The Portuguese youth team visited the Centre of Excellence (COE) in Holbæk, Denmark, the foregoing week, including three players from the Pan-American Confederation and two from Sweden.
On 15 August, eight players from the Portuguese national youth team and the coach Diogo Silva travelled to Denmark to train with the COE players.
- At the Centre of Excellence, we are happy to help the European member associations to gain more experience with a professional setup, said COE head coach Jeroen van Dijk.
When the delegation from Portugal left on August 21st, they experienced not only training with the COE players, but also sessions with Stenhus Badminton College, and, when a club from Copenhagen had a training camp in Holbæk over the weekend, the players participated as well.
- They were really lucky to get so many different experiences from different systems all in one stay. We were happy to be so many for the practice that we were able to divide everyone up in smaller groups.
Intercontinental team work
The Pan-American member associations of Chile, Peru and El Salvador have also had players visiting the centre in Holbæk. Fernanda Saponara, Uriel Canjura and Alonso Medel have taken part of the practice to prepare for the Youth Olympic Games 2018.
- I could learn how professional athletes prepare for training. It is an amazing experience practicing with people of a very high level. Everyone was very kind with us, Saponara from Peru said to Badminton Europe.
Preparing for the Youth Olympics in Argentina in October is a big reason of their visit, but the three players have also come to get experience and knowledge about how things are done by the European members.
- My favorite thing was that I was motivated every day and focus on my goal. And also, they spend most of the day together supporting each other, specially at trainings.
Swedens’ Henri Hurskainen and Andy Tsai are also visitors this week in Holbæk and come to get sparring in the great training environment. The COE can accommodate different players from different countries and these few weeks with visitors from around the world has proved that once again.
Find more information about the Centre of Excellence here