Badminton: Schools event shows huge teen interest

Tauranga Boys' College pair Campbell Smith (left) and Quinn Porteous in action at the NZ Secondary School badminton nationals. Photo / George Novak

This week's NZ Secondary School nationals in Tauranga are the latest indicator of the increase in teenagers playing badminton.

The tournament that concludes today at the QEII Youth Centre is a first for Tauranga.

Delwyn Cooper, BayTrust CoachForce badminton development officer, said a record number of 31 teams were competing this week, up from 19 last year.

"This year is the first time we have had a division two, which I think has made a great change and means you can bring some more young kids through as more of a development phase," Cooper said.

"It is really good the numbers we are getting through at teenage level. We are getting increased numbers, especially in girls, and Badminton New Zealand has recognised this and are doing a Girls in Badminton project over the next two years."

Cooper trialled an after-school badminton group this year to get teenagers into the sport.

She said it was a huge success. "We had about 20 boys and 100 girls involved in an after-school casual-thing for them to come and have a hit.

"I have kids now who are saying can we do it again, so from my point of view badminton is up and it is great to bring something like this (nationals) to our area to showcase it a bit more."

Badminton is ranked in the top 10 sports across all secondary schools in New Zealand and Cooper said if they had more chances to play, it would rank in the top five among girls.

The star individual performer this week was Australasian under-17 champion Oscar Gao, 14, from the dominant Westlake Boys' High School team that are favoured to win today's final.

Macleans College, Pakuranga, Auckland, are favoured to take out the girls' title, with Bethlehem College the best performed among the Western Bay schools.

The final rounds of the nationals are at 9am and 12pm today.