Badminton Oceania is delighted to announce a brand-new initiative for 2023, which will bring together the most aspiring Under 15 players from targeted Pacific Island Member Associations.
The Pacific U15 Invitation Team Competition 2023 is linked to the Player Development programme and targets six countries to compete in a Mixed Team competition, including: Cook Islands, Guam, New Caledonia, Northern Marianas, Tahiti and Tonga.
Taking place at Auckland Badminton Stadium from Wednesday 8 – Sunday 12 February 2023, the initiative will open with two days of training delivered by Badminton Oceania’s Coaching and Development Manager, Robbie Thackham at Massey University. This will include a number of tactical and technical sessions to help the players improve and provide their coaches with drills and inspiration to continue delivering back home.
This will be followed by three days of Mixed Team competition, taking place at the same time and on the courts parallel to the VICTOR Oceania Junior Mixed Team Championships 2023, providing an opportunity for the under 15 players to experience an international competitive environment, with technical officials, live score, medal presentations and playing alongside the continent’s strongest Under 19 players.
This will be the first time a junior event of this scale will have taken place in the region since the VICTOR Oceania Championships 2019, which were hosted in Melbourne. In the history of the Continental Championships (Open and Junior), a player outside of Australia and New Zealand has yet to win an individual or team gold medal. This initiative aims to develop talent which can break the mould, level the competitive balance and achieve the ambitious milestone in the long term.
“This is another exciting addition to the calendar and an important component of our player development programme, aligning with and building on member’s junior development programmes. Ultimately, we aim to provide a memorable and meaningful experience to inspire the young players to keep training to be the best player that they can be”, says Badminton Oceania Secretary General, Julie Carrel.
The tournament will take place in a round robin format, with gold, silver and bronze medals awarded to the top three placed teams.
Find out more about the tournament, including a link to the draw and schedule on the official tournament webpage here.
