Northern Marianas Badminton Association President Merlie Tolentino, right, receives the Badminton World Federation Member Association Participation Award from BWF Deputy President Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul of Thailand during the 3rd Annual BWF Member Association Awards in Chengdu, China on Saturday.
(NMBA) — The Northern Marianas Badminton Association was presented with a prestigious award during the Badminton World Federation’s 3rd Annual Member Association Awards in Chengdu, China on Saturday.
The NMBA won the BWF Member Association Participation Award for its Interscholastic Badminton League program that was first introduced in the islands in 2021, in partnership with the CNMI Public School System and TakeCare Insurance Company Inc. The NMBA was presented with a plaque, trophy, and an equipment grant for this accomplishment. NMBA President Merlie Tolentino received the award from BWF Deputy President Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul of Thailand.
The BWF Member Association Participation Award is one of the four awards of the world governing body of badminton. The three others are the Membership Grant Program Impact Award, the Inclusion Award, and the Promotion Award. The awards are designed to showcase excellence and promote best practice across BWF’s member associations or MAs with nominees selected based on the program’s excellence, innovation, impact, and sustainability. BWF has 201 MAs.
“This recognition means a lot to us and to our partners in developing the sport of badminton in our islands. The NMBA would like to thank the CNMI Public School System, the teachers/coaches students, and officials of all public and private schools in the Northern Marianas, and TakeCare Insurance, for their contribution to the success of our interscholastic program. We would also like to acknowledge the continued support and opportunities that the NMBA has been receiving from Badminton World Federation, Badminton Oceania, and the Northern Marianas Sports Association,” Tolentino said.
The NMBA is the first member of Badminton Oceania to have won the BWF Member Association Participation Award. It is also the first national sports federation in the NMI to win an award from a world governing body of sports.
“The significance of this award cannot be understated both for our region and for Northern Marianas Badminton, a small [jurisdiction] of 50,000 people where badminton is now a sport of significance through the development work being done in the schools and with the juniors and the hosting of the two back-to-back international tournaments. I congratulate Merlie and her team for their achievements and know that badminton in Northern Marianas will continue to go from strength to strength,” Badminton Oceania Secretary General Julie Carrel said.
The TakeCare-PSS Interscholastic Badminton League was established to give student-athletes a platform to develop their skills and compete for school pride. It started with the NMBA conducting a series of Shuttle Time sessions, an initiative of BWF with MAs like the NMBA going to school to offer free badminton clinics and equipment to encourage the youth to play badminton. Two years after consistently engaging schools, the NMBA was able to attract young players and grow the number of students interested in playing the sport. And with the help of the CNMI Public School System, through Athletic Department Director Nick Gross, the interscholastic badminton program was established in 2021, featuring competitions in both high school and middle school divisions and also training students in umpiring and line judging, and teachers in coaching.
In the 2023 statistics released by the CNMI Public School System’s Athletic Department, badminton registered a staggering 81% growth in participation — the highest among the seven sports played in the interscholastic level in the islands. That same year, the NMBA was able to assemble a junior national team that represented the NMI well in the U15 Pacific Invitation Team Challenge 2023 in New Zealand, as the group nearly made it to the medal podium.
As students’ participation in interscholastic badminton continues to grow, the NMI’s junior national team pool also deepens, boosting the NMBA’ grassroots program and giving the association more talents to tap for both international and regional competitions. This year, the NMBA took high and middle school players in Australia for the U17 Pacific Invitation Team Challenge 2024 and the NMI Junior National Team came back with a bronze medal.
More than this world recognition and other accolades, what inspires the NMBA more to strengthen the interscholastic program is its mission to help build a healthier community through sports involvement. In the nomination form, Tolentino noted that in the Pacific where the NMI is part of, the percentage of people that are either overweight or obese is very alarming due to different factors, such as lack of exercise/activities.
“It is NMBA’s hope that through the promotion of badminton among students, our youth will understand the importance of not only acquiring athletics skills, but also practicing healthy habits that they can carry on through their adult life,” the NMBA president said.
