BC School Sports (BCSS) has opted to remove mixed-gender doubles badminton from competitions starting next school year, and the choice has left the hefty majority of the sport’s community baffled.
This includes Keith Warkentin, a PGSS badminton coach and the North Central Zone representative.
“It is crazy. There are a lot of people in the badminton community in BC that are upset by this rule change,” he told My PG Now.
Mixed doubles is one of five badminton events played at all levels including the Olympics – alongside men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, and women’s doubles.
BCSS’ rationale for the change? The inclusion of a mixed doubles event is not fair for BC’s six single-gender high schools.
“In so many ways it does not make sense,” Warkentin said. “It is six schools that seem to be driving the rule change that affects hundreds.”
“It is hard to think of a rule change that could so negatively impact our sport,” he continued. “It affects our singles category as well – our singles players also play mixed, you are taking away half of their job. The singles players are upset, the mixed doubles players are upset.”
He is also concerned that the rule change would make it more difficult for schools with smaller programs to field teams if they are limited to single-gender pairings.
Warkentin said over 90% of high school badminton coaches in the province agree the change is absurd and should be walked back, however the BCSS organization has held firm and declared the decision final.
A petition to squash the rule change has been launched by a Surrey area coach in response. It has been signed over 3,200 times.
Both the survey and Warkentin claim provincial opinion surveys were completely ignored by the BCSS shot callers.
“The people who are opposed just can’t believe they are taking this away,” he said, perplexed further by the fact that other mixed-gender sports are not being given the same treatment, only badminton. “It is not across the board. We are at a loss as to why they wouldn’t be willing to consider the voices of people within the sport.”
“We (the Badminton Sport Advisory Committee) tried to talk with BCSS when we heard about it. We said why it would be a bad idea. Now they want us to come up with the new format, develop the rule change that we are against.”
Warkentin encourages high school students to give badminton a shot, despite the drama.
13 high schools have badminton programs from grades 8-12 in ‘A’ and ‘B’ categories, one for beginners and one for more experienced players.
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