One of Indonesia’s most prominent badminton clubs, PB Djarum, made it rain in a celebration on Thursday as it spoiled its rising young talent with tens of millions of rupiah in bonuses.

The club, which used to be home to recently retired mixed doubles heroine Liliyana Natsir, dished out a total of Rp 145 million (US$10,288) to its achieving young shuttlers.

Over the past decade, PB Djarum, through its Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation, has been regularly giving incentives to its shuttlers as appreciation for their hard work and achievements, as well as to improve their welfare.

Indonesia is still struggling to provide athletes with a good life after retiring. With the bonuses, the club aims to help its shuttlers to prepare for their post-badminton life.

In 2009, the foundation began to apply a specific formula to decide the size of bonuses given to each athlete, said program director Yoppy Rosimin.

“Ever since we started to pay bonuses, we’ve had a clear measurement to determine the bonus.

“There are shuttlers who immediately receive their incentive shortly after winning a tournament, but there are also those who receive it collectively like we have today, which is based on their yearly performance,” Yoppy told the press.

On Thursday’s bonus day, the recipients included 2018 national championships women’s singles winner Alifia Intan Nurokhim, who received Rp 15 million; 2018 best young athletes and mixed doubles pair Leo Rolly Carnando and Indah Cahya Sari, who got Rp 25 million between them; as well as a list of U-17 and U-19 shuttlers who won tournaments in 2018, with a total of Rp 89 million and Rp 16 million being paid out in the respective age categories.

The cash bonuses were directly saved in the form of a deposit under each athlete’s name to prevent misuse.

Yoppy said only shuttlers in the U-17 category and above would receive a bonus.

“We have applied this policy to encourage young players [U-13 and U-15 categories] to improve their performance to match the ability of their seniors.

“We teach them not only to become champions within their own categories, but to also set the bar higher,” he added.

Yoppy mentioned men’s doubles world number one Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo as an example of a player who worked and fought hard to excel beyond his age category.

However, a club’s ability to pay large bonuses while others cannot may create friction between athletes at the national training camp — especially when two shuttlers from different clubs are paired for national duty.

A clear example is Kevin and his partner Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, who used to play for PB Tangkas Intiland before transferring to PB Jaya Raya in 2018.

There is a difference in the size of bonuses received by Kevin and Marcus whenever they receive appreciation from their respective clubs after winning tournaments.

To address such concerns, Yoppy said PB Djarum was always ready to collaborate with clubs to give bonuses to their shuttlers — in this case with Marcus’ club.

“But we can’t force [the clubs] to do the collaboration,” he added.

PB Djarum on Thursday also signed a two-year contract with Chinese-based sports apparel brand Li Ning. The club’s U-19 shuttlers are entitled to Li Ning products, which include shoes, rackets and bags.     

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