Oceania Roadshow starts in Saipan today

Badminton Oceania asked if Northern Marianas Badminton Federation would like a visit from the regional development manager which is seeking membership with Badminton Oceania.

NMBF president Marconi Calindas is coordinating with administrators of the various schools to give the young kids the opportunity to learn basic information about badminton as well as basic skills and techniques of the sport.

Mordaunt will be there from Oct. 1 to 12.

Badminton is a regular sport in the Olympic calendar. It is the No. 1 sport in China and Indonesia, where the best players in the world are from.

It is also popular in New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and China.

Badminton tournaments have also become a regular fixture in Palau.

From the CNMI, Mordaunt will also have an 11-day visit to Palau because the two Micronesian islands have shown a lot of interest in becoming a member of Badminton Oceania.

Mordaunt's visit to Saipan is expected to pave the way for Saipan's inclusion into Oceania.

Aside from promoting the sport to schoolchildren, Mordaunt will also conduct a workshop for badminton club members who wanted to become coach.

Mordaunt, who has been playing the game for 25 years, had previously conducted such visits to other Pacific countries like Fiji, Tuvalu, and Norfolk Islands.

Earlier, Mordaunt sent messages to the NMBF about his excitement in visiting the CNMI.

He said his goal is to make sure to assist CNMI and Palau to sustainable in running the badminton association to enable them to develop their juniors and members.

He said the workshop would help a lot in the growth of the sport.
More coaches, he said, must be developed because they would help achieve such goal.

Mordaunt also thanked the BWF for providing support for this project.

(Oceaniabadminton.org)