Thursday, September 7, 2023
Badminton Ontario will be introducing a new tournament pre-registration process for the 2023-2024 season for all Junior A, B and C series tournaments in an effort to increase access to our events and improve the player experience.
Due to the growth of the sport in the province, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area, there has been an overwhelming demand for tournament participation at the Junior level. Tournaments used to reach maximum capacity within minutes of registration opening, which caused most tournaments to operate over capacity and resulted in numerous players unable to participate alongside other administrative challenges around partner pairings, scheduling, withdrawals, and refunds.
In response to the feedback received throughout the 2022-2023 season, Badminton Ontario felt it was necessary to modify its tournament registration process in an effort to mitigate some of the challenges experienced by players and their parents throughout the registration process. We also wanted to ensure we promoted equity and fairness for all players by increasing access to competitive opportunities and reducing urgency and time constraints around “first-come, first-served” registration.
“Our goal with tournament pre-registration is to improve the overall tournament experience, from start to finish, for players, parents, coaches, officials, and event staff. By establishing fair and equitable selection criteria, we are confident that our tournaments will become more accessible to all participants,” said Josée Matte, Badminton Ontario’s Interim Executive Director. “We want to ensure that players who have been traditionally underrepresented in our events have an opportunity to participate so that we can continue to grow the game in all corners of the province.”
The new Tournament Pre-Registration process will come into effect for the 2023-2024 season. Details can be found on our website at https://www.badmintonontario.ca/tournament-pre-registration/
