We welcomed General Secretary of the Portuguese Badminton Federation, Patricia Rosa, to our BASIS Shadow Programme. Patricia was invited to join the European U17 Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania in hopes of getting some advice and ideas on how to manage events in Portugal.
The Program provides an opportunity for Badminton Europe’s members to send an employee or player to its activities such as European Championships or courses, including Coach Education and Summer Schools. Accommodation, flights, transport, and food are all covered by the BEC.
The aim is to get acquainted with the work around the selected event and have the opportunity to ask questions and take away some valuable input to later put into practice on home events. During ten days, Patricia shadowed Tamara Geeraerts, Events Manager at the BEC. At the conclusion of her training, we asked her to share her experience.
Key takeaways from observing the organisation, day-to-day tasks of the European U17 Championships
It’s a lot of work, a lot of challenges. Before the tournament starts, there are a lot of arrangements to be made - hotels, transport, volunteers - and even when the tournament starts there’s always something new. Regardless of this, in the end, I think it’s a team effort, and if you have good communication with everyone, it works.
How do you plan to implement what you've learned in your own federation
I plan to introduce some fresh ideas to our national competitions, as well as the U17 and junior international Championships that will take place in Caldas in November and December. The application Sportity, for sure, is something that I hope to have in our tournaments because it's a good way to have everyone involved and always updated with everything from practice schedules to transfers from the hotel/venue to small warnings like keeping the stands clean.
What are the challenges you see in adapting those practices to the Portuguese context
One of the biggest challenges will be having more people involved in badminton. We don’t just need more players, but also more umpires, coaches, and clubs so the sport can grow, and we can take on challenges like hosting European Championships.
Specific strategies you found interesting
One of the strategies I found really interesting at the BEC is having volunteers from other sports. In Portugal we usually have an agreement with local schools, but here they went to get volunteers from local clubs such as tennis, volleyball…
Your thoughts on the importance of such development programmes for fostering collaboration among Members
I have been waiting to have the chance to apply to the BEC Shadow Programme since I started working in the Portuguese Federation because I believe that the knowledge that you can take from working in an event like this is always very useful and there’s no event course that can prepare you enough for the challenges that an international competition can have, especially one with teams and individual events. Here we had two evacuations of the hall and a reschedule of the tournament because of the temperature in the hall. This is the kind of challenges that you need to experience in real time and not just in a classroom setting.
Your perspective on the future of badminton in Portugal based on this experience
This has been an outstanding experience and I have learned a lot from the organisation, from the BEC team, YONEX team, umpires, and the live streaming team. I think in Portugal we have made some improvements in the last few years but there’s always something to improve so I hope I have the chance to put some of the things I learn into practice when I arrive in Portugal. I have to say from my perspective on the future of badminton in Portugal that with players like the team we had at the European U17 Championships that for sure we will start winning some medals because they’re giving it all on court.