Shuttle Force Badminton Club, the most successful club in the country, is sending advice to all badminton players of what they can do during this period of the global novel coronavirus (COVID-) pandemic which has also affected T&T sports.
The club which is based in Sangre Grande but has members from all over the country, has created a video through its hard-working secretary Nancy Renales, showing its players doing different forms of exercises to stay fit while obeying the national lockdown laws.
Renales, who is the wife of former national badminton player now turn coach Derwin Renales, told Guardian Media Sports yesterday: “Since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in T&T, Shuttle Force advised their players on March 14, who all at the time were training for the upcoming T&T Badminton Association (TTBA) Senior National Championships, that training will be suspended. In the days that followed, the TTBA postponed all upcoming Championships.
“Head coach of Shuttle Force, Derwin Renales, encouraged the players to continue with their fitness training by sending weekly motivational and circuit videos in the club’s group chat to guide and encourage them. Renales (Derwin) then came up with the ‘Train at Home’ slogan as he saw the message as important. He further decided to showcase his social responsibility by creating a video, following in the footsteps of our table tennis fraternity, which he hoped would be encouraging to other NGOs.”
Shuttle Force players were later invited to submit their clips and the video was created, showcasing the players who responded.
Among the players was Jada Renales, the former national standout who has recently returned from a self-imposed hiatus due to studies, as well as Reece Marcano, Will Lee, the current triple crown winner of the Badminton Nationals and the Solo Championships Seniors, Donovan David and Zion St Rose-both of whom won the Carebaco Under-17 Doubles title last year, Brandon Graham and brothers Stephan and Ishmael Evangelist, among others.