wheelchair

The BC Smash Graz would like to expand its Para Badminton offer from autumn. To get to know the sport and to dismantle uncertainties, the club organized a trial training together with the state champion.

The ASKÖ hall in the heart of Eggenberg fills up with enthusiastic badminton players: inside. The training of the Badminton Club (BC) Smash Graz takes place four times a week. But today there is a special training, because the young people and adults get an insight into the world of the para-badminton. Daniel Kontsch, former paraclic and para-Badminton State champion in doubles, played along at the BC Smash Graz final tournament last year. To do this, you have adjusted the field so that a game against walking players is fair: inside.

The walking players learn through their own trying out: inside, how to move in the sports wheelchair and at the same time hit the ball over the tense network.

Change of perspective to reduce barriers

“We thought that it was difficult to take wheelchair users directly into the club training if many children do not know how to deal with them. Do you have to play carefully – they demand?” Explains Britta Rudolf, trainer of the BC Smash Graz, during trial training. As a result, the idea arose to organize an event where everyone can take a seat and try it out even in a wheelchair. Now the walking club members sit in the sports wheelchair for the first time and ask directly how to drive backwards or move with rackets in the hand. “Pushing back is even heavier in the wheelchair than in the car,” jokes a club member, trying to move the badminton back over the net.

New Para-Badminton base

Rudolf is currently training the two para athletes Johann Färrer and Daniel Kontsch in the Raiffeisen Sportpark. From autumn, the Para-Badminton range is to be expanded and Graz will become an official base of the sport with regular training. Färrer and Kontsch took part in this year’s Para Badminton State Championships in Innsbruck on June 21. Together they won the title in doubles. Johann Färrer was finally able to prevail in the individual competition. The state championship in Para-Badminton found this year for the first time As part of the Sport Austria Finals and a strong sign of lived inclusion in sports was set. Almost 7000 Athlete: Inside, in 37 sports at the event in Innsbruck.

To create fairness, there are six different game categories, depending on the type of disability. Wheelchair users: Inside, for example, only half the field of walkers. There is also an out area around the network, since it is difficult to reach with the wheelchair in a short time.Para-Badminton has also developed greatly worldwide in recent years. Rudolf reports that a few years ago she often experienced the sport as a loose back and forth. In the meantime it is a serious discipline and there are your own tournaments and your own para-badminton list. In 2021 she was for the first time at the Tokyo Olympics. Finally, how the Graz base develops depends on the interest on the part of the athlete: inside.

Badminton as a cycling type

The Badmintonverein Smash Graz was founded 20 years ago by hobby players: founded on the inside and trains four times a week in the ASKÖ hall. Around 45 children and adolescents currently play in the club who are coached by six coaches: inside. The second Bundesliga is currently being played. Despite the marginal sport, the association receives lively encouragement from schools. For example, courses are organized for the first time during the summer vacation. In addition, there are also more and more inquiries from adults, but they indicate a current problem. “There is only one commercial hall in Graz,” says Rudolf. After all, many people who want to play badminton or badminte have to pay high sums. The association must therefore weigh whether people only apply because membership is cheaper than renting places or whether there is a willingness to actively get involved in the club.

Cover picture: Group picture of the trial lesson in Para-Badminton-Photo: Anna Fiala