Kampala remains a place that Deidre Jordaan has to get used to. She will know. After all, this is the second consecutive year that she has represented South Africa at the African Badminton Championships in the capital of Uganda.
Although this event took place in February 2022, the memories are still fresh. “It is always a challenge and is an experience each time,” this 27-year-old explains.
Deidre and Amy Ackerman had to bend the knee to Lorna Bodha and Kobita Dookhee from Mauritius in the doubles finals to win the silver medal. She was also a member of the women’s team that ended third overall. This was her third African championships, with the first one taking place in Egypt in 2020. She is also one of the top-seeded players in South Africa in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles categories.
This native of Vereeniging, who matriculated at the Overvaal High School, received her degree in Human Movement Sciences at the North-West University (NWU) in 2021 and has for the past few years been the assistant of Johann Sauer, manager of the indoors sports centre on the Potchefstroom Campus of the NWU, where she is mainly involved in badminton. In addition, she is also involved with Badminton SA.
Deidre got her love of badminton from her father, Andrew. Her grandfather, also Andrew, was a talented player too. “I grew up next to the badminton court. I am mad about the sport and really enjoy the companionship of the people. We are a small family who look after one another.”
She describes herself as an extremely competitive person who is mad about sport.
“When I cannot play badminton, I am involved in another type of sport. As a family we also enjoy being active, for instance by hitting a few golf balls. I am absolutely driven by sport. Everything revolves around sport.”
What does concern her, is that there is a decrease in participation in her beloved badminton.
“We must nurture a love for badminton among the youth and bring smaller types of sport back to schools. If we can only get a few Physical Education teachers who would be interested in doing this, it would be a good start.”
This is her long-term objective as part of Badminton SA. Her short-term goal is to make the team for the Commonwealth Games later this year, and then there are the Olympic Games in 2024. It is remarkable to think that she made her international debut only in 2020, after she had decided to abandon badminton after school.
“I must thank the NWU, which helped me to realise my badminton dreams. Without the university I would not have been here.”
