Badminton Europe’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) is currently undergoing a revamp ahead of an important year for the centre.
With a number of players looking ahead to the qualification of the Olympic Games, with ambitions in their sight.
The Badminton Europe Centre of Excellence is based in Holbæk and practice is currently held in a gymnasium which is shared amongst other groups.
What does the new centre mean for the CoE?
The team will move to a new centre in February 2019 and will share it with other badminton clubs but one thing: it will allow more time on the practice courts.
CoE Assistant Coach Kestutis Navickas believes that this is nothing but good news for the rise of European badminton.
- This project is to improve the whole level of badminton in Europe, so it is about the limits where you want to go. We have no limits, Kestutis Navickas said.
- We will have better facilities for coaching, a gym for badminton. We are going to have our own hall and we will feel like home there, it means a lot to us.
- I hope that the new centre will help us attract better players to the CoE. We are sending a clear message to the whole world that we want the very best to come and practice with us.
The Holbæk reformation
There have been a number of changes over the past months at the CoE with new arrivals, the latest one, Milan Dratva from Slovakia.
The year of 2018, the Centre saw eight new arrivals to the Centre of Excellence from a number of different countries, Sweden, Mauritia, Germany, Ireland, Slovakia Moldova, and Azerbaijan.
- We are always having a big group of players, which requires good management. It is a challenge every day.
- It is a challenge every day from different angles as a coach, and as a person. Being a coach in high performance, you need those skills in one, but you can always improve.