Participants, staff coaches, experts and staff got to enjoy a successful RSL BEC Summer School completed with stunning nature, excellent facilities, and new friendships.
Badminton Europe organised the RSL BEC Summer School for the first time in Finland in close cooperation with the Pajulahti Olympic and Paralympic Training Centre. BEC´s most traditional event was organized first time 1982, so The event’s history goes back a long way, having had its first edition in 1982. This time, 40 years later, 64 players from took part in the training camp of the 2022 RSL BEC Summer School together with 23 BWF/BEC Coach Education Level 2 candidates, all representing 28 different countries. This big group was led by staff coaches, experts and BEC staff.
Back to Pajulahti
Pajulahti organised the 2020 European Junior Championships during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic. Local host Laura Kittelä, Events Manager at the sports centre, is happy to welcome players in these different and smoother conditions. Following the success of the 2020 event, they decided to apply to host the Summer School.
- After hosting the 2020 European Junior Championships, we wanted to see continuity and we applied to host the RSL BEC Summer School. We have a tiny but effective team who works to make events happen. Badminton is not the biggest sport in Finland but it’s still a great sport, and I want to see it doing well, Director of the Pajulahti Olympic and Paralympic Training Centre Tero Kuorikoski said.
A big group united by the sport we love
The U15 players had a chance to train with a big group of experienced coaches and also got to interact with the Coach Education Level 2 coaches with whom they delivered some of their assessment sessions. There was more than on-court sessions for the young talents, as they got to enjoy fun activities such as an afternoon at the adventure park or the classic football match against Coach Education Level 2 candidates
The Summer School U15 training camp was led by Head Coach Alan McIlvain from Scotland who had the support of eight other staff coaches.
- When you see a large group of strangers start to form friendships during the week, when you see the effort the players and the coaches put in trying to get better at the sport they all love, when you see how the staff and experts work together to make the camp enjoyable for everyone, it really is a great experience, McIlvain explained.
Challenging and rewarding
The BWF/BEC level 2 was led by an experienced trio of experts — Tom Causer, Alexander Böök and Marketa Osičková.
- I think both the coaches and experts found the week to be both challenging and rewarding. We changed the assessment process from previous years so that the coaches worked with players over 3 different occasions and 5 hours of observed coaching practice. Following each of the 3 coaching sessions, the L2 coaches received instant feedback from either the experts or staff coaches. Working with players created a more realistic coaching situation, Leading Expert Tom Causer stated.
- As experts, we were also really challenged over the week by both the discussions and some excellent questions. Overall, we were really pleased with how all the coaches worked together, contributed to the course, and the level of understanding shown, Causer added.
After months of preparation, a busy week with a lot of work but also time to enjoy one of Badminton Europe’s most special events, all participants returned to their respective countries with new learnings and new friendships.
- The most important thing in the RSL BEC Summer School was to have fun, make new friends, have quality training, and gain some new knowledge, BEC Development & High Performance Officer Tommi Saksa said.
BEC would like to thank all participants for this successful edition of the 2022 RSL BEC Summer School.