Two badminton rackets with blue and white frames and a shuttlecock between them on a white surface, with the word 'Badminton' written across the image.

Badminton Academy Program

Program Overview

Maribyrnong Sports Academy (MSA) is a Badminton Australia Performance Pathway Partner – the only school in Victoria in 2023. Badminton Australia have partnered with suitable applicants to create sustainable high performance programs in clubs, associations, and schools, to develop athletes from the foundational level right through to the elite level of the sport. MSA formed a partnership with Badminton Victoria in 2023 to jointly appoint head coach, Ross Smith.

Our staff are all Australian Badminton accredited coaches, and all have National and International Badminton experience to draw upon in support of others. At MSA Badminton, we are very proud of our alumni student athletes, Gronya Somerville and Jacob Schueler who have graduated through our program to the National Badminton squad and many National Teams representations including Olympic and Commonwealth Games.

Training Sessions

The MSA Badminton program aims to support student athletes to achieve their dreams. Our student athletes are aiming for selection into Victorian Junior Teams to compete at National Carnivals such as the U15 Val Nesbitt, U17 June Bevan, U19 C.P. Maddern Trophies and their respective individual national age-group championships. Some are aiming to be selected into Australian junior and senior teams to compete at events such as World Junior and World Senior Championships, Thomas and Uber Cups, the Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

Three boys playing badminton in an indoor gymnasium. Two of the boys are standing on one side of the net, while the third boy is on the opposite side preparing to hit the shuttlecock.
A digital profile card of Ben Walklate, head badminton coach, with a photo of him wearing a blue sports shirt with red and yellow accents, standing against a blue background, smiling, with text highlighting his credentials and coaching history.
Two young women in navy blue sports uniforms with red and yellow accents playing badminton indoors, carrying pink badminton rackets, on a wooden gymnasium floor with yellow and blue equipment in the background.
Text with names and titles of coaches, including Ross Smith, Erin Walklate, Veevian Chong, Nelson Oon, on a blue background with a yellow stripe at the bottom that has the logo 'MSA'.
A young boy wearing a blue sports jersey with yellow letters and black shorts is playing table tennis indoors on a wooden floor, with blue wall panels in the background.