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Humans of Shuttle Time: Alessandro Redaelli

TEXT BY BWF STAFF

Alessandro Redaelli (2nd from left) at a Shuttle Time session.

This is the 40th story in our Humans of Shuttle Time series, in which we present the perspectives of those who work on badminton development at the grassroots level. Alessandro Redaelli, talks about his evolution from shy child to Shuttle Time Trainer with Italian Badminton Federation.

Childhood Days

I was a very shy child, born in 1995. I never played around with other kids in the open because I suffer from a rare genetic disease called Erythropoietic Protoporphyria that doesn’t let me stay out in the sun for more than 5-15 minutes, and it was only diagnosed when I was 16. Nonetheless I was very lucky during my childhood because my parents made me try a lot of very different sports.

Tryst with Badminton

I saw badminton for the first time in a totally random way. I was on holiday in Paris with my parents. We were going to see the infrastructure that hosts the Roland Garros, but in the subway I saw a poster for the 2010 Badminton World Championships. Safe to say, we didn’t have much time left for Roland Garros.

Coaching his players at tournaments.

First Impressions

The one thing that struck me when I first saw badminton was the fast movements of the players. Also, the trajectory of the shuttlecock is something that captivated me and will always fascinate me.

Relationship with Badminton

A couple of years later I switched from tennis to badminton. I started learning more and more and I even switched university: from Computer Engineering in Politecnico Di Milano to Sport Science in Università Di Milano. I devoted my life to this wonderful sport and its development.

Great Mentor

When I started being interested in coaching badminton I was lucky to find my mentor and role model, Fabio Morino, during the first Italian equivalent of “Level 1 Coach Education Courses” he held. He’s a tireless and creative people motivator, who gave me the foundation on which to build all my knowledge of badminton. He gave me not a “Bible” to follow, but instruments with which I could learn more. I admire his tenacity and wilfulness, and I can never thank him enough for making my love for badminton blossom.

What Makes Badminton Different

In my opinion badminton is both an individual and a team sport, both an easy and an extremely difficult sport. For these reasons it is able to attract all types of crowds, while keeping them connected, because ultimately they are still playing the same sport, no matter the skill level. The result is a very powerful social instrument with different “knobs” to adjust to various requirements.

Alessandro Redaelli

Developing Badminton in the Community

One of the things I like most when I teach people is how new and different perspectives are brought up for discussion because of different life experiences of the participants to the courses. I cherish these moments because I learn alongside them and I always take home new lessons that might help me become a better version of myself.

Impact of Shuttle Time

Shuttle Time has helped badminton reach many more new schools and kids, all the while delivering much needed rackets and shuttles to help teachers. It helps achieve a high influx of kids in the clubs that are near schools. That translates to healthier clubs that in turn helps raise the level of competitions in Italy in the long run.

Lessons from Shuttle Time

Shuttle Time is teaching me the value of cooperation between trainers and between higher and lower levels of the Italian federation, which translates to better efficiency and a better image and offer for aspiring teachers, tutors, trainers, coaches and pupils alike.

Previous Stories in This Series

Humans of Shuttle Time: Veronika Protassova

Humans of Shuttle Time: Robbert De Keijzer

Humans of Shuttle Time: Carolina M Vaughn

Humans of Shuttle Time: Sam Paterson

Humans of Shuttle Time: Deki Tshomo

Humans of Shuttle Time: Hadeel Mohammad Alomari

Humans of Shuttle Time: Daiverson Ferrari Rodrigues

Humans of Shuttle Time: Ammar Awad

Humans of Shuttle Time: Carolin Ruth

Humans of Shuttle Time: Caroline Brial

Humans of Shuttle Time: Danny Ten