In conjunction with the recently concluded FZ FORZA Irish Para-Badminton International, the Badminton World Federation organized a BWF National Classifier Workshop in the Indoor Arena in Dublin from 18th to 20th June 2018. The workshop was led by BWF Head of Classification, Dr. Silvia Albrecht.

Badminton Europe is seeking two Junior Managers

The workshop schedule consisted of the following:

18th June 2018- 14:00-18:00 (Theory)
19th June 2018- 09:00-17:00 (Classification Observation)
20th June 2018- 09:00-13:00 (On-Court Observation)

The aims/objectives of the National Level Workshop are:

• To focus on the theory of classification in Para-Badminton.
• To focus in detail on the Minimal Impairment Criteria and show how these are applied in Player Evaluation.
• To observe Player Evaluation under supervision and identify the stages and the roles of the Classifier in the process.

A worthwhile investment

All the participants passed by attending the full workshop and completed the tasks given by Dr. Silvia Albrecht during the three days´ workshop. ´When a country has a national classifier, he/she can assist in gauging the level of impairment of the players before heading to international tournaments. This helps safe expenses for the team,´explained Tania Teoh, BEC Junior Manager.

Teoh added, ´We had experienced some cases where players flew abroad, hoping to be classified but ended up not being classified and could not compete in that tournament. This is the scenario we would like to avoid and by having national classifiers, the athletes can be assessed in their countries and weigh the chances of being classified.´

In support of this, Badminton Europe provided participant grants of EU200 per attending Member Association. It is the aim that every Member Association will have at least one national classifier in the future.

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National Classifiers from the workshop in Dublin

Tianjiao Zhang, Belgium
Kyprianos Alexandrou, Cyprus
Estelle Salager, France
Ana Maia, Ireland
Marco Clemente, Portugal
Kaity Hall, Scotland
Tove Soderdahl, Sweden
Pavel Dobrynin, Russia

If you are interested to become a National Classifier, contact Tania Teoh, BEC Junior Manager at tania.teoh@badmintoneurope.com