Last week, the group of 16 badminton coaches participating in the ADVANCE European Badminton Coaching Education was reunited again for five fruitful days in Haarlem, the Netherlands, where the second week of the ADVANCE education programme was hosted.

The ADVANCE education is moving forward steadily and so is the variety of the topics addressed. Each of the different courses will be introducing new topics and focusing on specific groups.

“In the first course that took place in Holbæk, Denmark, we were focusing a lot on entry-level badminton whereas in this course, we have been focusing more on the next group, players of 13 to 16 years of age. This time, we have spent more time in the hall, working on technical and tactical aspects of badminton as to become more practical in this second course, and we will continue to do that in the third course.” Jacob Oehlenschlaeger, Development & High Performance Senior Manager at Badminton Europe and ADVANCE project leader, explained.

Sergio Lara-Bercial, Manager of Strategy at the International Council for Coaches Excellence (ICCE), points out the end goal of the ADVANCE education to understand the wide scope of topics covered in the courses.

“The ADVANCE course is not only about digging deeper into the practicalities on court but also into fundamental topics such as the importance of developing a talent development framework, this is vital. It is a road map, a guideline as to how as a club or as a Federation we want to go about developing players, so it is important that everybody speaks the same language and that everybody understands what the pathway looks like”.

There is plenty to cover in five days, but the coaches don’t let the long sessions stop them from enjoying this unique learning experience. ADVANCE participant Vytautė Fomkinaitė highlights the positives about the demanding course. “They are quite intense, from morning until the evening, but the experience is very good. I love that we are sharing a lot of experiences with other coaches”.

After yet another rewarding experience for our strongly motivated and committed coaches and tutors, the ADVANCE education will be having its next stop in Glasgow, Scotland, from 27 until 31 March 2023.

You can read more about the ADVANCE programme here.