Everyone Active has formed a national partnership with Badminton England as it bids to boost participation of the sport by tapping into “latent demand.”

The leisure operator will roll out the National Governing Body’s (NGB) PlayBadminton framework across the 60 Everyone Active sites which have a sports hall, hoping to attract 6,000 unique visits per week from badminton players.

Specifically designed for the leisure industry, PlayBadminton aims to increase participation by working with operators and partners to create bespoke packages and deliver Badminton England programmes, activities and promotions.

“Of the three million people who accessed badminton last year, only 500,000 played regularly,” said Simon Hughes, Badminton England’s head of recreational badminton.

“The casual play market represents 73 per cent of players in leisure centres. Prior to our framework there were limited opportunities to capitalise on this market.”

The partnership will see Everyone Active roll out Badminton England campaigns – including No Strings, Battle Badminton, Smash Up Badminton and Essentials Badminton – across the 60 sites using the PlayBadminton framework. Staff at Everyone Active sites will receive regular training from Badminton England to develop their knowledge base, while the NGB’s regional participation managers will offer ongoing support on sales, development and marketing. The pair will also target capital grant funds to further invest in the sport.

“Here at Everyone Active we currently have more than 43,000 attendances just in badminton activities every year and that figure doesn’t include casual and membership players,” said Chris Duncan, Everyone Active activities and funding manager.

“We’re confident that with the added support of Badminton England and the PlayBadminton framework, we will increase this number and see more people in the communities we operate playing the sport on a regular basis. The latent demand for badminton nationally is enormous, with over three million adults playing every year.”