NT Badminton appeals to property owners for interim accommodation

NT Badminton Association has issued a letter to Darwin and Palmerston real estate agents, builders and developers asking if they are aware of any warehouses that may be available and suitable for the sport to move into as a short term solution to their housing needs.

The sporting association has been passionately campaigning for a replacement venue since it received an eviction notice from the NT Government to vacate Sports House in Fannie Bay in May 2013.

Their tenancy has been extended to 31 March 2014, but beyond that the future is not looking good for the sport.

“Unfortunately the options to date have just not been suitable,” association member and player Dr Di Symonds said.

“We need a dedicated venue where our members can train regularly and uninterrupted. We outgrew school halls, where access is often interrupted, back in the late 1970s. To be told to go back to this is very frustrating and possibly marks the end of our sport in the NT.”

In light of their current tenancy uncertainty, NT Badminton Association seeks an interim accommodation solution with the following key elements:

·              a three year lease

·              located in Darwin, Winnellie, Berrimah or East Arm areas

 ·              warehouse with minimum floor area of 1,000 sqm
 ·              minimum ceiling height of 7 metres
 ·              internal or external male and female toilets
 ·              internal or external offices and storage room, minimum area 40 sqm
 ·              car parking

NT Badminton continues to discuss their accommodation needs with the Northern Territory Government and ideally would like to see a long term solution of a dedicated facility in Marrara similar to most other Territory sports.

“In the meantime, if someone has a spare shed we can use we would love to talk to you,” said Dr Symonds.

For more information visit www.saveoursport.org.au or follow NT Badminton on: www.facebook.com/SaveOurSportNT and twitter.com/SaveOurSportNT

Badminton juniors win GOLD!

Junior NT badminton players won gold at the Under 13 Interstate Series & Regional Teams Challenge/ Australian National Championships in Melbourne over the weekend.

It’s the first time an NT junior team has come away with victory at the championships.

The team, made up of James Delosa, Bernadete Aniceto, Elysia Viravong and Romy Puhalovich from Darwin and Palmerston, defeated the Victoria Combo Roos in the Final  to win Gold in the Under 13 Australian Regional Teams Challenge (11 matches won to 1 match lost).

NT Junior Coach Saidina Pawero said the kids were really determined to play their best as a team and lifted themselves to a whole new level for the occasion.

“They believed they had the talent to take on the strong regional teams from the more favoured states of Victoria and NSW,” Mr Pawero said.

In the National Championships, Romy Puhalovich (Boys Singles Event) and Bernadete Aniceto (Girls Singles Event) finished in the top eight after making the quarter finals.

Romy was defeated by Marcus Kong of Victoria 31-18.  Bernadete lost to the No. 1 seed and eventual winner Victoria He of NSW, 30-15.

In another display of NT junior talent, Romy Puhalovich (NT) and Pascal Souksavat (ACT) paired-up in the Boys Doubles Event and finished equal third.

They lost in the semi-finals to the No.1 seeding pair and eventual winners Ross Audley and Ryan Venpin from Victoria.

It was the first time a NT junior has made the semi-final of a national championships.

“We’re all so very proud of all of our kids’ efforts,” Mr Saidina Pawero said. “To have coaches from other states notice the talent we have in the NT is fantastic. With James, Bernadete and Elysia still able to play Under 13s next year, it’s exciting to see how they will use this experience as a stepping stone for next year’s tournament. The future looks really bright for badminton in the NT!”

“As an organization, we’ve worked very hard to build and develop our junior players. Sports House has been critical for us, as it provides the dedicated playing venue that we’ve needed so that our kids train regularly and uninterrupted,” NT Badminton Association President Rodney Pearce said.

NT Badminton is still in negotiation with the Northern Territory Government to identify a suitable replacement venue for when its current tenancy at Sports House expires on 31 March 2014.

For more information visit www.saveoursport.org.au or follow NT Badminton on: www.facebook.com/SaveOurSportNT and twitter.com/SaveOurSportNT

 

 

NT Badminton says “We won’t leave Sports House without a new home”

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Members of the NT Badminton Association have vowed to stay at Sports House in Fannie Bay until a new venue for their sport is secured. 

The motion “…that members of NTBA only agree to leave Sports House when the NT Government identifies an alternative single venue accommodation solution that is acceptable to NTBA and a binding agreement is made” was passed at the NTBA Annual General Meeting yesterday.

The AGM, which was likely to be the NTBA’s last at Sports House, focused on badminton’s future after the NTBA rejected the NT Government’s offer of a 5 year commercial lease on a property in Woolner last week.

Independent Member for Nelson Gerry Wood MLA , ALP Member for Johnston Ken Vowles MLA, and a number of concerned local Fannie Bay residents participated in the spirited and emotional AGM. 

“The NT Government doesn’t seem to recognise the disastrous consequences that closure of Sports House, and the absence of a replacement facility, will have on our sport,” NT Badminton President Rodney Pearce said at the meeting.

“All of us at this meeting know that without a new home the sport is stuffed.”

Gerry Wood stated, “The Government sometimes has its priorities wrong. If it’s real about people’s health then the facilities that are required should be made available. They need to re-prioritise their land plans and allow NT Badminton’s new facility to be established before the Sports House site is sold and developed. I don’t think that it’s too hard.”

The NTBA said it will continue to impress the urgency of its need upon the NT Government and request that it allocates funding in the May 2014 Budget for construction of a new multi-purpose facility for Badminton, Judo and Table Tennis at Marrara.

“The proposal that NTBA has submitted is excellent,” Ken Vowles MLA said, adding that “the cost of the proposed facility is good value as it incorporates facilities for a number of sports”.

“While the ball is obviously in NT Government’s court, we’re happy to sit down with them to work together to come up with a solution,” NT Badminton’s Rodney Pearce said.

For more information visit www.saveoursport.org.au or follow NT Badminton on: www.facebook.com/SaveOurSportNT and twitter.com/SaveOurSportNT.