Development

The top European young players set new standards at the 2022 RSL BEC World Class Junior Camp
Date: 7/21/2022 2:07 PM
Published by : Jacob Oehlenschlæger
36 of Europe’s most talented junior players got to work together on what makes a world class player in top-quality training at the RSL BEC World Class Junior Camp 2022, in Vejen, Denmark. 

The 19 boys and 17 girls were led by a World Class coaching team: Anu Nieminen (Finland), Petya Nedelcheva (Bulgaria), Sune Gavnholt (Denmark) and Jose Antonio Crespo (Spain). The former top players, all of whom are now working as professional badminton coaches, were keen on sharing all their badminton knowledge and give as many inputs as possible to support the development of the future world class players of European badminton. 

The overall topic of the camp was “High Performance mindset - on and off court.” On court, the focus was on how to get quality training. The players were challenged on what they could do themselves and how they could support their sparring partners increase the standards in training. Off court, recovery was the main focus, and the players had to pay special attention to their sleeping routines. The 9-day training camp with 2-3 training sessions a day was really challenging for the players, and it was especially interesting to follow the players’ behaviors on the last days, when the tiredness started to set in.

- The players worked really hard throughout the camp. It was great to see how they supported each other during training with a special focus on being world class feeders and giving feedback. The players took on the many advice on how to improve their daily performance in training, and also off court. Despite them getting tired, they still tried their best to be world class throughout the camp. But one thing is to be able to do it on a camp like this, another is to implement the world class behavior back home in their everyday life. If they manage to do so, I´m sure we will see some of these players competing on the highest level in the future, Head coach Anu Nieminen stated.

The players also felt the special atmosphere at the camp. Despite being challenged both on and off court on their High Performance mindset by the coaches, it was always done in a constructive way. Charles Fouyn, from Belgium, who was part of the men´s singles group was really pleased with the camp.

- For me and for sure for the other players too, there was such a great atmosphere between the players and coaches. The camp was perfectly organized (food, training, accommodation, facilities). I trained in the singles group and the training was always at a great level and a good variation between high and recovery sessions. I will take back home a lot from the theory session because it’s very interesting and I can improve a lot in that area. On court, I will take tactical and other advice from Sune and the other coaches back home.

The RSL BEC World Class Junior camp is a part of Badminton Europe’s World Class programme. The plan is to deliver this camp every even year for the medalists from the U17 European Championships the year before. In odd years medalists from the European Junior Championships from the previous year will be invited for a 2-week training camp in Asia. Development & High Performance Senior Manager, Jacob Oehlenschlæger, was very pleased with the outcome of the camp and is looking forward to the camp in Asia in 2023.

- The RSL BEC World Class Junior camp turned out the way I was hoping for. The players worked really well with their High Performance mindset on and off court. The coaches delivered high quality training and kept on challenging the players on how to increase their performance level during training. It was interesting to see how well the players responded to the coaches’ high expectations, when they were feeders in the exercises. A key element for increasing the level in training. So, I´m happy and can´t wait for next year’s trip to Asia. If the invited players perform as well as this group just did, it will be an amazing trip. 

A special thanks to players and coaches making the RSL BEC World Class Junior Camp 2022 memorable.

Coaches: Anu Nieminen (Finland), Jose Antonio Crespo (Spain), Petya Nedelcheva (Bulgaria), Sune Gavnholt (Denmark).

Players: Anamaria Serban (Romania), Andjela Vitman (Serbia), Calvin Lundsgaard (Denmark), Charles Fouyn (Belgium), Chloe Dennis (England), Daniel Franco (Spain), Elena Paya (Spain), Ethan Hosken (England), Gianna Stiglich (Italy), Jeppe Søby (Denmark), Joakim Oldorff (Finland), Jonathan Melgaard (Denmark), Kajsa Van Dalm (Denmark), Lucia Rodriguez (Spain), Lucie Krulova (Czech Republic), Mads Emil Monke (Denmark), Maria Højlund Tommerup (Denmark), Marija Sudimac (Serbia), Matthew Cheung (Ireland), Mihaela Chepisheva (Bulgaria), Mihajlo Tomic (Serbia), Mike Vestergaard (Denmark), Mikkel Langemark (Denmark), Nikol Carulla (Spain), Nikolaj Søgaard (Denmark), Oliver Butler (England), Petra Maixnerova (Czech Republic), Rodrigo Sanjurjo (Spain), Sebastian Mikkelsen (Denmark), Sergej Lukic (Serbia), Sofiia Lavrova (Ukraine), Soňa Hořínková (Czech Republic), Tsvetina Popivanova (Bulgaria), Viktor Petrovic (Serbia), Yevhenii Stolovoi (Ukraine), Yevheniia Kantemyr (Ukraine).
©badmintoneurope.com. All rights reserved.

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