Getting Better in Beek

Jij het nieuws, wij een tikkie!

This town is situated in the southeastern Netherlands, in the province of Limburg. Badminton Nederland was chosen to host this annual event after the submission of a strong bid against two other Member Associations.

This Badminton Europe (BEC) event will be co-organized with the flagship club of Badminton Nederland, Badminton Duovereniging Veenendaal. Edwin Schriemer, Chairman of Badminton Duovereniging Veenendaal on the preparation leading up to the education course, "We have had several meetings with Badminton Nederland and our partners in Beek to make sure that the logistical part of the course is well prepared before welcoming all the participants. All in all, I feel that we are progressing fine and we shall be in Beek again in the first week of October to finalize the last details."

A total of 55 participants are expected to attend this course which includes high performance and development para-badminton coaches from 19 Member Associations, BEC presenters, staff, volunteers and guests. The course content will include high performance and development training strategies, open discussions among the participants and multiple hands on activities for the coaches. Coaches can expect a lot of knowledge transfer throughout the course and are encouraged to take part actively in the different sessions planned.

Lyndon Williams, BEC Main Presenter on the course delivery, "We are going to focus on some key areas on the high performance side for coaches with players on the world stage and also grass root development level where we will look into how we introduce the sport in the different Sport Classes. I look forward to meeting all of the participants in Beek and discuss para-badminton."

From the 19 Member Associations which applied this year, we have 4 new Member Associations - namely Bulgaria, Estonia, Portugal and Romania.

"It is always great to have new countries attending as this slightly reflects the development of para-badminton in Europe. We hope that more and more Member Associations will start to focus more on para-badminton in their countries now that para-badminton is officially a Paralympic Sport after the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games", stated Tania Teoh, BEC Junior Manager who is the main contact person for para-badminton in Europe.

João Matos, BEC Vice President, also Chair of the BEC Para-Badminton Commission will be attending the whole course together with Paul Kurzo, BWF Vice President (Para-Badminton). BEC will have its Para-Badminton Commission Meeting at the same location upon the completion of the course on Sunday, 23rd of October 2016.