From 27 July to 3 August, Türkiye hosted their first Regional Project in which 27 players and five coaches from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, and Türkiye took part in a U15 training camp in Ankara — with all three participating countries choosing their top talents to guarantee high-quality training during the camp. 

“This Regional Project’s main aim was to bring the participating countries closer to each other in terms of performance and, through the camp, to improve the trainings and the match experience. This camp was organised also to improve our international relations and enhance our friendship with the other participating countries”, explained Iranian coach Gholamreza Madadian Bozorg, who was the camp leader.

“I created the program with the main objective of increasing physical and conditioning performances by doing conditioning studies in the morning training, and with basic technical and tactical training in the afternoon. We also helped the players to gain experience with mini tournaments,” added the head coach.

The BEC Regional Projects do not only benefit the participating players and coaches during the programme days, but they also have a positive long-lasting influence on the future of all participants and, as a consequence, for badminton in their home countries. Bozorg highlights the importance of these, stating that “by increasing the number of these camps, the athletes will have more training and match experience in the tournaments”.

                                                                      

Besides the experience and the exchanging of knowledge in an international setting, training camps for young players also provide the perfect setting for them to not only network with athletes from other countries, but also enjoy a social atmosphere that makes their learning journey much more exciting.

“We had a lot of fun with the other players; we made many new friendships. We will all keep in touch,” said Alteya Stoeva, a player from Bulgaria.

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