23 players and six coaches gathered in Brig, Switzerland, for a pre-season camp organized by the German Badminton Association. It was hosted by Sport Hotel OLYMPICA on July 23-29, 2016. 

It functions as an elite camp for the best junior players of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, where they can practice together for seven days with the National Junior Coaches of each nation.

Once again all the participants realized, that the Sport Hotel OLYMPICA in Brig is the perfect place for a season preparation. 

„It was my first time here at the nations camp in Brig. A ‘Thank you’ goes out to the OLYMPICA-team for the fantastic conditions “, was a short statement by Michael Lahnsteiner (Austrian Coach). 

The hospitality and the high class facilities of the OLYMPICA was again a key-factor to inspire athletes and coaches for even higher performances. 

„I have never been there as a player. I enjoyed the camp very much. The players were very motivated and they worked very hard “, added Lahnsteiner.

The intense mixture of individual training, physical training, group-sessions, team-matches, regeneration and leisure activities are typical for the camp. This year, 23 players and six coaches from Austria, Switzerland and Germany joint the Camp. 

OLYMPICA had the perfect training facilities with 18 courts at two different venues, a gym, a wellness-area, and many possibilities for other leisure activities like bowling, beach volleyball and mountain biking.

Every day the players had a minimum of 90 minutes of individual training, to make sure they got as much as possible out of the camp on a personal level. Physical training was conducted in subgroups five times and Team Matches was arranged four times during the camp; mixing serious and hard training with some fun match-training. 

In this manner, the camp succeeds in evolving the players individually and making sure they bond and have shared experiences across nations.

„We are already looking forward to the next edition in 2017”, says Sabrina Heiniger, Swiss National Junior Coach, looking back on a successful week.

„Like the previous years, we have had a great week with the players and coaches. We train with high intensity and quality, and we do our best trying to prepare the players for their seasons and for the long term, as well. For the coaches, we have had a good exchange about badminton and sports in general, so we use the camp as kind of education platform as well.”

Also Matthias Hütten, German National Junior Coach, shares her opinion: „We are really lucky that we have found a good mixture, in order to develop the participants as players and as characters. Everyone took new experiences, abilities and memories with them back home. And last but not least, a lot of new friendships between the European Junior Players and Coaches have been made. “

The camp is named “Four Nations Elite Camp”, but only three nations could participate this year. The previous years, Ireland has been a part of the camp, but was prevented this year.