Badminton South Africa’s (BSA) age-group coach, Dillan Schaap, says seeing the smiles on the faces of young players competing in the U9, U11 and U13 interprovincial tournament at John Barrable Hall is rewarding and highlights the importance of investing in junior badminton.
The coach, spoke before the start of the six-day competition on June 29. The tournament features over 100 players from nine South African federations and Namibia.
“What we look for in this tournament are the first signs of talent. We want to see grips, technique and footwork. A lot of it is down to coaching, but it is a big indicator of talented players at this level,” he said.
Over 100 players from different provinces and Namibia are participating in the tournament.
“We also look at how they hold and change their grips, their technical thinking, and their ability to pick up a shuttle with a racket instead of their hands, which shows curiosity to learn.”
Schaap believes the tournament is crucial for developing the sport in South Africa, as it provides young players — especially those from rural areas and townships — with an opportunity to showcase their potential.
“Many of our talented athletes come out of rural areas and townships like Duduza, but they are never given an opportunity. This is the first place to give them that opportunity,” Schaap said.
A Namibia youngster prepares to serve in one of his matches. Namibia has three teams participating in the tournament.
BSA board member Emelda Botha echoed Schaap’s sentiments, saying that while the tournament is the lifeblood of badminton in South Africa, development initiatives must prioritise children in rural communities as well.
“We have to develop players not only in suburban areas but also in rural areas. We do find it difficult to reach rural players due to funding, but all our provinces are doing their best. We’ve got six-, seven- and eight-year-olds here. This is an important tournament for us,” said Botha.
To ensure a continuous pipeline of talent, Botha stressed the importance of age-group tournaments, which provide a clear progression path to the national senior team.
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Although participation among U13 boys remains steady, she noted that BSA is concerned by the declining number of girls in this division.
“We need these children to go through the age groups until U19 and the senior level. Due to Covid-19, we had a gap. We found that at U13 level, we don’t have enough girls. The project for the provinces is to try to find more girls. It’s very important for us at BSA, because it all starts at this level.”
Newly elected Eastern Gauteng Badminton Association (EGBA) chairperson, Abhilash Kunjupilla, said it was a proud moment for the province to host the event.
“It’s an incredible privilege. We are a new committee that has been together for six weeks. It has been a mad rush for us to put it together. It’s an incredibly proud moment for me,” Kunjupilla said.
The competition started on June 29 and concludes on July 4.
The Eastern Gauteng Badminton Association team perform their war cry during the opening ceremony on June 29.
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