Lithuanian badminton federation has organized two Badminton Europe Regional Project training camps for U17 and U19 players from Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania during 6-14 July in Visaginas, and 16-24 August in Taurage. In total 22 players and 8 coaches participated, and each camp was 9 days long.
The players were happy to receive instructions from experienced coaches, both local and from abroad (Michael Reed from Denmark), and the main objectives were teaching players badminton techniques and tactics, as well as general physical preparation, and sparring matches.
As an additional treat, the players in the first camp were able to have sparring matches with Russian players who were present in Visaginas at the same time (not part of the regional project). Also, Lithuanian MS player ranked 40 in the world, Kestutis Navickas was training during the 1st camp, and the players had a possibility to look, learn and get inspired.
The players showed improvement in their skills and were able to use the learned technical and tactical elements in their game. As a conclusion, the camps were successful and helped not only strenghten the relationships between the countries, but also take the players' game to a better level.