He has been at Badminton Hall in Dunedin this week to watch his four grandchildren in action at the South Island junior championships.
Thompson, who lives in retirement in Winton, won four New Zealand doubles titles and represented the country in five international series from 1958 to 1960.
He was a versatile sportsman and also played 18 Plunket Shield cricket matches for Otago between 1956 and 1963.
His best score was 100 not out against Northern Districts.
He is the only member of the family to have played badminton for New Zealand but he is confident that his deeds will be emulated by his grandchildren.
"I'm proud of the way they are playing. They are showing a lot of enthusiasm and are putting in the hard work," he said.
Thompson met his wife, Fay, when they both represented Southland in the sport.
The couple's children also excelled at sport.
Alan represented Southland in badminton and cricket and Anne Cleminson played badminton for Otago.
The best-performed of the grandchildren is Jessica Thompson, who was a key member of the Otago combination that won the under-15 teams event in Dunedin this week and qualified for the teams nationals in Hamilton in October.
Jessica, a year 9 pupil at Otago Girls High School, had been playing badminton for five years and reached the quarterfinals of the under-15 singles at this year's national championships in Invercargill.
"I'm proud of grandad," she said.
"He gives me a few tips and tells me now to improve my game. He is good at tactics and told me what to do when I get break points."
Jessica practises for 90 minutes three times a week and works hard at her game.
Her cousin Daniel Cleminson, a pupil at Balmacewen Intermediate, shows great promise and is also a member of the Otago under-15 team.
Cameron Thompson, a pupil at Otago Boys High School, is a member of the Otago under-19 team that qualified for the national teams event in Christchurch in September.
His brother Hayden, also at Otago Boys High School, is in the Otago under-17 B team.
The Otago under-15 team of Alyssa Heller, April Patel, Brittany Reddington, Sarah Sandford, Jessica Thompson, George Alexander, Daniel Cleminson, Matt Gillan, Josh Quon, Elliot Tay and Mitchell Wilson won the teams event, and Marlborough was second.
The team is coached by Neil Wilson.
It will compete against the top three North Island teams in a four-team round-robin national final in Hamilton in October. In the under-17 grade Otago 1 lost the final 10-6 to Canterbury 1, with Otago 2 third in the second division.
The South Island individual championship finals will be held at Badminton Hall from 3pm today.
There are two squads of Australian girls, from Ballarat and Melbourne, competing as part of an Australian government-funded programme to help girls participate in sport.
