User:GuillaumeBelgium/BC Damme

BC Damme is a Belgian badminton club from Damme. The club was founded in 1990 under the impulse of Paul Vandenbussche. BC Damme has the 't Veld sports hall in the Sijsele district as its home base.

Badminton club Damme is affiliated with the West Flemish Badminton Federation, Badminton Flanders and the Belgian Badminton Federation.

History
BC Damme was founded by the then directors of Badminton Club Oedelem. Due to the decline in the number of members in Oedelem and the establishment of the new sports hall 't Veld in Sijsele, it was decided to close Badminton Club Oedelem and start a new club in Sijsele. At the request of the then mayor of Damme, the official name became Badminton Club Damme.

It soon became clear that there was a need to set up a badminton club in Sijsele. The target audience was, in addition to Damme and sub-municipalities, also Sint Kruis, Assebroek, Maldegem and Oedelem, where the membership quickly grew to almost 150 members.

Competition & recreation
The then board decided to offer both competition and recreational badminton from the start.

The highlights of the competition were when the first teams advanced year after year from the provincial series to the 1st national.

Paul Vandenbussche
Paul Vandenbussche was the founder of Badminton Club Damme. Paul previously made his achievements in the badminton world by founding CBRT Badminton Club (ex Philips Brugge) and as co-founder of the West Flemish Badminton Federation (WVBF).

Paul was also one of the founders of the Interprovincial Youth Meeting (IPJO). In this annual meeting, the youth teams from the five Flemish provinces compete against each other. The IPJO was first organized on January 14 and 15, 1989 in De Panne.