The international training summer camp for elite and aspiring junior players (U17 and U19) held in Visaginas (Lithuania) successfully concluded on July 12. Twenty participants from four countries took part in the camp. Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian and Belarusian badminton federations each delegated one coach and four perspective badminton athletes to the training camp.

The training camp took place in Visaginas, Lithuania, from July 1 through July 12. The training activities were organized in 3 microcycles – introductory, main and final, with a rest day in between (on July 4 and 9). Each day athletes took part in 3 training sessions.  Morning sessions were dedicated to technical and tactical training, the afternoon session was mostly focused on individual work and sparring sessions, and the evening session was held outdoors – in the nearby stadium, forest or lake.

Visaginas is a good place for sports and friendly for badminton. At the same time, there were several other badminton training camps held in the vicinity, among which there was a team from Russia. Therefore, the participants of the training camp had ample additional opportunities for sparring with other strong badminton players.

The rest days were also organized by the hosts. On July 9 the participants had a long day by the beach of a lake; swimming, using the sauna, playing sports games. They were, additionally, involved in preparation of a traditional summer camp dish – fish soup from locally caught fresh fish cooked over the fire.

The organizers of the camp – Kaunas Badminton Club and the Lithuanian Badminton Federation are very happy for the privilege and the opportunity to host and run such an international project. We want to thank Badminton Europe for support, which made it possible and our partners from Latvia, Estonia and Belarus for supporting our initiative and sending participants to the training camp. We do hope it was pleasant and useful experience for all the participants.

The training camp was a successful training event. The chance to train with strong fellow athletes from neighbouring countries were motivating and useful for the players. There were a lot of opportunities for sparring with strong players. It was also beneficial for the coaches as they had a chance to share their experience of working with young athletes and learn from each other.