The funny thing is, the have nots will suddenly find the playing field is on a much more even level. Psychologically, they will feel 'right, the world is fairer'.
pre-2012, for 5 years, (i'm not going to give exact years) i had a friend playing for BE and was paid uk$3,000/month. he was playing mostly ic level, a gp now and then, and low draw gpg's. never won an ic, never made it past 2nd round gp, never made it past 1st round gpg. he knew he'd never even be the top ranked uk player, ever... uk$3,000/month! i never understood that. it's likely too late now for rajiv to go any higher, but ****, they should've been sending him to other asian teams to train once in awhile. such a nice guy with potential, and BE ruins his career. it would've been so easy to reduce his salary by a little and use the balance for outside training expense. i can't think of a single federation that wouldn't welcome rajiv to train with them. i wonder if he has gone elsewhere on his own from time to time.
politics, the hindrance of all sports. it makes you wonder if the people in charge actually care about badminton. i tend to agree with you, but on the flip side, it's the athletes who get the short end of the stick without funding. the system is backwards: no medals? well then, no money. granted, uk sport was giving a lot of money. it was just mismanaged. the admin is 100% to blame. BE still makes a few million a year, and there is a path to olympic success which a few federations have successfully utilized in rio. it's a matter if BE wants to reset their current system or not.
If they cut their funding, BE have to find a more economical solution to these problems. Get more sponsors.
I was told they wanted it to happen but he didn't want to go. But that was second/third hand story so the validity should be taken with a pinch of salt. Most of the English players go to Denmark right? Who in their right mind would go to Asia for an extended period?
i'm not sure of how many and how often. a smart, truly driven player would. denmark only gives you one perspective. i know players who went to denmark and korea for short spells. those that went to denmark for 4 weeks definitely improved their game. those that went to denmark for 2 weeks + korea for 2 weeks had a much greater improvement. if i was a player in today's environment my cross training preferences would be denmark and japan.
...they could reinstate the London GPG and run it at a loss for a couple of years while the event becomes established in the international calendar. Highly ranked Asian players would, I'm sure, love to spend a week in London at their national association's expense (no disrespect to Birmingham and the AE intended here). It would also give English players who never tour overseas a first hand experience of higher ranked opposition. smautf
If they cannot get into European international tournaments such as IC, it is debatable whether such players would benefit from being in a GPG
A major issue is that European players stay inside Europe. The idea of bringing Asia to us instead doesn't seem like a bad idea, but really, we should be going over there more often.
in order to run it at a loss you have to have enough $ in the bank. on a cash flow basis they don't make enough in 1 year to cover 1 year of operating expenses. a quick look at their financial statement shows income of $9,453,000 & expenses of $9,255,000, for a profit of $198,000. now take away the $5,825,000 they count as income from uk sport and what do you have? a yearly $5,627,000 hole in the ground. oh wait, add the: Amounts falling due within one year: $1,558,000 Amounts falling due after more than one year: $3,620,000 they do not have the assets to make up the short term $7,185,000 deficit. what bank would loan them money based on an annual deficit of $5,627,000? you don't need an accounting degree to know this does not bode well for BE. as i stated earlier in the thread: i'm worried about the future of the all england.
I have to admit, reading those goals posted on the first page made me chuckle. Very typical from what I've observed, reaching for the stars without any foundation, any reason to expect such results. I remember a Chris Adcock interview where he mentioned going for Gold at the Olympics, not having won a single GPG+ tournament at the time (2011 I think). Pretty much all based on that fluked WC final. I've heard several voices now that have made it abundantly clear that something's not right with BE and how it's run - the departure of Scottish players made that pretty clear. I've heard that Nathan Robertson had a big influence on things, when there wasn't any reason why that should be possible, and it indicates something isn't quite right within the association, and nepotism has never helped any entity become better. Anyway. Seems like things are quite dire in English badminton - I hope it works out for the better, with financial pressure spawning motivation instead of dread and panic, and maybe administration being re-structured more efficiently.
An even more relevant question is; where's the next generation? Soon there'll be more staff than players.
I believe we have kids with enough talent to make it onto the world scene, but for many a career in badminton doesn't seem feasible, perhaps because of the competition, or the lack of quality and structured training. I don't really know, but I've seen kids I know could at least get into our national team, but their view is that it's just a hobby and inevitably they will have to do something else eventually. I think England, like any country, would need a Lin Dan or a Lee Chong Wei or at least someone in recent times that is really making a name for them self to inspire the new generation
find the kids with the talent & desire to be the best in the world, and more importantly... hope they have parents willing & rich enough to support their 15 year quest.