General

April 17, 2017

 

ON) Badminton Canada is pleased to present Mike Butler as the new National Head Coach. Butler will oversee an integrated high performance program from the national youth teams to the Senior National Team. In this capacity, Butler will be a member of Badminton Canada's High Performance Committee and thereby have direct input and access to the board of directors.

Canada has also hired Andrew Dabeka, who will work under Butler as Assistant National Head Coach for all national able bodied programs. Ram Nayyar has been hired as the National Team Coach for Badminton Canada’s para badminton program. Nayyar will also sit on the Badminton Canada High Performance Committee.

Butler has a wealth of experience as a player, technician, and coach. He was a member of the Canadian National Team for 14 years, won 17 national titles, 2 Commonwealth Games silver medals, 11 gold medals in Pan Am championships, finished 4th at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and is a recent inductee into the Badminton Canada Hall of Fame. Butler has more than 25 years of coaching experience and has served as a National Team Coach for Badminton Canada since 2012.

“We are very excited to welcome Mike to his new role within Badminton Canada after our extensive search for a National Head Coach to lead our program into the next Olympic cycle,” said Anil Kaul, President, Badminton Canada. “Canada deserves to have its National Team Program perform on a consistent basis and Mike’s experience as a player and coach will allow him to lead program alignment and work with our athletes to ensure consistent, world-class performances.”

“I would like to thank Badminton Canada for this incredible opportunity to lead the National Program and align the strong and deep talent pool that exists from coast to coast,” said Butler. "My passion is working with athletes and their personal coaches and believe that we have the talent in Canada to medal at the 2020 Olympics as well as at future Olympic Games.”

With the hiring of Butler, Dabeka and Nayyar, Badminton Canada will continue to build its base of talent across the country through partnership and collaboration with its provincial and territorial badminton associations and badminton clubs. This effort builds on Badminton Canada’s hiring of Jordan Bridal as Manager of High Performance, the creation and launch of Badminton Canada’s Next Generation Teams in 2017, the creation of Badminton Canada’s para badminton national team in 2016, as well as the development of a High Performance Plan for the next 2 Olympic cycles.

“The hiring of these three coaches’ marks an important milestone for Badminton Canada’s high performance program.” said Joe Morissette, Executive Director, Badminton Canada. “With the launch of our new high performance plan and associated programs, these coaches will work shoulder to shoulder with our athletes and their personal coaches to produce champions.”

Both Butler and Dabeka will travel to Cuba in April with the Senior National Team for the 2017 Pan Am Badminton Championships. Nayyar will travel with Badminton Canada’s Para National team to Ireland in June for the Irish Para Badminton International.

In addition, both Butler and Dabeka will be attending Badminton Canada’s U23/Junior National Championships in Moncton, NB in May and the 2017 Yonex Canada Open in Calgary, AB in July. More information on both events can be found at badminton.ca and canadaopen.net.

For all media and communications inquiry, please contact:

Joe Morissette
Executive Director
morissette@badminton.ca

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