BAM accepts PjBA as 15th affliated member

KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) yesterday accepted Putrajaya Badminton Association (PjBA) as a full affiliated member after spending nine years as an associate member.

BAM president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria said the decision was achieved at its council meeting on Sept 30 after securing the agreement of all parties involved.

“I have explained in detail to council members on Sept 30 that as Kuala Lumpur Badminton Association president and BAM, I have seen the strong commitment of PjBA in implementing many programmes and producing youth players they have been training every day.

“PjBA has also succeeded in implementing various programmes both at domestic and international levels. As such, the council members are confident with the capability and competence shown by PjBA and today they received their letter of appointment,” he told reporters after handing over appointment letters of BAM affiliated members at the Malaysian Badminton Academy (ABM) here.

Mohamad Norza said with the appointment, PjBA as the 15th affiliated member, would be able to obtain access and benefits of a BAM affiliated member and would also receive an annual grant to develop the sport at grassroots level.

He said as the 14 other state associations had also become affiliated members of BAM, PjBA would also be receiving financial allocation of between RM200,000 to RM300,000 a year involving coach grant, administration and grassroots programme implementation as well as other BAM programmes.

“This is one step to widen the net to search for talents and increase the number of players at youth, junior and senior levels.

For the record, since 2008, PjBA had trained more than 400 players with an average of 40 to 50 trainees annually by four parttime coaches.

PjBA was registered with the Malaysian Sports Commission in June 2009 and became an associate member of BAM in January 2010. - Bernama