Building the largest badminton community in the Czech Republic

Or how playing with 12 friends has become a community of 1200+ members in 4 years. It is 2019 and badminton player Vlasta is coming to Prague. In order to find friends in the new environment, she started organizing regular badminton events for a couple of acquaintances everywhere possible in halls or in school gyms. Haircut. We are in 2024, Banana Badminton has over 1200 registered players, operates in five locations throughout Prague, maintains a team of professional organizers and forms the largest amateur badminton community in the Czech Republic. How did that work out? Let's take a look at the key steps to success!

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At the very beginning, there was a regular reservation of two courts, a bunch of eight friends and a desire to play sports regularly. The idea became increasingly popular in the student community, and gradually people from outside the “outer circle” began to join. The group was faced with the first strategic decision - to dampen activities, or risk expansion? He chooses the second option, decides to invest and reserves the entire badminton hall for 52 players. The first weeks she is not able to fulfill it on her own, but the situation gradually improves, people are excited about the events and bring their friends and acquaintances. During the first quarter in the new operation, the organization flips from red numbers to black, and the community continues to grow.

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The ever-increasing number of people interested in amateur gaming makes Banana Badminton need to diversify, in two directions. The first is the offer of different types of sports events that cover the needs of beginners, but also advanced players. In addition to regular training sessions aimed at improving technique, by far the most popular concept All You Can Play arises, which, as the name suggests, allows an interested person of any level to simply come to the event, let the organizer find him adequate partners and just enjoy the game.

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Events become so popular that soon the capacity of 50 participants ceases to be enough, and the organization begins to offer playing in new venues. But growing popularity also brings downsides, primarily in the form of a disproportionately burgeoning bureaucracy. When the check-in time for event participants grows to an unbearable 40 minutes, the Banana Sport mobile app comes up with a solution. All administrative processes, including bookings, payments, multisports, refunds, accounting and taxes are then gradually automated thanks to this platform, giving organizers a hand to improve the quality of the client experience. Moreover, with the implementation of a professional marketing strategy, the number of players is constantly increasing..

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Today you can find badminton “Banány” in five venues throughout Prague, where they offer about ten mass events per week. Each month, their event is visited by over 800 participants. And what are they going to do next? “By building a stable community of players that we can easily check in, I was able to start thinking about other activities. I have always enjoyed working with children, so I am glad that we can finally open classes for young hopefuls as well. We would like to bring the Banana Badminton event to other cities in the Czech Republic in the coming months,” concludes founder Vlasta.

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