BWF News

Humans of Shuttle Time: Graham Berry

TEXT BY BWF STAFF

This is the 48^th story in our Humans of Shuttle Time series, in which we present the perspectives of those who are involved with badminton at the grassroots level. Graham Berry, Shuttle Time Tutor with Badminton New Zealand, talks about growing up in the countryside, organising badminton on a glacier, and developing badminton in the community.

Childhood Days

I was brought up in a rural area with an amazing community spirit where everyone looked after each other and you did everything together. I played every sport out there and was always outdoors helping on the farm or playing with mates.

I own a dairy farm and we have our own hydropower scheme running the farm. I’m part of the local civil defence team, I’m on the Board of Trustees for South Westland Area School, and Chairperson of an emergency group for South Westland. I love rugby league as it’s a game that has given me so much with great memories and friendships. A lot of the skills I learnt from rugby league has made me a better badminton coach.

Early Memories

I remember badminton when I was young, mainly from hitting flies with the wooden rackets mum and dad had at Moonlight near Greymouth. Social nights were at the Moonlight Hall where it felt everyone was there playing in a one court hall with rafters that you had to play around.

Badminton was a game everyone could play; a lot of moving around the court and having fun trying to smash the shuttle. Badminton had a mixed group with young and old that I wasn’t used to seeing elsewhere on a sports field.

Relationship with Badminton

Graham Berry at a Shuttle Time session

I loved learning to play and then coaching at a higher level, passing on skills that I learnt from other coaches and YouTube. I have to travel big distances to get the kids I coach to tournaments and coaching camps but it’s worth it. Being able to get my Shuttle Time Tutor certificate and becoming a BWF Level 1 coach helped my confidence to deliver better sessions.

Memorable Moments

It is most memorable to see young kids picking up a skill. Meeting great people all around NZ through badminton and learning from them, I feel they are family. One memorable event was organising badminton on the Franz Josef Glacier with the help of the Franz Josef Glacier Guides against my great mate John Morrish and seeing it on YouTube. Another fond memory is coaching mainland kids at the New Zealand Junior Teams competition for the last four years.

Developing Badminton in the Community

I live in a remote area of beautiful New Zealand on the West Coast. Here in Franz Josef we have about 250 residents and we get up to 30 people at junior and senior badminton. On the West Coast the travel time is four hours (return) when we play our West Coast competition night which goes for seven weeks. I’ve run Teachers courses in these places and it’s great to see them demonstrating and getting Shuttle Time out to the communities. I also am a coach at Mainland (South Island) where I help run and coach four camps a year with kids 12 to 18 years old. These camps are 10 hours’ travel but it’s what I love doing – seeing kids learn, but also for me to learn from other coaches and the kids.

Lessons from Shuttle Time

Shuttle Time has made a big difference with the quality of what coaches are delivering and the ease of which the kids are learning the skills. I have noticed that kids are enjoying badminton more as Shuttle Time is a lot of fun for them and they are getting the right skills to improve their game from day one.

Previous Stories in This Series

Humans of Shuttle Time: Alaa Mohamed Youssef Fathy

Humans of Shuttle Time: Raul Jara Tacora

Humans of Shuttle Time: Lerato Lepheane

Humans of Shuttle Time: Genelyn Lansangan

Humans of Shuttle Time: Paulo Jerome Niniano Quidato

Humans of Shuttle Time: Josefa Matasau

Humans of Shuttle Time: Richard Gregory Wong

Humans of Shuttle Time: Alessandro Redaelli

Humans of Shuttle Time: Veronika Protassova

Humans of Shuttle Time: Robbert De Keijzer

Humans of Shuttle Time: Carolina M Vaughn