Some of the best club badminton players throughout Alberta competed in the Yonnex Alberta Junior Badminton Championships Friday through Sunday at the Ralph Klein Centre. A total of 61 players in the Under-14 and Under-16 age groups and 76 players in the Under-12 and Under-19 brackets competed.
The Under-19 bracket was also used to determine spots on the Alberta team for the 2011 Western Canada Summer Games being held in Kamloops, B.C. in August. A total of five men and five women were selected for the Alberta team.
The tournament also served as a tune-up for Under-14, Under-16 and Under-19 junior nationals being held in May in Richmond, B.C.
“This is our open provincial championship and it's attracted 130 players predominantly from Calgary and Edmonton,” said Jeff Bell, executive director of Badminton Alberta.
Bell said some of the competitors at the event will also play in five different Badminton Canada tournament events. Those players will also move on to the national event.
Bell, who formerly worked at Olds College, said the venue — and his knowledge of the college — was a big part of why the tournament was held in Olds.
“We look for a venue that we can have summer camps in for athlete development in the summer … For us, with our provincial championships … the sightlines are good for us, the walls aren't painted white,” he said.
Bell said because the national championships will be held in Richmond in the former Olympic speedskating oval, the RKC provided a good opportunity for players to play in a larger venue than at their club facilities.
“This is actually a good learning experience for the private club players to play in a larger venue,” he said.
The players were also using goose feather shuttles rather than the more ubiquitous nylon shuttles that most recreational players would use. The feather shuttles are often made with goose feathers and cork, and allow players to spin and slice it off the racket, something that isn't possible with the nylon shuttles.
“(The feather shuttles) do spin, they do rotate. The player has the opportunity to do a lot of manipulation with slices, with cutting,” he said.
"This is actually a good learning experience for the private club players to play in a larger venue."Jeff BellBadminton Alberta executive director
