Solibad was created on December 10th 2009 by a small group of badminton lovers and people who care about others. More and more people are joining the staff, both in France and internationally. Here are a few words about the original staff. Everyone in the team is helping Slibad on their free time, as volunteers – there is no paid staff for now.
Founder – President : Raphaël Sachetat
raphael@solibad.net
Raphaël Sachetat, 40, is a journalist and an independent photographer. He got involved early in his career in humanitarian organizations (Amnesty International). He has been a journalist for 10 years at Les Echos (most famous French economical magazine) where he contributes a monthly column on new technologies inside the art of living supplement « Série Limitée ».
He’s also covered since 10 years the badminton professional circuit (head of the official photo agency of the Badminton World Federation) and has started many projects among the badminton community (creation of Badzine, network of multilingual information sites, original travels around the sport theme…). SOLIBAD is his way of binding together both his passions.
Vice President : Leslie Doumerc
Leslie@solibad.net
Leslie Doumerc, 25, has been an independent journalist for 2 years. Located in Montreal, she mainly treats social matters for medias in Québéc (video, radio, printed media).
Avid badminton enthusiast since nearly 15 years, she joined the Badzine team in 2005 and regularly covers international events.
More than anything, she loves good ideas. That’s why she loved the SOLIBAD concept, and didn’t hesitate for a second before joining this beautiful project.
Treasurer : Marina Morales
marina@solibad.net
Marina Morales, 30, is a consultant for an agency specialized on environmental and sustainable development advice. As an athlete, she’s been playing badminton since age 12. She’s seen top French level in clubs such as Ezanville and Grande Synthe and spent countless weekends roaming the courts of the four corners of France. In addition, she’s always been an active members of her clubs, as a trainer for youths, board member or treasurer.
Aware of matters of global solidarity and eager to contribute to humanitarian projects for a quite some time, she decided to hop aboard the SOLIBAD ship.
Secretary : Yves Lacroix
Yves@solibad.net
Yves Lacroix, 45, is an archivist in Québéc for the CSN (Confederation of National Trade Unions). He combines his professional efficiency with his passion for badminton in general and for the chances this sport gives to travel, meet people and share.
A video enthusiast – his Montreal home is like a small museum, he’s also vice president of Badmintonphoto, the official agency of the BWF, and has covered since 15 years about 50 international tournaments, becoming a familiar face on the circuit, as a photograph, journalist, and now in his new role as SOLIBAD secretary.
He likes every aspects of badminton, playing watching, taking pictures and sharing it.
Vidéo- Graphist – Web : Olivier Duband
Olivier Duband, 21, works currently as a press agent for the La Poste group.
Caught up into Raphael’s projects and good spirits, he joined the Badzine troops in 2006. Specialized in video editing, self-educated and passionate, he spends countless hours behind a lens or a computer.
This is how, at the cost of a serious dose of motivation, Badzine Tv was born. His most treasured memory ? The Badzine trip to Malaysia. Such a fascinating and overwhelming culture. And is there a better way than SOLIBAD to combine both his passions ?
Video coordinator – Loic Meuriot
As a professional video reporter, Loic, 37, has joined the Solibad team very early on, bringing a clear professional knowledge in the world of editing and filming our events. As a badminton coach himself during his leisure time, he is behind most of Solibad’s work in terms of video programming and editing and has become a key person in the foundation through his investment and talent
Webmaster : Jean-François Chauveau
Jean-François, 39, works as a computer specialist and head of the technical department for the Caisse d’Epargne. Initiator of every project of the team, big chief and brains of Badzine, he’s likely the one who spent the most hours on the site, coding, debugging and enjoying other computer related delights.
Creator of the Badmintonphoto sites, Jeff provides his skills to serve the badminton community with ever new functionalities and more conviviality – the site is now in its 3rd version. As a sports fanatic, he never goes without his motorcycle, dividing most his free time between the badminton and squash courts, in his lovely Languedoc-Roussillon province – he lives near Montpellier.
As soon as he heard about the SOLIBAD project, he immediately volunteered to put together its website.
SOLIBAD’s GLOBAL AMBASSADOR : Pi Hongyan (n°1 French, World #4)
One of the world’s top players for the last 10 years, Pi Hongyan was born in China and was naturalized French in 2004. She’s the ideal patron for such a project ! Because of her education, her travels, her open-mindedness, her ability to speak various languages (English, Chinese, French), she will be specially involved and SOLIBAD will benefit from her experience of high level, her numerous contacts within the badminton community and her overflowing energy.
World n°4 in 2010, she won the silver medal in the European Championship in 2004, the bronze medal in the World Championship in 2009, 6 French national titles and many international open tournaments.
Special thanks to Arnaud Enguilabert, who created our beautiful logo and the flash intro for our site (www.aquareel.com) and to all the contributors who help on their free time to translate this website: Véronique, Deborah, Sophie, Anthony and many others who are currently translating our projects and website in different languages.