Every two years, bright young talents from all around Europe meet to compete to take the champion title in the European Junior Championships. This is the most important U19 event on the continent, and the preparation in the lead to it is extremely important. 

 

Seven female and nine male U19 players, and four coaches took part in the Nations Camp 2022, a training camp that was part of the Regional Projects programme, before travelling to this year’s European Junior Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. 

For many years, it has been Switzerland, Austria, and Germany who collaborated. However, this year, Italy replaced long-term partner Germany. Vera Bagdasarjanz, from Swiss Badminton, highlights the possibility of holding the Nations Camp with four countries next year. 

- The Nations Camp gave us the opportunity to get input from the different coaches, meet players from other nations, and train with them. Everyone worked very intensively, which gave a great atmosphere and boosted the motivation, Swiss player Lina Schadegg said.
 

Players worked on a wide variety of aspects that would help them not just in the upcoming championships, but in their badminton careers — they worked on individual deficits, gained international match experience through the sparring matches between the different nations, expanded their international network, and gained autonomy and professionalism due to the competitive and performance-oriented environment during the camp.  

 

There was also time for players to unwind in the three days that the camp lasted. Besides the training, the camp offered a space for intercultural activities, such as a fun bowling evening, a visit to the swimming pool, and a BBQ party.
 

- We delivered training sessions in small groups, where players could work on our individual weaknesses. We also trained in cross-country groups. Players had the opportunity to gain a lot of match practice in various sparring sessions, National Juniors Coach in Swiss Badminton Saber Afif explained.  

 

Want to learn more about Badminton Europe’s Regional Projects? Click here to read more about the programme and learn about previous projects.