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Title: Vuela PanAm Launches to Elevate Badminton and Athletes in the Americas through a New Lens

Canada, 8th Jul 2025 - The first shuttle Oliver Chen ever struck carried more than feathers and cork. Inside a Toronto community center, with the scent of instant noodles lingering and the gym floor gleaming with polish, a six-year-old picked up a racquet and saw a world open before him. That vision would eventually lead him from Canada’s suburban courts to Pan American venues, where the echoes of a shared dream rang louder than the condition of the facilities in which they were pursued. Canada’s Oliver Chen faces Peru’s Guillermo Buendía during a high-stakes semifinal match at the 2022 Junior Pan Am Games—a meeting that would spark not only a friendship, but a movement to reshape badminton and its significance across the Americas.Across the Pan Am region—including Canada, the U.S., and Latin America—badminton remains broadly underrecognized, lacking the crucial structural support available to athletes in Europe or Asia. In Bahia, Brazil, under a corrugated metal roof dripping with condensation, Chen played in one of his first Pan American tournaments. There were no medical staff for players struggling with the heat. The conditions stood in stark contrast to his Canadian training environment, although the lack of support for the sport was evident in both regions. One athlete stood out, however—Peru’s Guillermo Buendía. His passion on court was unmistakable, his commitment unshaken by limited resources. That encounter not only sparked a friendship but eventually a shared mission: to create structural change through elevating the sport.Vuela PanAm: Stories as CatalystsThe sport of badminton is often described as accessible—requiring little more than a shuttle, a racquet, and an open space. But as athletes progress, financial barriers quickly rise. Coaching, equipment...

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