May 1, 2025
Mexico has set ambitious goals as it seeks to boost its badminton development through BWF’s Enhanced Membership Grant.
Over the next four years, the Mexican Badminton Federation (FEMEBA) aims to have around 170,000 children, 20,000 university students, and a significant number of adults and seniors engaging in badminton. Altogether, the goal is to involve approximately 250,000 people in badminton.
On 17 February 2025, FEMEBA and other key national stakeholders signed an MoU with BWF in Aguascalientes, Mexico. The country thus became the second recipient of the Enhanced Membership Grant following Egypt, which was the first to receive it in March 2024. The grant programme provides increased financial and technical expertise to identified Member Associations who have been assessed as having the potential to significantly accelerate the growth of badminton across a number of key areas. The programme in Mexico aims to position badminton as one of the most popular sports in Mexico, and a model for the sport in the Pan Am region.
“It is a great honour that BWF shows interest in the development of badminton in Mexico,” said FEMEBA President Francisco Javier Orozco Flores. “This shows that they see a potential and a future in our country, trust our federation and have been aware of our development.
“It makes us feel a great responsibility since we must respond with the best work to the trust they are granting us.”
One of FEMEBA’s priorities is to enhance badminton infrastructure across the country. The roadmap includes establishing three to four development or technical centres in various regions: one in the north, another in the northeast, one in the country’s centre, and one in the southeast.
FEMEBA also aims to involve sports and education institutes across Mexico. By 2028, the federation plans to recruit 16 new tutors annually, ensuring each state has at least two tutors. Additionally, AirBadminton will be developed and practiced in at least one municipality in every Mexican state. For Para badminton, there are plans to have at least one dedicated coach per state and a competitive national circuit.
Orozco Flores explained that Shuttle Time would drive badminton development in the region, mainly at schools, with the federation planning to establish state school tournaments and scout promising young talent. To professionalise the workforce, the federation aims to have paid staff at certain positions that are currently voluntary.
“I think the main programme that we are going to support is school badminton through Shuttle Time courses. We will begin the path to improve the basic structure of our federation, since our collaborators currently carry out work on a voluntary basis. We want this to be changed in the next four years,” said Orozco Flores.
David Cabello, BWF Chair of Development and Sport For All Committee, explained why Mexico was chosen for the Enhanced Membership Grant: “When selecting the first recipients (Egypt and Mexico) to pilot the BWF Enhanced Membership Grant, we assessed more than 45 individual metrics to identify a range of countries with the potential to significantly impact and accelerate the growth, popularity, and quality of badminton nationally. Mexico has a rich sporting culture, strong infrastructure, and governmental support for sport, which amongst other things, made it an excellent country to pilot the project.
“In Mexico we see a country with the potential to be a leader in the region, to compete at an international level and to inspire other countries in Pan Am and other regions to do the same.”
Background
In October 2019, the BWF Council approved a new Membership Grants Programme for the period 2020-2024.
The BWF Membership Grant Programme provides opportunities for Member Associations to access tailored support, to assist them in developing badminton in their country.
In the case of the Enhanced Membership Grant, the BWF offers an additional support grant to a small number of Member Associations which are selected based on identified strategic, commercial or market growth priorities and opportunities.
Note: BWF would like to thank the following project partners for their support: Mexican Badminton Federation, Badminton Pan Am, Mexican Sports Confederation, Mexican Olympic Committee, National Commission of Physical Culture and Sports, Mexican Paralympic Committee, and State of Aguascalientes.
