Annual Report 2018

CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT
This is my first report since taking over as Chairperson of the
Association from Kerrin Harrison at the end of last year. I
would firstly like to thank Kerrin on behalf of Badminton
North Harbour for his commitment and dedication and am
pleased that he still remains a member of the Board. His
knowledge of our great game and his business experience
and expertise are truly invaluable.
This year has been awesome. Due to the success of our inaugural
fund-raising Gala Dinner together with grants and sponsorship
we have been able to generate a pool of money that
has gone towards assisting our young and upcoming players
achieve their dreams. As a result, a number of our leading
juniors have benefited and have been able to gain valuable
experience playing in major competitions overseas.
It was great to see many of our players proudly representing
our Association and New Zealand:
Youth Olympic Games (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Oscar Guo
Total BWF World Championships (Nanjing, China)
Abhinav Manota
BWF World Junior Tournament (Toronto, Canada)
Shaunna Li, Oscar Guo and Edward Lau
Asia Pacific u19 Team Championship & Australian Junior
International (Perth, Australia)
Oscar Guo, Shaunna Li and Joshua Feng
Sydney International (Sydney, Australia)
Abhinav Manota, Anona Pak, Maika Phillips, Justine Villegas,
Alyssa Tagle, Shaunna Li, Nicco Tagle and Fransisca Rahardja
South Australia International (Adelaide, Australia)
Abhinav Manota, Anona Pak, Maika Phillips, Oscar Guo,
Justine Villegas, Alyssa Tagle and Nicco Tagle
I recently watched Oscar Guo on Sky TV playing at the World
Youth Olympics, where he won a silver medal in the badminton
team relay. Being seen at such high-profile events is testimony
to the hard work being put in by our players and coaches
and in particular our Coaching Manager, Fanny
Megahwati.
associations throughout the country. This has been further
recognised with Harcourts Cooper & Co coming on board as
our naming rights sponsor.
These days as everyone will I’m sure be aware, we are struggling
with the lack of courts at peak times. As part of Badminton
North Harbour’s strategic plan moving forward the Board
are considering all facility options to ensure we can cater for
the growing numbers in our sport. Regional Councils all agree
that there is a major shortage of indoor facilities on the North
Shore and indeed all of Auckland. There have been studies
completed with regards to existing facilities and how we progress
to develop new ventures. Badminton North Harbour is
involved in all these discussions and we are hopeful of an
outcome that can be achieved with all affected sports working
together.
It has been a privilege to lead the association this year. I am
also grateful for the opportunities to play badminton myself
and to come into contact with some wonderful people who
not only share the enjoyment of our game but also put themselves
forward as volunteers to coach, umpire or serve on
club committees. These people take pride in our association,
respect our facilities and give their time freely so we can all
enjoy the game we love.
I would like to thank our Chief Executive Glenn Cox and his
dedicated staff at Badminton North Harbour for all their support,
passion and commitment towards the smooth running
of our wonderful Badminton Centre. And finally thank you to
my fellow board members for their efforts, dedication and
vision.
I trust you all have an enjoyable and restful holiday break. I
look forward to seeing everyone back on the court, fresh and
invigorated in the New Year.
Karen Blank
Board Chair
Kerrin Harrison has written in previous years about the history
surrounding our badminton centre. I wish to pay homage
to the people who gave of their time and expertise so freely
to build the facilities that today are now the envy of other
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