President of the Guyana Badminton Association (GBA) Gokarn Ramdhani is relishing the opportunity to serve as second vice – president of the Central America and Caribbean Badminton Confederation (CONCECABA) after he was elected to the office a few days ago.
Ramdhani, who was elected to the post at the just-concluded Central America and Caribbean Games (CAC) which was held in Colombia, will serve until 2022.
Speaking to Stabroek Sports, he gave the indication that he is now keen on using his office to advance the development of badminton in Guyana and further afield.
“Well, for me, it’s a great achievement as it shows I am being recognized by the international bodies for my work in badminton… they now want me to be part of their structure to help with the development of badminton,” Ramdhani stated, adding that his appointment will also aid the aspirations of the GBA.
“Guyana can benefit as we can fit into any programme and development plans that will be introduced by the committee,” he said.
“There already discussions about each CAC country holding junior tournaments and preparing players at the Under-15, 17 and 19 levels during the years leading up to the (CAC) Games to get them ready,” he added.
The new vice – president indicated that he hopes to build on the structure in school programmes the GBA has developed and implemented to complement the future plans of the association. The long-term success he contemplates, is to deliver and feed players into the national agenda.
“We will be introducing more shuttle-time programmes into schools as this basic badminton programme will get students even more motivated.
“We have already done it in 14 schools. We will equip them with rackets, nets and shuttlecocks for this programme. We already run over 10 local tournaments a year, but we will now work on more international outings for our national team who will need this exposure to get higher world ranking points and also improve their gameplay.”
Ramdhani, who has nearly four decades of experience under his belt in the administration of the sport, says one of his long-term goals is to deliver Guyana’s first Badminton Hall to enable athletes to reach the Olympics and beyond.
He recent accomplishment is not his first stint with CONCECABA, he served as secretary general of the body from 2014-2018.
