The 2021 ACT Junior Championships was very well attended, particularly the U13 age group. The tournament was held at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) for the first time and Badminton ACT (BACT) welcomes the support provided by the AIS for badminton in the ACT. BACT plans to have future tournaments at this wonderful facility.
Over 50 juniors, across all age groups (U13, U15, U17, U19) attended the tournament. While not events had sufficient numbers in order to proceed (such as some doubles events), six events were held and the numbers participating in the U13s allowed for a ‘Consolation’ singles event to be held for the first round loses. This latter event provided for some younger and early stage beginners to the sport to have another chance at playing and provided some encouragement for them to continue playing badminton. Lots of fun was had by all, with many playing competitive badminton for the first time.
Details on event winners and runners-up can be found on the tournament software at: Badminton Australia – ACT Junior Championships 2021 – Winners (tournamentsoftware.com). The photos show the venue and the U13 boys winner and runner-up.
The tournament will assist the BACT’s Junior Development Officers in their selection of participants to the ACT’s first Junior Development Camp, a pilot program supported by Badminton Australia (BA) to provide higher-level coaching for the best ACT U13s, U15s & U17s. The first camp is scheduled to be held at the AIS on 25-26 September, with the second, also at the AIS, on 22-23 January 2022. These camps will then provide a basis for selection of the ACT’s representative teams at the various BA junior national tournaments in 2022.
Many thanks to Tournament Director, Sheehan Lim, for all his coordination work ahead of and during the tournament and to Brideen Allen and BACT Vice President Alan Kisbee for their assistance on the day.
Olaf Schuermann
President, BACT
