National tourney a hit as juniors smash it

BALLARAT Badminton Association and Badminton Australia hosted the YONEX U13/U17 Australian National Team and Individual Championships at Ken Kay Badminton Stadium over the last week.

Two hundred and fifty young players from across Victoria and the country, their coaches, managers, and families, descended on Wendouree for the annual competition from 26 September to 2 October.

BBA secretary and the tournament’s deputy referee, Sandra David said hosting the best juniors in Australia was a pleasure.

“The stadium comes up so well for events like these,” she said. “It’s really easy to run a national carnival because of the size of the venue and because we’re solely a badminton stadium, not multi-purpose.

“It’s great to showcase the juniors here in Ballarat, and it’s great for our community. We make a lot of money for the association on the canteen, and we’ve had a lot of volunteers help us all week, and we can’t run these events without them.

“We had some outstanding performances… people have been in awe. It’s also been a great opportunity for young umpires to develop.

“Even if they don’t make it to the big time playing, they can still be involved in the sport.”

The ongoing Australian National Team and Individual Championships Sportsmanship Award for an Under 13 player was named after Ballarat Badminton Association stalwart Rhonda Cator, a former Olympian and Commonwealth Games athlete, and long-time player, coach and manager.

“It’s a real honour for Rhonda,” Ms David said.

Ballarat has become the home of the annual tournament and Badminton Australia CEO TJ Weistra said it’s always a great place to play, umpire or spectate.

“The greatest part of holding events in Ballarat is there are so many fantastic tourism and hospitality venues to visit in between matches,” he said.

“Whether it is soaking up the natural beauty of Lake Wendouree, enjoying one of the many hospitality offerings, or panning for gold at everyone’s favourite Sovereign Hill…”