The Shadow Program is part of the BEC BASIS Program, launched in 2017. The Shadow Program provides an opportunity for Member Associations (MA´s) to send an employee or retiring (or recently retired) player to BEC activities like European Championships, Coach Education/Shuttle Time Courses or the Summer School to shadow the work of key members of BEC Staff at those activities.

In February, Karyna Zhabbarava from Belarus was selected for the Shadow Program at the European Mixed Team Championships in Copenhagen (10th – 18th February). Badminton Europe (BEC) spoke to Zhabbarava on her experiences during the Championships.

BEC: Please share with us your experience at the European Mixed Team Championships.

Zhabbarava: It was really a great experience for me to be in the organizational team. I am very happy to be here. I tried to learn and understand every direction of the organization of this event. The most important areas for me were TV, learning from the Technical Officials and the victory ceremony and of course I was very happy to get acquainted with almost all staff of Badminton Europe.

BEC: What are the tasks that you were assigned to during the Championships?

Zhabbarava: In general, I shadowed Tamara Geeraerts from BEC, the Tournament Director during the Championships. She also assigned me to multiple areas so that I get the most out of my shadow program. There were too many areas to name here but some of them are for instance setting up the main venue, press room, attended team managers´ meeting, learnt about match control and many more.

BEC: What have you learned from your shadowing duties in Copenhagen?

Zhabbarava: It was very useful to understand how it is working in different departments during a competition. I clarified duties of Technical Officials, work process of broadcast and a lot of small new details which were really beneficial for my job at the European Games.

̏ We are very delighted that the Shadow Program serves as a good platform for Karyna to be exposed to more behind the scenes of organizing a major event prior to the European Games. We constantly provide such opportunities to our Member Associations and I personally encourage all MA´s to apply for this program. This program is also open for administrators, technical officials and coaches as we want to assist the different groups in badminton, ̋ stated Tania Teoh, BEC Manager.

To know more about the BEC BASIS Programme, click here.