Supporters of badminton may only see the final product, but we wanted to go behind the scenes to find out what it takes to host an international para-badminton event in Spain.
The Spanish Para-Badminton International is one of the longest running tournaments in the calendar and we met with Amparo Rayo, BWF Para-badminton Umpire and Head Organiser of the event, to see what goes on behind the scenes in hosting the event for the 7th time.
Amparo Rayo, Head Organiser at the Spanish Para-Badminton International. (Photo: Badminton Europe/Bobby Griffin)
“This is the 4th time we have held the event here in Alcudia, and this year the preparations have been tough. There are more players every year, and resources are limited... particularly human resources. We have the same venue and also the same staff, which means the same amount of space and number of courts, but with larger teams coming to the tournament it makes it harder to cater for so many! More effort, more dedication, but we are all very proud to be hosting the event once again. I’m very excited, but also a little nervous and have been a little stressed up until now. But we’re almost there and things are falling into place… I can almost start to enjoy it” says Rayo laughing.
On what makes the tournament so successful…
“There are many reasons, we are in Spain and so we can guarantee the weather even in Europe’s winter. The prices here also make it very accessible for most. Other tournaments, for example, must charge perhaps 30% more for accommodation, and I know that some players and teams around the world find it difficult to afford. But in Europe, this is one of the cheapest events. Also, we have run many tournaments now, including the European Championships in Murcia, September 2014, and so we can draw on a lot of knowledge and experience in para-badminton. And as para-badminton gets more professional, moving towards Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, we want to make sure our event also gets better and better every year!”
Will there be a Spanish Para-Badminton 2019 International?
“I don’t think we will be able to host one here in Mallorca again next year. It has taken so much energy to run this tournament, and with resources being so limited we simply don’t have the people-power to make it happen for another consecutive year. We don’t get a lot of help for para-badminton either. Badminton is not a well-known sport here, and then combined with it being sport for people with disabilities, most people don’t know it even exists here in Mallorca. That makes it so hard to get sponsors, and so hard to get people to help! Personally, it takes a lot out of me to run this tournament and I am going to need some time to rest next year. Perhaps elsewhere in Spain, we’ll have to wait and see. We’ll be back here in 2020 though!”
A player’s perspective
One of Europe’s top players, Karin Suter-Erath in women’s wheelchair class 1, gave her opinions of the Spanish International.
Karin Suter-Erath in action at the 2016 European Championships in Beek, the Netherlands. (Photo:Badminton Europe/Mark Phelan)
“I cannot play every international event, but I don’t think I have ever missed Spain. I always come to this one for many reasons; the level of competition is high and I want to play against the best players in the world, as often as possible, to improve my own game. Time, money and location are also so important. I like Spain in general and I speak some Spanish, it’s one of my favourite countries. I love the atmosphere and the people, the way they are. The event is great, the venue is so close to the hotel, we can get there by chair. I can bring my hand-bike and go cycling along the sea, it’s so beautiful here.”
“Every year the running of the tournament is getting better, a big difference from the first one years ago. Things run smoothly, such as the pick up at the airport especially with all the wheelchairs. We have never had to wait for anything. We know the schedules for training and meetings and things like that have improved so much over the years. You can really feel the experience of people like Amparo. It’s great to be here!”
A word from the BWF
BWF Junior Tournament Series Manager, Syahmi Sabron, responsible for para-badminton, added
“Amparo is very experienced now, she really understands the needs of the players. We have 6 different classes of athlete and, for example, wheelchair accessibility at the hotels, the venue, and the transportation for them needs to be structured. The players don’t need to think about basic needs, as these have been covered here. The hotels she has chosen serve the tournament very well and being so close that really helps our timings throughout the week. The venue is extremely practical, using the 2 halls (10 playing courts) to cater for all events helps us as we have over 200 athletes this week.”
We wish Amparo and all para-badminton teams in Spain the very best of luck this week, You can follow all the scores on Tournament Software, click here for the list of entries.
You can read about Europe’s hopes for medals at the Spanish Para-badminton International in our article earlier this week, International para-badminton stars launch their 2018 campaign in Spain
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