KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — The Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association (KLBA) will establish badminton training centres at four schools to unearth new talent at the grassroots level.
Its president Datuk Seri Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos said the four centres are capable of accommodating 3,000 to 5,000 participants compared to 80 training at any one time in the KLBA centre.
He said the schools involved are SMK Kepong Baru, SMK Sri Pantai, SMK Seri Bintang Selatan and SMK Wangsa Melawati, after receiving approval from the Education Department of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (JPWPKL) recently.
“We will involve participants from 292 schools throughout Kuala Lumpur. Now it is bigger with the existence of these training centres and we give teachers at the schools the opportunity to be trained for a badminton coaching certificate recognised by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM),” he said after the launch of the 2023 KL Closed Jejak Juara badminton tournament at SMK Seri Bintang Selatan, earlier today.
The tournament scheduled from May 20 May 28 will feature individual events for boys and girls from under-8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 age groups, said Jahaberdeen, adding it is a KLBA initiative through the Trail of Champions Project 2022-2027 which was launched in August last year.
“KLBA, in collaboration with JPWPKL, hopes to see the tourney enter the Malaysia Book of Records as the Largest Badminton Tournament in the country if entries reach 3,500 participants,” he said.
— Bernama
