USA Badminton (USAB) is the national governing body for the sport of badminton in the United States. There are currently 66 badminton clubs registered as of January 2019[update].[4]
History
The American Badminton Association was founded in 1936 when Donald Wilbur, Robert McMillan, Donald Richardson, and Phillip Richardson decided to unite various badminton groups in the country.[5] The name was changed to United States Badminton Association in 1978, and later changed to its present name in 1996.[6]
USA Badminton used to train its elite players at a national training center in Colorado Springs, but they relocated to Anaheim in early 2017.[7]
Badminton is not a popular sport in the United States for several reasons. One of the main reasons is that badminton in the U.S. is seen as a backyard sport. Due to this, the sport has not grown much. Another reason is the lack of Olympic success by American athletes. This lack of success is another reason why the sport has not grown in comparison to other sports.[8] Finally, wages are a huge reason why badminton has not gown. Badminton fails to receive substantial media attention in the United States and with that comes low wages. Participants can earn up to $15,000 for winning a championship, which is a relatively small amount of money in comparison to an average football player that has a salary of $2.7 million.[9][10]
Controversy
In January 2023, it was reported that USA Badminton had paid $1 million to settle a dispute with a former employee who previously served as the federation's chief of staff and SafeSport compliance officer. The former employee claimed he had been fired in retaliation for reporting allegations of sexual abuse by a prominent coach to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, after being pressured by USA Badminton's CEO and its general counsel.[11] U.S. law requires any employees of a national governing body to report suspicions of abuse immediately to law enforcement and to SafeSport.[11] Earlier, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, warned the leadership of USA Badminton about their potential breaches and alleged obstruction of an investigation by SafeSport.[11][12][13][14]
