Sandra Low (Guam) crowned January 2022 winner of Serve-ing Pacific

Pictured: Sandra Low (left) and Badminton Oceania’s Nadia Bleaken (right)

Congratulations to Badminton Oceania’s second Serve-ing Pacific winner, Sandra Low, from Guam. She was nominated for excelling in LEADERSHIP – one of the five organizational values which Badminton Oceania embeds across all programme areas.

Serve-ing Pacific is Badminton Oceania’s volunteer recognition scheme, acknowledging the hard work and commitment of volunteers across Oceania as we work towards a common goal of making badminton accessible to all.

Testament to her knowledge surrounding sport development and leadership, Sandra was approached to act as the President of Guam National Badminton Federation 12 years ago, despite having no previous knowledge of badminton. Nowadays, she is the face of badminton in Guam, with her perseverance and dedication allowing the sport to continuously grow and gain popularity.

Sandra plays a key role in the promotion and development of badminton. One of her biggest contributions to the sport is her impressive networking skills and her ability to liaise with schools across the country to incorporate badminton into their Physical Education curriculum and getting more teachers to attend Shuttle Time teacher training. The grassroots sports programme (Shuttle Time) has been fundamental to the growth of sport in country, with more players progressing through the ranks to attend the likes of Pacific Games and VICTOR Oceania Championships. Currently, Sandra has her eyes set on forming a team to compete in this year’s Northern Marianas 2022 Pacific Mini Games.

Other key accomplishments for Sandra include:

• Leading Team Guam to compete in the Gold Coast 2017 Sudirman Cup
• Signing an Memorandum Of Understanding with Special Olympics Guam for the inclusion of Badminton as one of the key sports for Special Olympics Guam
• Developing excellent working rapport with neighbouring country, Northern Marianas and their badminton association
• Hosting tournaments among Northern Marianas and Philippines Badminton Club.

“Working with Sandra for over 12 years, I can attest to her great leadership and commitment for our badminton federation. Despite many setbacks and challenges she never give up and can always be count on. Badminton is synonymous with Sandra and without her there will be no badminton in Guam”, says Sunardi Li, Secretary General of Guam National Badminton Federation.

WATCH SANDRA’S VIDEO INTERVIEW HERE

Sandra’s personal highlights include finding a new passion which she took up on herself to both participate and volunteer, while also encouraging her friends to get involved too. Moreover, with a strong desire to combat the “sedentary lifestyles” which many children lead nowadays, Sandra is on a mission to make badminton an option for children in Guam to find a great sense of pride, among several other transferable skills offered by sports.

“There is a great group of people in badminton, so I really enjoy being a part of that. From the Oceania level, down to the community, I can always see the love and the passion for the sport. We are getting a new badminton-specific facility which will allow us to run many more programmes”

“I always believe there is a sport for every child…That is my goal with badminton and children, to offer badminton as a choice as an option to undertake, excel and gives them a sense of pride”, says Sandra

As mentioned by Sandra, another cause for celebration at the start of 2022 is the near completion of ‘Guam Badminton Sports Centre’ in Barrigada. The 10,000 square foot facility will house seven badminton courts which adhere to Badminton World Federation standards.

Once again, Badminton Oceania thanks Sandra Low for her ongoing work and her commitment to upholding our values, particularly leadership, and we wish the entire team all success in their future endeavours at their new sports centre.

The prize for each winner in Serve-ing Pacific is a local lunch voucher which Sandra and a guest can use to support local. Additionally, she will be the second to enter the random six-monthly draw (including the other six winners) for the ultimate staycation prize, which will be drawn in May 2022.

Keep your eyes peeled at the beginning of February 2022 to find out who the next winner is.

Do you want to volunteer in badminton? Or do you know a volunteer who you would like to nominate? Find out more by clicking here.