Badminton’s place as one of England’s biggest participation sports has been confirmed by results from a new survey.
The figures, produced by the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University on behalf of BADMINTON England, put badminton as the No.1 racket participation sport in the country.
Over four million people played the sport last year – that’s 8.6% of the population – with one-and-a-half million of those taking part on a regular basis.
Nearly one million adults (926,000) play at least once per month. When added to a further 1.83m irregular players, this means 2.75m adults hit shuttles annually.
The findings back up previous analysis by Sport England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which suggested that badminton bucked a trend of static sport participation rates between 2002 and 2006.
The future appears to be bright, with over half-a-million children playing at least 10 times per year out of school and 12% of secondary school pupils taking part regularly – which is five times the comparable adult participation rate.
“Badminton is alive and kicking in England,” said BADMINTON England Chief Executive Adrian Christy. “This report provides proof that our game is growing as a sport for all, with our popularity to children building a large base of players from which we aim to produce future champions.”
Danielle Sellwood, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
