Girls camp in Serbia

2011_Girls camp _group5

From 17.8 until 21.8.2011 the city of Kragujevac in Serbia was the host for a unique Badminton Europe project. 17 girls and 3 female coaches were about to be pioneers for this Girls Only Camp. All over Europe this idea pops up more and more but we were very happy to receive the support of BE in this organisation.

Ravens KG Klub, in the person of Andreja Todorovic, has put a great effort in the preparations. Together with the creative and bubbly Maria Bulatovic and the charming Corina Dan the camp could only be a great success. I was much honoured that I could take part in this camp and was looking forward to this week.

The set up was the same every day; 2 trainings combined with some social and cultural activities. A basic but good plan that lead to a successful camp for all participants.

On Wednesday the players started arriving to the camp. Unfortunately Slovenia, Croatia and Turkey pulled out at the last minute. That was sad for the camp but that would not keep us from smiling and working hard.

The days passed very quickly and the hosts did everything to make everybody feel welcome in their town. Pancake-evening – tourist-bus-Tour – outdoor swimming pool and even an interview with a former European top athlete long jump Ana Stankovic. Miss Stankovic explained to the young girls how her career started and how she experienced her years as a top athlete. This was very impressive for the players and I'm sure they will remember her story for a while! The players did not only get a lot of trips but also a very well designed ‘Girls Camp’ T-shirt for the occasion in a bright pink as well as the BE T-shirt! (see pictures on Facebook)

Of course there was also the on-court training. All players showed great interest and motivation for the practices and were very keen to improve their game. Throughout the week they worked on grip changes, body posture, lunges, rear court deception, singles defence as well as some basic doubles and single tactics. It was nice to see the players try hard even when sometimes the set up was a bit different then they are used to. The players were questioned and it was nice to see how they handle the responsibility they got on court.

Throughout the week there were also some other topics covered like nutrition, warming-up for a competition, mental training … Sometimes during the training, sometimes we talked about these topics during cooling-down and stretching.

The last afternoon was filled with a tournament. First they played the group stages followed by crossed semi-finals and of course, the final of this first girl’s camp. The Romanian girls proved to be the best after this week and Adra OLARIU took home the title by beating her friend Ariana PRODAN. After the tournament we had an official ceremony where all players receive a very nice designed diploma from the Girls Camp as well as a certificate of the camp’s tournament.

Overall this camp was very rewarding and filled with lots of fun! It was something different, just girls, but it worked out very well. Thanks to all the players as well as colleagues Maria and Corina and local – Mister popular – Andreja this first Girls Camp can really be called a success!!

An Soenens (coach) – Belgium

 “The aim of this camp was to inspire and motivate girls and female coaches to keep them involved in badminton – a demanding task for the adorable, natural, sweet, optimistic, full of energy, nice, enthusiastic, with a native teaching gift, sedulous head coach - in two words An Soenens. These characteristics approached her in a blink of an eye to the girls and to the coaches as well. We admired the dedication and passion that An put into her coaching where everybody worked to improve. Girls “depositions” are the best proof of this successful camp. “

Corina Dan (coach) – Romania


Players' reactions about Serbia Girls Camp

 

This was my first camp and it was great! I learned a lot of new things. Our coach is really good and she gives us many advices and she is always ready to help us. In the camp I met girls from other countries and we are having a good time. We're not just training we're laughing, learning some games, listening to music… I hope that I will go to this camp next year, learn more new things and make progress in my game

Tijana manic – Serbia

This five days that I spent here were very interesting and funny. I learned a lot of new things and met girls from other countries. We had a very good coach who helped us to make better shots and footwork. I hope that we will have the same camp next year with the same coach. We love you An!!

Lena Janic – Serbia

The girls’ camp was very interesting. We have excellent coach who taught us many new things. Trainings was sometimes for singles and sometimes for doubles and we could learn better tricks and normal shots and also better footwork I think that I learnt something new which I can use when I'll play on competitions in the future. I hope that we will have the same camp next year but maybe for older U17 with the same coach.

Anja Janic – Serbia

This camp I learned many new things about badminton. It was very interesting. We did many fan things. Training was very interesting and entertaining.

The camp was very interesting.

Katerina Zlateva – Bulgaria

I have learnt many new things at this camp, and I hope I can use in my game. I have seen from very close Serbia and I enjoyed very much. I don't want to leave, but it is necessary. I have met with many girls, and they all very funny. My time was one huge pleasure for me which I will never forget.

Anilina Dimitrova – Bulgaria

“We are happy that we have had the honour to work with An. We learned a lot and when we will be “down” on court we will think at the words which when they were said gave us a lot of confidence. Our thanks to the organisers who made this project possible.”

Ariana Prodan & Andra Olariu – Romania

“I liked this camp because of the interesting exercises, we could learn a lot and with more practice this could help us in future tournaments. The teacher was very nice to all of us. In the free time we had different interesting activities that brought us girls closer to each other.”

Cristina Soare – Romania

“This week has to h children how to work to win on court. I liked this camp because it was very well organised. Working on court was interesting, sometimes hard but also with fun. The pancake evening, the swimming pool and the surprise evening were good ideas. I hope I can come next year again.”

Patricia Scurtu – Romania

Report & pictures by: Andreja Todorovic and Marija Bulatovic

Pictures: day 1 - day 2 - day 3 - day 4 - day 5 - Miscellaneous

List of participants

Romania

Players:

Ariana Prodan (1997. W)
Andra Olariu (1998. W)
Patricia Scurtu (2002. W)
Cristina Soare (2000. W)

Coach:

Corina Dan W

Serbia

Players:

Andrijana Stankovic (1999. W)
Anja Janic (1997. W)
Nataša Pavlovic (1998. W)
Anja Velemir (2000. W)
Milica Sokolovic (2000. W)
Lena Janic (2011. W)
Jelena Stevanovic (1999. W)
Tijana Manic (1996. W)
Sofija Miloševic (1995. W)

Coach:

Marija Bulatovic W

Bulgaria

Players:

Nina Starcevic (1994. W)
Anilina Dimitrova (1999. W)
Katerina Zlateva (2000. W)
Maria Zlateva (1999. W)

Coach:

Zlatan Zlateva