Our Coaches
Arif (Al) Mawani
CEO/Performance Director
Al is the owner and operator of the Shuttlesport Badminton Academy. The academy has been under the direction of Al since 2000. Al has completed his Master Learning Facilitator Certification, which allows him to train and certify other coaches. Al has extensive coaching experience - internationally, nationally, and provincially. He has guided British Columbia to the gold medal at the Canada Winter Games, placed players on the Commonwealth Games teams, coached at international events including the All England Championships, Canada Open, and U.S. Open where he led players in winning the prestigious U.S. Open Women’s Doubles events. In addition, Al is an NCCP certified level 3 coach and has written the Badminton 2000plus coaching manual and the Athlete’s Training Diary.
Dara Prameshwarie
Head Professional
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Dara has joined the Shuttlesport team as the club's Head Pro. She is a former U-21 Indonesia National team member (Women's Doubles) and competed for 7 years as a professional in Indonesia and 3 years in Germany. Before coming to Canada she was coaching in Germany at various clubs and completing her coaching education.
Zach Fan
Development Coordinator & Provincial Performance Coach
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Zach is the Development & Performance Coach at the academy. He has been in this position for 4 years and is a certified BWF Shuttle Time & Provincial Certified Coach. Zach was the 2020 Head Coach for the BC Winter Games Badminton team (bringing home the Gold Medal) & also for the 2018 BC Winter Games Badminton team (which clinched Silver Medal). Zach still actively trains and competes provincially with a goal to play in 2022's Open National Championships.
Joyce Cao
Joyce is a badminton athlete who trains regularly, competes provincially, and aspires to compete at the national level. For the past 2 years, she has been working with kids of all ages, their skill levels ranging from beginner to intermediate. Today, Joyce tailors to the needs of each athlete, creating exercises and drills that not only capture badminton skills, but also the amusement in students.
Heidi Tsui
Heidi has been a part of the coaching staff for 2 years after competing for 8 years at the Junior Provincial and National levels. She focuses on helping young players develop their skills and techniques and is currently working towards completing her coaching certification.
Mahdi Ahmadi
Mahdi has been playing badminton for 9 years. He is a high performance player, a member of Iran national badminton team and competed in national tournaments. Mahdi enjoys passing on his knowledge and experiences to help players grow.
He believes that success comes with effort, and by working hard you can build your future.
Robert Shi
Robert is a NCCP certified coach at Shuttlesport. He played at the provincial level for almost 4 years. He works towards helping beginners learn and develop basic techniques of badminton.
Kelsey Liang
Kelsey is a NCCP certified coach at Shuttlesport. For the past year, he has been working towards helping young players develop the basic skills of badminton. He has played at the provincial level for 4 years and still continues to train.
Tymmond Thai​
Tymmond is NCCP certified coach and a badminton player at Shuttlesport. He has been competing provincially for 6 years. He concentrates on helping beginners learn and develop basic badminton techniques.