wrong.

The best way to speed things up is by getting more people involved in the sport - to unearth talents and create healthy competition.

This reminds me of my Twentytwo13 article in 2019. The final two paragraphs read: 

If only clubs like Nusa Mahsuri and KLRC Berhad had been embraced instead of demonized in the early days, we could have seen more clubs mushrooming.

Better late than never.

After all, the BA of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria, had in a press release in July ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, said:

“We didn’t differentiate between the players, whether they were professional or BAM players, they are all one Malaysian team. They worked hard and were committed despite the difficult conditions. I am extremely delighted with their spirit and commitment and confident they will deliver their best in Tokyo.”

Perhaps the best Christmas or even New Year's gift would be the return of badminton clubs into the mainframe of the badminton ecosystem.

Ho, ho, ho ... Merry Xmas!

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