MBA to help players to get international exposure

The Maharashtra Badminton Association (MBA) today said it will focus on infrastructure development and increased use of technology to further promote the racquet sport in the state.
The association also expects count of its registered players to more than double in 12 months.
This was discussed among other things at the 75th Annual General Meeting of the MBA held here.
MBA has also introduced a new software, which saves players from the hassle of filling multiple forms for different tournaments.
The single online form can now be also used for district, state, national and international tournaments.
The software will provide timely updates via emails and SMS on changes regarding the entries or reminders about important notification, the last dates, etc to the players.

The District Associations too will have their own website linked and provided by MBA. They can run their tournaments, photographs, messages, sponsorship advertisements on the same.

MBA president Arun Lakhani said, "Our focus in the coming years is to provide better facilities and support to our players. For the same, MBA intends to propose to the Maharashtra government to hand-over six large stadiums built at commissionarates like Pune, Aurangabad, Nasik, Nagpur, and facilities at district level built by the DSO. MBA aims to have at least two large academies functional by the end of three years and many more courts at district levels."

The office-bearers said the plan to be submitted to the government will be comprehensive.
The association will also actively promote players for sponsorship and recruitment as well with public sector companies, government departments, and corporate.
It has also taken up the issue of "sports marks" with the Maharashtra government.
He also said the association had proposed setting up a Maharashtra state ranking system from where the first 200 deserving players to be given 25 marks benefit.
The number will depend on the players participating. It will give proper evaluation and regular players will be benefited.